Director Internal Audit

Join a Legacy of Innovation 110 Years and Counting!

Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical therapies to improve standards of care and address diversified, unmet medical needs of people globally by leveraging our world-class science and technology. With more than 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for cardiovascular diseases, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo is primarily focused on providing novel therapies in oncology, as well as other research areas centered around rare diseases and immune disorders.

Summary

The Director of Internal Audit will be responsible for managing the audit function in the US to ensure development and execution of J-SOX (Japan's Sarbanes Oxley requirements) testing/audit, developing and executing the audit plan, contributing to the Financial Oversight Committee (FOC), and special projects. This role encompasses audit responsibilities for both Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. (DSI) and American Regent, Inc. (ARI), US affiliates of Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. This individual is responsible for providing advisory and interpretive services to others to use in making critical decisions to ensure financial and regulatory compliance. This role will assist the company in managing strategic risks, as well as improving and/or developing efficient and effective business processes. This individual will also assist in working collaboratively with the global Internal Audit team located in Japan. In addition, this person will be responsible for promoting an internal control environment that will provide an optimum balance between adequate flexibility and proper accountability.

Responsibilities

• This individual will be responsible for managing the audit resources to ensure completion of the J-SOX audit for both DSI and ARI. This will include overseeing the following tasks:
  • Performing/managing critical phases of the annual J-SOX process from the initial step of the annual risk assessment in coordination with the respective Finance Department and DS Global J-SOX Team to the final steps of communicating results of the key internal control test work for each organization
  • Performing the Process Level Controls (PLC) and the Information Technology General Controls (ITGC)
  • Monitoring J-SOX Audit to ensure DSI and ARI achieves all required DS Global J-SOX deadlines
  • Managing the Internal Audit staff to ensure that the audit work is properly performed and documented and coordinated to support the JSOX testing occurring in parallel at the two US organizations.
  • Collaborating with business process owners (i.e. Finance and IT) to monitor changes in the business, process and systems to ensure timely updating of control documentation.
  • Identification of key internal controls that will be tested, including information technology general computer controls
  • Performing audit test procedures of key controls as related to J-SOX
  • Coordinate closely with the cross-functional teams (Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and IT) to ensure an efficient and synergistic approach to overall testing of internal controls
  • Identification of internal control weaknesses
  • Development and implementation of corrective action plans for the identified control weaknesses
  • Communicating internal control weaknesses and remediation plans to Senior Management, including to the President, the DSI or ARI Board of Directors and the executive teams as well as to DS Tokyo J-SOX Team
  • Providing J-SOX status reports to management including the team leader, Chief Ethics Officer, VPs of Finance, VP of Information Technology, DSI Corporate Compliance & Ethics Committee, DSI Financial Oversight Committee, ARI Corporate Compliance Committee; ARI Financial Oversight Committee and DS Global J-SOX team.
  • Coordinating J-SOX efforts with the external public accounting firm by meeting periodically with them to discuss the scope of the audit as well as the timeline to ensure that they achieve the necessary deadlines (as dictated by DS Global J-SOX team)
  • Perform additional training (as needed) to inform management of the J-SOX requirements
  • Provide project planning, oversight and consulting to ensure that the company remains compliant with J-SOX.
• Develop and implement the execution of DSI’s and ARI’s Annual Audit Plan which ensures that all major risks of the companies (i.e. financial, IT, operational, and compliance) are identified and analyzed on an annual basis for both DSI and American Regent. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:
  • Planning, organizing and executing the internal audit plan
  • Coordinate with the global Internal Audit function in supporting global-themed or global audits to be incorporated in the US annual audit plan
  • Developing procedures, schedules, priorities for achieving audit/compliance objectives and goals
  • Ensuring that the audits are performed in accordance with the audit standards issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)
  • Providing status reports to the Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer.
  • Managing the Internal Audit staff to ensure that audits are appropriately performed in accordance with the audit plan
  • Obtaining and testing of sufficient evidential matter
  • Evaluating audit test results
  • Reviewing the audit work performed by the team to verify that the audit steps were properly performed and clearly documented.
  • Recommending improvements to the systems, procedures and processes reviewed to minimize risks and improve efficiency
  • Communicating audit objectives, scope, activities and test results to impacted parties (i.e. Management, Financial Oversight Committee, Corporate Ethics & Compliance Committee, executive teams and the Board of Directors)
  • Preparing and/or reviewing audit reports.
  • Performing follow-up to ensure corrective action was adequately performed by management within the established time frame
  • Providing advisory and interpretive services for others to use in making critical decisions as related to financial compliance
  • Coordinating the internal audit efforts with our external public accounting firm.
• Propose and Manage special projects and participate in project teams to improve DSI’s and ARI’s business processes, examples may include: Develop a fraud detection program through analysis of key business statistics, ratios, trends and use of various audit software tools to ensure that risks to the company are understood, evaluated and managed appropriately; Utilize the tool to identify and address any high risk areas in order to minimize business risk to the company; Participate in Company-wide committees (e.g. P2P project, IT initiatives, etc.) to improve or develop efficient and effective business processes; work with IT each company to test cyber threats. Support policy review to ensure alignment with audit findings and that they are addressed appropriately. Support and manage global internal audit initiatives beyond J-SOX and global-themed/global audits.
• Develop annual compliance, financial, operational risk assessment which will be used as the foundation for the Annual Internal Audit Plan, as well as the Compliance Department’s Annual Monitoring Program, Annual Compliance Training Program, and Annual Policy & Procedure Enhancements Plan.

Qualifications: Successful candidates will be able to meet the qualifications below with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Education Qualifications (from an accredited college or university)

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Master's Degree preferred

Experience Qualifications

• 10 or More Years of auditing experience required
• 4 or More Years being management or supervisory experience required
• Strong technical competencies in accounting, IT and financial auditing required
• 4 or More Years experience with the Sarbanes Oxley Act or Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Law (J-SOX) required
• Knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) preferred
• Experience conducting interviews of employees/vendors/customers preferred
• Experience with SAP preferred
• Experience with utilizing audit software tools, such as Audit Command Language (ACL) or CaseWare IDEA preferred
• Experience utilizing Visio for flowcharting preferred
• Experience auditing pharmaceutical companies preferred

Licenses and Certifications

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) preferred
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) preferred
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) preferred

Travel

Ability to travel up to 10% Travel required between DSI and ARI locations. International travel will be required.
 

Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.