Chief Internal Auditor

Essential Functions

• Serves as the Chief Internal Auditor for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC).
• Develops establishes implements evaluates and maintains IDEC internal auditing policies standards and procedures to support proactive risk management control accountability transparency economy and efficiency to improve governance and business processes.
• Serves as a full-line supervisor.
• Monitors evaluates and alters implementation of audit recommendations to ensure independent and objective assurance that IDEC programs fiscal operations contracts and administrative activities comply with applicable federal and state laws regulations policies and internal controls.
• Applies professional audit principles to ensure internal audits are consistent with current industry best practices.
• Serves as liaison with internal/external auditors and other stakeholders ensuring proper coverage to maximize utilization of resources.
• Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonable within the scope of duties enumerated above.

Minimum Qualifications

• This position requires knowledge skill and mental development equivalent to four (4) years of college with coursework in public administration accounting auditing business administration or closely related fields of study.
• This position requires four (4) years of progressively responsibly professional auditing experience and certification as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) or four (4) years of progressively responsible professional auditing work experience and certification as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or five (5) years of progressively responsible professional internal auditing work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prefers five (5) years of professional work experience in a federal state or local government entity directing managing and conducting internal audit functions in compliance with the Fiscal Control and Internal Auditing Act (FCIAA) Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) and federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) and Single Audit requirements.
• Prefers certification as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) or other recognized auditing or financial certification.
• Prefers four (4) years of professional work experience within a large public or private organization leading comprehensive internal audits compliance reviews and risk assessments developing and executing risk-based audit plans evaluating internal controls and providing written recommendations that strengthen fiscal accountability transparency equity and operational performance.
• Prefers four (4) years of professional work experience overseeing implementation of audit industry standards issued by the Illinois Auditor General United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) Yellow Book Standards and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS).
• Prefers four (4) years of Internal Audit experience related to early childhood education funding streams and their compliance requirements (e.g. Child Care Development Fund/CCDF Preschool for All Head Start collaboration IDEA Part B-Preschool Special Education/Part C-Early Intervention).
• Prefers four (4) years of professional work experience leveraging audit management software platforms/systems (e.g. AuditBoard Galvanize Resolver MetricStream) Enterprise Resource Planning tools (e.g. SAP Oracle PeopleSoft Microsoft Dynamics 365) and data analytics platforms (e.g. Power BI Tableau Informatica).

Conditions of Employment

• Requires the ability to travel in the performance of duties with overnight stays as appropriate.
• Requires a valid drivers license.
• Overtime is a condition of employment and you may be requested or required/mandated to work overtime including scheduled unscheduled or last-minute overtime. This requires the ability to work evenings and weekends.
• Requires a criminal history check.
• This position has been found to meet the requirements in section 4A-101 of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act requiring the occupant/employee to file a Statement of Economic Interest. The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act (5 ILCS 420/4A et seq.) requires certain state officials and employees to file annual Statements of Economic Interest with the Office of the Secretary of State that will be made available for examination and copying by the public. All employees required to file a Statement of Economic Interest are also required to file the Supplemental Statement of Economic Interest with the Executive Ethics Commission. (See Executive Order 15-09) Fines and penalties apply to untimely filings.
• Certain provisions of the revolving door restrictions contained in 5 ILCS 430/5-45 apply to this position. As a result the employee should be aware that if offered non-State employment during state employment or within one year immediately after ending State employment the employee shall prior to accepting any such non-State employment offer notify the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor (OEIG) or may be subject to a fine.

The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description.

About the Agency

The Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) was signed into law in June of 2024 with the focus of making early childhood education and care services simpler better and fairer for families with young children across the state. During fiscal years FY25 and FY26 IDEC will be working through transitioning data programs and services from three state agencies the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to IDEC in order to be fully operational by July 2026.

Illinois strives to be the best state in the nation to raise a family with young children and IDEC is committed to continue putting children and families center while reducing complexities and finding efficiencies in the system and advancing equity.