Auditor training

Interested in becoming an HQAI auditor?

August 2024

Are you an independent consultant? Do you have experience of quality assurance in the humanitarian & development sector or in quality/ethical standards or financial auditing? Do you speak French, Spanish, or Arabic as well as English? Do you have experience in financial auditing?

Read more about what it takes and what it means to join our team of independent auditors..

What does it mean to be an auditor with HQAI?

Auditors are the backbone of HQAI and are often our most visible representatives. We value their work and we are very attentive to the recruitment and training process of auditors. Auditors conduct third-party audits as per HQAI’s independent quality assurance procedures and the requirements of the applicable standards.

We operate with a pool of independent auditors who are registered with HQAI, which means that they have successfully completed HQAI-specific training (see chapter 4). Our auditors are qualified professionals from different backgrounds and with different experiences as auditors and/or in the humanitarian and development sector. HQAI offers regular opportunities for trainings and joint auditor meetings (virtual and online) to foster exchange and mutual learning.

Auditors working with HQAI are active members of the humanitarian and development eco-system. Through the audits, they have unique opportunities to thoroughly assess organisations of different sizes and types, in various contexts. Auditors travel to different countries and locations for onsite visits as part of the audit process. HQAI has security policies in place and offers its auditors comprehensive travel and risk insurance. HQAI has policies & procedures for the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, which all auditors are required to adhere to.

Audits assignments are managed by HQAI Secretariat. HQAI will assign you to a certain number of audits per year taking into account auditor availability, any potential conflict of interest, training and development needs. Subject to demand, we expect auditors to undertake 2 audit assignments per year.

HQAI currently pays auditors between 300CHF and 600CHF per day. Individual rates depend on a number of different factors, including experience auditing with HQAI and consistent demonstration of required technical and behavioural competencies.

The number of days per audit depends largely on the size of the audited organisation and type of audit (initial, renewal or maintenance). These may vary between 4 days (for maintenance audits) to 20+ days (for initial and renewal audits).

Auditor profile

Behavioural Competencies:

HQAI auditors must uphold HQAI values and recognised auditing principles. Through the selection process we will ensure that successful applicants are able to demonstrate the following behavioural competencies:

Ethical, i.e. fair, truthful, sincere, honest and discreet
Open-minded, i.e. willing to consider alternative ideas or points of view
Diplomatic, i.e. tactful in dealing with people
Perceptive and observant, i.e. instinctively aware of and able to understand situations
Decisive, i.e. reaches timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis
Impartial and objective, i.e. ability to make unbiased audit observations and conclusions
Professional, i.e. exhibiting a courteous, conscientious and generally business-like conduct in the workplace.

Experience:

Auditors with HQAI should have:

At least 10 years’ work experience in the humanitarian & development sector implementing quality or accountability management systems; or, as an auditor using ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 37001, ISAE 3000, institutional donors’ due diligence assessments and/or other relevant quality management system standards.
Have experience working in a variety of countries and in different contexts.
Auditors need to be able to prove their status as independent consultant. We request that candidates provide two credentials from previous recent employment positions or consulting assignments.

HQAI is currently developing its capacity to audit against new sets of standards and core donor due diligence criteria. Applications from consultants with proven financial auditing experience will be given priority.

Skills:

We require auditors to have the skills to:

Apply audit principles, procedures and techniques;
Plan and organise their work effectively so as to conduct the audits within the agreed schedules;
Prioritise and focus on matters of significance while collecting information through effective interviewing, listening, observing and reviewing documents, records and data;
Apply a risk approach to the audits and understand the appropriateness and consequences of using sampling techniques;
Verify the accuracy of collected information, and ensure the sufficiency and appropriateness of audit evidence to support audit findings and conclusions;
Assess effectively all factors that can affect the reliability of the audit findings and conclusions;
Communicate effectively with all stakeholders involved in each audit.

Furthermore, applicants must be highly proficient in spoken and written English. French, Spanish, Arabic and other languages are a plus. Priority will be given to candidates who are fluent in English and one or more other languages.

Becoming an HQI auditor

Becoming an HQAI auditor is a multistep process:

Step 1: Enrolment

Applicants send a registration form with a cover letter explaining their interest in becoming an HQAI auditor, as well as a current CV and two references from previous employment or consultancy positions.

Step 2:

Selected applicants will be invited to share a short video telling us how their skills and experience equip them to become an HQAI auditor.

Step 3: Training Pre-requisites

Selected candidates will be asked to:

Provide proof of successful completion of an internationally recognised ISO 19011 Lead Auditor course; - course duration approximately 3h. We recommend https://www.sae.org/learn/content/PD531952C/
(if you want to use another training please check with HQAI if it would be accepted).
Note that proven experience as management system auditor, finance auditor or similar can be taken into account in replacement of this requirement.
Read and understand the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability - https://handbook.hspstandards.org/en/chs/2024/#ch001.
Participate in HQAI’s on-line introductory course on the CHS:2024 (1 day) and pass a summative test. Success in the test will be required for registration to HQAI’s online auditor training.

Step 4: HQAI online training

Successfully complete an online auditor training which will be delivered through a number of self-paced e-learning modules and participation in on-line discussions and live exercises facilitated by HQAI. You will be assessed through a variety of ways including interactive tests, observation and module completion.
Only those who pass the tests at the designated levels can continue their training through audit practice, under the supervision of HQAI senior auditors.
We cannot guarantee that all candidates will be successful. The decision of HQAI is final.

Step 5: Practical training

Put your training into practice as a trainee auditor in at least one CHS audit for HQAI, under the supervision of an experienced HQAI senior auditor. The senior auditor will observe and assess your performance and report back.
HQAI decides whether to register you as an HQAI auditor and add you to the Auditor Pool.

Registration

Summary cost of the training path

External ISO19011 e-learning: 199 USD
HQAI online training (including introductory course on CHS): 950 CHF

If costs are a barrier for you, please contact HQAI secretariat to discuss options.

If you wish to register for the training, please contact HQAI’s Quality Assurance Assistant:

Alba Shopi

Registrations are accepted until 20 September, 2024

The ISO 19011 module and CHS module (dates tbc) must be taken before October 25, 2024.

Confirmation of the registration in the online training will be provided at the latest by November 01 2024.

The online auditor training will take place between 01-30 November with participative sessions scheduled in the weeks of 18-22 November and 25-29 November 2024. Session times to be confirmed by 27 September.

Details of the online training

The training is designed as a blend of self-paced e-learning, background reading, group discussions as well as practical team exercises. It aims to develop key practical aspects of auditing methodologies and puts learning into practice through case studies, group work and exercises. The course tutors are senior HQAI auditors and bring real-life auditing experience into the training.

Course content:

Planning for a successful audit;
HQAI’s adaptation of Auditing Management Systems (ISO 19011) approaches;
How to tailor an audit to an organisation ( scoping and profiling);
Risk-based and inclusive approaches and techniques;
Collection, review and analysis of evidence;
Techniques of interview, focus groups and sampling of documents;
Interpretation of the standard (CHS:2024);
Reporting on initial and surveillance audits;
HQAI Ways of Working;
Case studies and practical exercises.

You will be tested during and at the end of the training through exercises which simulate real audit situations. This is the opportunity to assess your ability to put knowledge into practice, your skills, and ability to communicate clear findings and conclusions based on objective evidence.

After successfully completing this training, you will be registered as an HQAI auditor. This means you are eligible to join audit teams, working with a senior auditor.