The Health Research Board (HRB) is seeking expressions of interest from persons with financial and governance experience to sit on its Audit and Risk Committee

Number of vacancies: one.

Location: Meetings are held at the HRB’s premises at Grattan House, 67-72 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, and occasionally online.

Time commitment: It is expected that the time commitment required will typically be four days per annum, including time to read papers in preparation for meetings and a programme of activity, including training from time to time, to keep up to date with best practice and the organisation’s activities and priorities.

Remuneration: A fee of €400 gross will be paid for each meeting attended. Travel and subsistence are payable at rates set by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

Period of appointment: The appointment is for a period of three years. The appointment may be renewed once by mutual agreement.

Functions of the HRB’s Audit and Risk Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee is a standing committee of the Board of the HRB. Its functions are to advise the Board on:

  • the strategic processes for risk, internal control and governance;
  • the accounting policies, the financial statements, and the annual report of the organisation, including the process for review of the financial statements prior to submission for audit, levels of error identified, and management’s letter of representation to the external auditors;
  • the planned activity and results of both internal and external audit;
  • adequacy of management response to issues identified by audit activity, including external audit’s management letter of representation;
  • assurances relating to the management of risk and corporate governance requirements for the State body;
  • (where appropriate) proposals for tendering for either internal or external audit services or for purchase of non-audit services from contractors who provide audit services;
  • anti-fraud policies, protected disclosure processes, and arrangements for special investigations; and
  • the Audit and Risk Committee will also periodically review its own effectiveness and report the results of that review to the Board.

The person

It is expected that the person appointed will have the following attributes:

  • An understanding of GAAP and financial statements,
  • Experience preparing, auditing, analysing or evaluating financial statements that present a breadth and level of complexity of accounting issues that are generally comparable to the breadth and complexity of issues that can reasonably be expected to be raised by the HRB’s financial statements, or experience actively supervising one or more persons engaged in such activities,
  • An understanding of best practice risk management and public sector corporate governance,
  • An understanding of internal controls and the roles of internal and external auditors, and
  • An understanding of Audit and Risk Committee functions.

It is expected that the person will have acquired the attributes listed above through any one or more of the following means:

  • education and experience as a principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller, accountant or auditor or experience in one or more positions that involve the performance of similar functions;
  • experience overseeing or assessing the performance of companies or state bodies with respect to the preparation of financial statements; risk management and governance or audit or other relevant experience.

Conflict of Interest

The Committee member will receive remuneration as set out above but may not accept any other consulting or advisory or compensatory fees from the HRB. Prohibited compensation includes that received for services rendered by a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm or similar entity in which the Audit and Risk Committee member (or a member of his or her immediate family) is a partner, executive officer, or the equivalent.

Members of the HRB Audit and Risk Committee are required to declare any potential conflict of interest with any of the business items on the agenda for Audit and Risk Committee meetings and complete an annual Register of Interests return.

CLOSING DATE for applications: 15 November 2024.

Please submit your CV, and a cover letter setting out how you are suitable for this role, to Lorna Purcell, Head of Governance at LPurcell@hrb.ie.

All applications will be treated in confidence.

Download the Audit and Risk Committee vacancy description here.