Chief Internal Auditor

A journey towards the transformation of Pakistan International Airlines.

As PIA moves into an important new chapter, we are looking for leaders who are passionate about strengthening governance, performance, accountability, and institutional excellence. If you want to contribute to the future growth of one of Pakistan’s most iconic national institutions, this is your opportunity.

Position Purpose

The Chief Internal Auditor will lead PIACL’s Internal Audit function and provide independent, objective assurance to the Board Audit Committee and management on governance, risk management, internal controls, compliance, financial discipline, operational performance, and ethical conduct.

Reporting Line

The Chief Internal Auditor shall report functionally to the Board Audit Committee and administratively to the Chief Executive Officer.

The position shall have direct and unrestricted access to the Board Audit Committee, Chairman of the Board, CEO, external auditors, regulators, and all relevant records, systems, locations, and personnel required for audit work.

Key Responsibilities

1. Audit Strategy, Governance and Risk Management

• Develop and implement a risk-based Internal Audit strategy aligned with PIACL’s business priorities, turnaround plan, regulatory requirements, and international internal audit standards.
• Prepare the annual Internal Audit Plan for approval by the Board Audit Committee.
• Provide independent assurance over governance, enterprise risk management, internal controls, compliance, and management accountability.
• Review the adequacy and effectiveness of PIACL’s risk management framework, including identification, assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and escalation of key strategic, financial, operational, regulatory, technology, safety, and reputational risks.
• Provide assurance on the effectiveness of Business Continuity Plans, crisis management arrangements, disaster recovery plans, contingency protocols, and the organization’s readiness to respond to operational disruptions.
• Present high-quality audit reports, risk insights, control issues, and corrective action updates to the Board Audit Committee.

2. Risk-Based Assurance

• Conduct audits across high-risk areas, including Finance, Commercial, Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Procurement, HR, IT, Safety, Cargo, Ground Handling, Revenue Management, and Transformation Projects.
• Identify control weaknesses, financial leakage, process gaps, compliance breaches, fraud risks, and areas of operational inefficiency.
• Ensure audit findings are practical, evidence-based, commercially relevant, and linked to clear management action plans.

3. Compliance Assurance

• Provide independent assurance on compliance with applicable laws, aviation regulations, corporate governance requirements, Board approvals, internal policies, delegation of authority, procurement rules, financial controls, labor laws, tax requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Review the effectiveness of compliance monitoring mechanisms across the organization and highlight material breaches, recurring violations, weak enforcement, and delayed corrective actions.
• Coordinate with relevant internal stakeholders, external auditors, and regulatory bodies where required, while maintaining the independence of the Internal Audit function.
• Ensure that compliance gaps are reported to the appropriate management forums and the Board Audit Committee in a timely and transparent manner.

4. Performance Monitoring and Management Assurance

• Provide independent assurance on the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of performance data reported to the Board, CEO, and senior management.
• Review performance monitoring across key business areas, including revenue, cost, route profitability, aircraft utilization, on-time performance, load factor, yield, productivity, procurement savings, inventory, customer experience, and transformation milestones.
• Assess whether KPIs are clearly defined, measurable, consistently tracked, and aligned with PIACL’s strategic and turnaround objectives.
• Highlight recurring underperformance, weak accountability, unreliable reporting, and delayed corrective actions.

5. Financial Control and Value Protection

• Review controls over revenue, expenditure, procurement, contracts, payments, payroll, treasury, receivables, inventory, fuel, maintenance, aircraft leasing, and major commercial arrangements.
• Identify opportunities to reduce leakage, prevent waste, strengthen financial discipline, and improve value protection.
• Provide assurance over cost optimization, restructuring, and transformation initiatives.

6. Fraud Risk, Ethics and Investigations

• Lead or supervise reviews into suspected fraud, misconduct, conflict of interest, policy violations, misuse of assets, and financial irregularities.
• Strengthen fraud risk management, whistleblowing review mechanisms, and investigation protocols.
• Ensure investigations are conducted objectively, confidentially, and in accordance with due process.
• Report significant fraud, misconduct, or control failures to the Board Audit Committee in a timely manner.

7. Digital Audit and Data Analytics

• Build data-driven audit capability through analytics, exception reporting, continuous monitoring, and system-based controls.
• Review IT controls, cybersecurity risks, ERP controls, access rights, data integrity, disaster recovery, and digital transformation risks.
• Use analytics to identify unusual trends, duplicate payments, unauthorized transactions, revenue leakages, payroll exceptions, procurement anomalies, and policy breaches.

Required Qualification and Experience

• CA, ACCA, CPA, CIA, CISA, CFE, CMA, or equivalent professional qualification.
• Minimum 25 years of relevant experience, including senior leadership experience in internal audit, risk, finance, compliance, governance, or assurance.
• Experience in aviation, logistics, transportation, public-sector enterprises, regulated industries, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, banking, or large conglomerates will be preferred.
• Strong exposure to Board Audit Committees, executive management, risk-based auditing, financial controls, fraud investigations, performance assurance, compliance assurance, business continuity review, and governance.
• Experience in turnaround, restructuring, transformation, cost optimization, or data-driven audit environments will be an added advantage.