Internal Controls Manager

Role Overview

• Lead the design and build of the company’s enterprise control framework across key business and operational processes
• Assess existing workflows and identify control gaps, failure points, manual dependencies, and areas of elevated operational risk
• Map end-to-end processes and translate them into clear, scalable control points and operating procedures
• Design preventive, detective, and monitoring controls that are practical, auditable, and aligned with business realities
• Develop and formalize SOPs, control documentation, ownership structures, escalation paths, and remediation processes
• Partner across Risk, Product, Operations, Finance, Compliance, Technology, and Data teams to embed controls into daily operations and system workflows
• Drive control implementation from concept through rollout, including stakeholder alignment, documentation, training, and follow-up
• Establish governance around control execution, issue tracking, remediation, and evidence retention
• Bring structure and discipline to how control failures are identified, escalated, root-caused, remediated, and closed
• Apply a strong understanding of risk and control principles, including COSO-based thinking, to create a coherent and scalable controls environment
• Operate independently with high ownership in an environment that is still building maturity, process discipline, and organizational muscle
• Support management readiness for internal audit, external review, board-level discussions, or broader control maturity initiatives as needed

Requirements

• 6–10+ years of experience in enterprise controls, operational risk, internal controls, internal audit, process excellence, or a related field
• Strong experience building or significantly upgrading controls in a high-growth company, fintech, startup, or similarly dynamic environment
• Deep expertise in process mapping, SOP development, controls design, remediation tracking, and operating model improvement
• Strong understanding of internal control frameworks such as COSO
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex, cross-functional initiatives with limited structure
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority and drive action across business, product, and technical teams
• Comfortable being both strategic and hands-on: this is a builder role, not a purely advisory role
• Strong judgment in balancing rigor and practicality; able to create effective controls without slowing down the business unnecessarily
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complexity into clear actions and documentation
• Experience in regulated environments, lending, fintech, payments, or financial services is strongly preferred
• Experience in startup scaling, operational excellence, or transformation work is a strong plus