Internal audit for fast-growing EU regulated companies
Building an internal audit function from scratch in a regulated EU entity is its own discipline. What to look for in your Head of Internal Audit hire.
# Internal audit for fast-growing EU regulated companies
A scaling EU regulated company hits a wall around the time the regulator first asks for an internal audit plan. The next 12 months become a scramble unless you hire a Head of Internal Audit who has actually done the build-out before.
Why "Big 4 alumni" alone is not enough
A Big 4 senior who has only ever audited mature multinationals will struggle in a 200-person regulated scale-up. The build-out work is different:
- Designing the audit plan with no historical baseline
- Hiring the team into a culture that does not yet take audit seriously
- Convincing engineering to give time to IT / cyber audit work
- Reporting to a board audit committee that is itself learning the role
- Coordinating with the external auditor for the first time
If your candidate has only ever joined a mature internal audit function, the build-out will eat them.
What we look for at KICKFIND
1. **Real build-out experience.** They have stood up an internal audit function from zero. 2. **Three-lines model in practice.** Not on a slide. 3. **Cert + use.** ACA, ACCA, CIA, CISA - actively used, not just on the CV. 4. **Audit committee comms.** They have presented findings to a board audit committee and defended them. 5. **IT / cyber audit fluency.** With DORA / NIS2 the IT audit half of the plan is now the larger half.
Three screening questions that filter fast
- *"Describe an audit finding the business pushed back on. How did you defend it, and what was the resolution?"*
- *"Walk us through your last annual audit plan. How did you pick what to audit and what did you de-scope?"*
- *"Describe an audit that triggered a regulator escalation. What was the regulator's expectation vs. management's expectation?"*
Hiring internal audit
KICKFIND only submits Head of Internal Audit candidates with real EU regulated-entity experience. [Submit a hiring brief](/submit-hiring-brief) and we'll calibrate within one business day.