Internal Audit Manager - Kraken

About Kraken & Payward

Payward — the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks — has spent the last 15 years building modern financial infrastructure platforms to advance an open, global financial system.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe.

About the Team

Payward's Audit & Risk function operates as an Integrated Assurance organization, bringing together Internal Audit and Enterprise Risk Management under a unified risk oversight strategy. The function spans Internal Audit, SOX Compliance, and Enterprise Risk Management across multiple regulated entities and jurisdictions. Internal Audit partners with co-sourced providers, maintains direct reporting lines to the Global and Local Audit Committees, and is building in-house assurance capability at a rapid pace.

The Opportunity

You'll partner with Internal Audit leadership to run risk-based operational audits across the business, evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of controls across governance, regulatory, financial, and operational risk — with an immediate priority on post-acquisition integration as the business grows through acquisition. It is a global, multi-jurisdiction mandate, entity and region agnostic, directing specialist support wherever deep-technical depth is needed.

Key Responsibilities

Operational & Integration Audit Leadership

• Lead risk-based operational audits across governance, regulatory, financial, and operational processes, helping shape coverage across the audit plan.
• Lead post-acquisition integration audits — readiness, onboarding of acquired entities into the control environment, and evaluating control design and operating effectiveness.
• Assess integration and change risk across governance, regulatory licensing, change-of-control conditions, finance, operations, data migration, key-person retention, and culture.
• Perform risk assessments to identify key exposure areas and prioritize audit coverage across the plan and acquisition pipeline.
• Direct co-sourced specialist (SME) support for deep-technical areas, retaining Internal Audit ownership of judgment and conclusions.
• Lead AI-enabled auditing by applying generative AI, agentic workflows, and data analytics across the audit lifecycle.

Engagement & Issue Management

• Lead multiple audit engagements concurrently, managing planning, fieldwork, and reporting end-to-end.
• Document audit findings, including control gaps and root cause, drafting clear and well-supported workpapers and reports.
• Track and validate remediation of identified issues, escalating delays or gaps to Internal Audit leadership.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of audit methodologies and frameworks in conformance with IIA Global Internal Audit Standards.
• Lead engagement teams, coordinate co-sourced specialists, and mentor junior auditors.

Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting

• Partner with stakeholders across Compliance, Legal, Risk, Finance, and Engineering teams to communicate audit results and advise on control improvements while maintaining independence.
• Monitor the audit plan, acquisition pipeline, and evolving regulatory expectations across relevant jurisdictions.
• Partner with other Internal Audit managers and co-sourced specialists to ensure coordinated coverage.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in internal audit, risk management, or regulatory examination within financial services, fintech, or crypto.
• Strong generalist audit background with a proven ability to plan and lead audits across business, financial, operational, and regulatory processes.
• Experience auditing complex, regulated environments; exposure to post-acquisition or M&A integration is a strong plus.
• Multi-jurisdiction experience auditing or assessing controls across more than one regulatory regime with globally distributed teams.
• Ability to quickly get up to speed on unfamiliar business models and direct specialist support where required.
• Proven experience communicating findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders, including board or audit committee audiences.
• Leadership experience managing audit workstreams, engagement teams, and co-sourced specialists.
• Comfortable operating across multiple time zones, partnering with globally distributed teams.
• Responsible utilization of generative AI with human oversight to drive workflow efficiency and quality improvements.

Nice to Haves

• Relevant professional certifications: CIA, CISA, CAMS, CFE, or equivalent.
• Prior M&A or integration audit, or transaction diligence experience.
• Familiarity with crypto, fintech, or digital-asset business models.