Sean De Souza
Perth,Western Australia
Summary
Accomplished professional with a robust skill set in risk management, financial integrity, governance and compliance. Demonstrates excellent interpersonal, communication and leadership skills, coupled with strong negotiation abilities and the capacity to build strong stakeholder relationships. Adept at conducting thorough research, performing detailed data analysis, and solving complex problems. Highly organised with exceptional time management skills, aiming to leverage these competencies towards achieving strategic business objectives.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work history
Head of Internal Audit
PeopleKind Group Pty Ltd
Burswood, Western Australia
12.2025 - Current
- Working closely with the Board, CEOs and Managing Directors of the parent organisation (PeopleKind Group) and their six subsidiary organisations (Nulsen, Outcare, Melior, SuperYou, Cahoots and Nesti) in developing a strong Governance, Risk Management and Assurance framework.
- Developed the Internal Audit Charter, Internal Audit Policy and Internal Audit Procedures, to establish the Internal Audit function.
- Led a comprehensive financial systems audit, identifying and remediating critical control gaps across Payroll, Accounts Payable, and credit card management to mitigate risks.
- Reporting to the Board, various committees and Leadership team using dashboards and analytical reports on financial strategies, risk management, governance and quality and safeguarding in service delivery.
- Working collaboratively with the ICT team in safeguarding digital assets and ensuring data privacy and security.
- Undertaking risk and assurance mapping of key tasks to ensure compliance in areas such as BAS, FBT, GST, Payroll Tax, Super, licences, Insurances, training, NDIS audits.
Internal Risk and Assurance Specialist
Southern Cross Care WA
Burswood, Western Australia
05.2025 - 12.2025
- Developed the 3-year 2025-2028 internal audit plan and undertook assurance mapping of key tasks to improve governance, risk management and business continuity.
- Restructured credit card system, achieving substantial cost reductions through improved spend management.
- Recommended a robust record management system, significantly enhancing data integrity, compliance and oversight.
- Championed risk awareness and safety culture.
- Worked collaboratively with the Finance team in reviewing Southern Cross's financial statements and in responding to queries from the external auditors.
- Updated the organisation’s Risk Management Framework and Risk Registers in accordance with ISO 31000:2018.
- Prepared high level financial, risk and compliance reports for the Board’s quarterly meetings.
- Developed governance documents such as ‘Fraud Policy’, ‘Asset Use Policy’, ‘Integrity and Ethical Behaviour’ guidelines and updated the ‘Credit Card Policy’.
- Improved functionality of the Customer Relationship Management system used as part of the sales funnel and customer experience.
- Developed cross-functional collaboration between Payroll and Finance teams that achieved cost savings by minimising duplicate payments.
- Introduced controls in financial processes and systems to improve compliance with tax liabilities and legislative requirements.
- Strengthened procurement integrity by implementing improved Supplier Master File controls, eliminating duplicate payments and mitigating fraud risk.
- Enhanced asset protection by implementing robust controls for portable and attractive items to improve visibility.
Principal Internal Auditor and Program Manager
Department of Education (DOE)
Perth, Western Australia
08.2008 - 01.2025
- Updated the Internal Audit Charter, Audit Committee Charter, audit committee membership and member contract which helped develop the department’s Audit, Risk and Governance framework.
- Planned, managed and undertook audits, risk assessments and compliance reviews to evaluate adherence to legislation and policies.
- Successfully undertook a risk assessment of legislative compliance with the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations, that resulted in the procurement of a new WHS recording system.
- Strong experience in liaising with external stakeholders such as the Office of the Auditor General, Department of Communities, Risk Cover and Department of Finance.
- Successfully undertook data analytics to improve financial processes and systems that identified trends, possible fraudulent transactions and financial risks.
- Prepared quarterly reports for the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and Senior Executive.
- Proactively maintained the organisation’s Risk Management Framework in accordance with ISO 31000:2018 guidelines and Treasurer’s Instruction (TI) 825.
- Awarded a certificate of recognition in January 2023 from the Director General for ‘building a positive work culture'.
- Successfully conducted forensic investigations into fraud and corruption with Police detectives that assisted in recovery of stolen property.
- Mentored and trained underperforming and demotivated staff in improving their performance and building their self-confidence.
- Represented Internal Audit on the Finance and Audit Committee, Common Use Arrangement (CUA) Committee for Whole of Govt Procurement, Work Health and Safety Committee, and the Policy Advisory Group.
Education
QUALIFICATIONS
Skills
- Excellent Interpersonal and Communication skills
- Risk management skills
- Financial Integrity and Compliance skills
- Strong negotiation skills
- Building strong stakeholder relationships
- Well-developed research, analytical and problem-solving skills
- Strong time management skills
- Critical thinking skills (eg cost and benefit analysis, value for money decisions)
Computer Proficiency
Working knowledge of software packages such as TeamMate, TRIM and HP Content Manager (Record Management systems) IDEA (Interactive Data Extraction and Analysis) and CAATs (Computer-assisted audit techniques) Visio, Power BI, Flexi Purchase System, Smartsheet for reporting, accounting packages such as Business Objects Planning (BOP), DSS, Secureap, FRED, AR, Billing, RM Finance, PeopleSoft, Oracle, QuickBooks, MYOB and other software like MS Office, Excel (data analytics and reconciliations), Word (reports, questionnaires, checklists, manuals, correspondence memos), Power Point (delivering presentations), Outlook (emails, scheduling and planning), Adobe Acrobat Editor, HRMIS and i-Procurement.
Timeline
Head of Internal Audit
PeopleKind Group Pty Ltd
12.2025 - Current
Internal Risk and Assurance Specialist
Southern Cross Care WA
05.2025 - 12.2025
Principal Internal Auditor and Program Manager
Department of Education (DOE)
08.2008 - 01.2025
QUALIFICATIONS