Umair H.

From a Consultant in EY Pakistan to a Manager in Allianz Australia.

I started my career as a Consultant in EY Pakistan whilst studying for ACCA, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. I took a risk to leave that position and decided to move to Australia for my Masters degree. I was always sceptical if I had made the right decision as I was en route to become a Manager at EY but I'm glad that I took the risk. After completing my Masters degree, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to work for Deloitte in Assurance & Advisory division which established the foundation of my career in Australia. I then got the opportunity to move into Compliance at Aon which was my first role in the insurance industry and become a stepping stone for me to grow my career in the Risk & Compliance profession within Financial Services. After working there for a couple of years, I was able to move into a Line 2 Risk Manager role within AMP Life who at that time were going through a major transformation and uplift in the Risk and Compliance. The role provided exposure to gain understanding and knowledge of Risk and Compliance regulatory requirements for an insurer in Australia. One year into the role, the auditor in me started to miss the assurance and audit work and I knew that I needed to get back into it. Luckily I came across the role at Allianz of Assurance Manager and was successful in getting it.

I conduct Line 2 control testing and provide guidance to Line 1 teams

I'm responsible for appropriate delivery of assurance activities through implementation of Integrated Assurance Plan and providing support and guidance to the business and Divisional Line 1 Risk & Compliance teams. I coordinate Line 2 assurance planning through close liaison with Internal Audit to avoid overlaps and to be able to leverage findings from these areas where possible. My roles includes performing quality assurance over testing performed by Line 1 teams to ensure testing is conducted as per local testing methodology. I assist the Senior Manager in the development and maintenance of the Integrated Assurance Plan for Allianz Australia Limited which will provide timely and effective insights into the effectiveness of the internal control environment for Allianz Australia and relevant partners. Also I'm responsible for ensuring completeness and accuracy over controls tested in Operational Risk and Governance System (ORGS). I prepare monthly and quarterly assurance reports for Management and Board Committees providing insights on internal control environment of Allianz Australia.

Challenging tasks along with supportive and fun team.

At Allianz Australia, each day you're presented with a different challenge which is the most exciting thing for me. Secondly, the main motivation for me to get out of the bed and go to work every day (or these days go from my bedroom to home office) is my team and the people in the wider division. Its the people that make the work fun and enjoyable every day.

Be genuine, friendly and honest in all your dealings

Anyone can be trained to do the work. It's your personality that makes you different from other candidates. Be true to yourself, show high level of integrity and always be genuine in all your dealings.

Moving to Australia and establishing a career

I think moving to Australia and leaving a comfortable life behind and then able to establish a rewarding career is one of my greatest achievements.