What does an internal audit director do?

An internal audit director is in charge of spearheading and overseeing the auditing procedures in an organization, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. Among their responsibilities include setting goals and objectives, managing budgets and timelines, gathering and analyzing the organization's financial data, supervising staff, and developing strategies to optimize procedures. They may also liaise with internal and external agencies, perform audits, and address issues and concerns, investigating and resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while enforcing the organization's policies and regulations.
Internal audit director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real internal audit director resumes:
- Implement COSO framework to achieve objectives relate to financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and operational effectiveness and efficiency.
- Manage Sarbanes-Oxley implementation and internal audit outsourcing and co-sourcing activities for clients in multiple industries including financial services and manufacturing companies.
- Develop internal audit risk assessments base on COSO internal control framework.
- Establish internal quality control standards which enable maximum SOX reliance strategy by external auditors resulting in reduce external audit fees.
- Review detailed work papers and reports in accordance with the department and IIA standards.
- Establish compliance program which include all internal company investigations and ethics training for all employees.
- Conduct fraud and ethics investigations, some resulting in terminations, criminal charges and asset recoveries.
- Work closely with all levels of management to ensure operational processes provide results that are in compliance with GAAP.
- Conduct GAAP accounting policy research and follow-up implementation.
- Revise company's Sarbanes-Oxley review process to improve its efficiency and efficacy by incorporating routine self-testing by process owners.
- Design and successfully implement SOX compliant spreadsheet controls process/system to support the swaps, index options and commodities derivatives trading environment.
- Save $30,000 by conducting ISO 9000 / TL 9000 auditor training to the quality team in Krakow Poland.
- Review segregation of duties in the application role design for the ERP systems.
- Identify internal control material weaknesses relate to ITGC, SLDC and ERP relate processes.
- Develop required process documentation and designed/implemented/conduct appropriate company ISO training modules.
Internal audit director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Internal Audit Directors are proficient in CPA, Internal Controls, and Risk Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Internal Audit Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CPA, 9%
Manage the Division's external financial audit contracts with CPA firms to audit over 600 contracts with community based providers.
- Internal Controls, 8%
Worked closely with executive leadership to institute strengthened governance practices and improved internal controls to address items identified during the investigation.
- Risk Management, 7%
Developed an Enterprise Risk Management model for the business to identify emerging risks and adequately track and monitor existing risks.
- Audit Reports, 5%
Coordinated all aspects of the audit assignment including entrance/exit meetings and compilation of the documentation and audit reports.
- SOX, 5%
Designed and successfully implemented SOX compliant spreadsheet controls process/system to support the swaps, index options and commodities derivatives trading environment.
- Audit Committee, 4%
Prepare reporting for Board of Directors Audit Committee and senior management and maintain daily communication with management concerning audits in progress.
Most internal audit directors use their skills in "cpa," "internal controls," and "risk management" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential internal audit director responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. Many internal audit director duties rely on detail oriented. "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents.," so an internal audit director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways internal audit director responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "manage and perform detail risk assessments of enterprise operating systems and the business technology environment. "
Math skills. internal audit directors are also known for math skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to internal audit director responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." An internal audit director resume example shows how math skills is used in the workplace: "lead and managed all risk assessments for the two business units on a quarterly basis by utilizing qualitative and quantitative approaches. "
Organizational skills. For certain internal audit director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of an internal audit director rely on this skill, as "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what internal audit directors do: "develop and implement corrective action plans to address organizational or departmental problems. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in internal audit director job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what internal audit directors do. Internal audit director responsibilities rely on this skill because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." You can also see how internal audit director duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "enlisted, trained and supervised an internal audit / acquisition administrator and telecommunications specialist. "
The three companies that hire the most internal audit directors are:
- USAA52 internal audit directors jobs
- First Community Bancshares16 internal audit directors jobs
- Robert Half14 internal audit directors jobs
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Internal audit director vs. Auditor supervisor
An auditor supervisor is a financial professional who manages a staff of audit professionals and controls consulting engagements that evaluate the management and operating practices of a corporate. This supervisor is required to supervise audit planning and fieldwork as well as communicates findings and recommendations to senior management. To ensure that audit staff follows the department's methodology, the supervisor must supervise the audit staff and review their automated audit work papers. The supervisor must also ensure that reviews are following the standards of the corporate audit department and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between internal audit directors and auditor supervisor. For instance, internal audit director responsibilities require skills such as "risk management," "audit committee," "financial statements," and "ethics." Whereas a auditor supervisor is skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "night audit," "front desk," and "real estate." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Auditor supervisors earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $86,925. On the other hand, internal audit directors are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $132,801.The education levels that auditor supervisors earn slightly differ from internal audit directors. In particular, auditor supervisors are 7.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an internal audit director. Additionally, they're 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal audit director vs. Audit internship
An audit intern is responsible for assisting the finance department in processing financial reports, analyzing account statements, releasing invoices, and conducting tax audits. Audit interns shadow tenured staff on the operation procedures to familiarize themselves with work processes. They are also tasked to do administrative and clerical duties under the supervision of a direct supervisor, such as writing reports, ensuring the accuracy of financial statements, responding to clients' inquiries and concerns, and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor for immediate resolution.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that internal audit director responsibilities requires skills like "internal controls," "risk management," "audit committee," and "external auditors." But an audit internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "audit intern," "first hand," "team-oriented environment," and "internal control procedures."
On average, audit interns earn a lower salary than internal audit directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, audit interns earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $58,466. Whereas internal audit directors have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $132,801.audit interns earn similar levels of education than internal audit directors in general. They're 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for internal audit directors in the next 3-5 years?
For example, company culture is not easily quantifiable as its scope is wide and divided among many different segments comprising of employee benefits and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, and continuous learning opportunities for the employees. With more companies allowing their employees to permanently work from home, auditors will be asked to answer questions ranging from employee productivity, burnout, to employee identity with the company.
It will be the job of auditors to look at the data landscape of the company and see what data points could help tell the story of the "intangibles," thus unveiling new knowledge for the company.
Internal audit director vs. Auditor/quality
A quality auditor is responsible for inspecting the company's services and products, ensuring its adherence to business requirements and internal regulations. Quality auditors analyze the efficiency of operational functions and production processes to maintain high-quality deliverables with the utmost consideration for the safety and security of the production staff. They run quality checks for the outputs, create findings reports, and strategize methodologies to enhance stability by utilizing standard testing parameters. A quality auditor must have excellent communication and organizational skills, as they may also recommend opportunities to generate more resources and increase revenues.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from internal audit director resumes include skills like "cpa," "internal controls," "risk management," and "sox," whereas an auditor/quality is more likely to list skills in "excellent interpersonal," "excellent organizational," "customer service," and "medicaid. "
Auditors/quality earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $40,479. Internal audit directors earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $132,801.auditors/quality typically earn lower educational levels compared to internal audit directors. Specifically, they're 11.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal audit director vs. Audit manager
An audit manager is responsible for the complete audit process of finances in an organization. They work for banks and report directly to the audit committee. Based on findings gathered, a financial institution can gain vision into their variance and overall performance. They are also responsible for scheduling audits, initiating departmental audits, consolidation, and analysis of audit reports, and reviewing accounting procedures. Moreover, part of their tasks is to create audit finding presentations to be presented to the audit committee. It requires a high amount of accountability to be an effective audit manager.
Types of internal audit director
Updated January 8, 2025











