Q&A with Charlotte Gillanders, Rising Star Audit & Risk Award winner
Charlotte Gillanders, internal audit manager at Santander, won the 2024 Rising Star Audit & Risk Award. Who is she and what did she do to make her stand out as a future leader?
After joining Santander’s internal audit graduate scheme straight after university in 2019, Charlotte Gillanders showed immediate promise. Janette Taylor, Head of Professional Practices, Internal Audit, who nominated her for the Audit & Risk Award said: “She has shown the ability to learn quickly, rise to challenges and consistently delivers above and beyond our expectations… She has strong risk awareness and can develop an understanding of the business involved in an audit very quickly. She has demonstrated her ability to create good stakeholder relationships and very confidently leads challenging conversations with senior stakeholders in a professional manner.”
She was recently promoted to Internal Audit Manager working on operational and economic crime risk, is a “scrum master” to internal audit teams, and is a key member of Santander’s Internal Audit Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Council. Over the past 18 months, she has developed a series of workshops covering key skills, such as “using emails”, “managing stakeholders” and “meeting etiquette and feedback”. She engaged colleagues to collate ideas and developed training materials, as well as presenting two of the sessions herself and leading a panel discussion to gain insights from senior colleagues. The sessions were successful and led to demands for more.
Why did you choose to go into internal audit?
My degree was in business management at the University of Liverpool and I spent a year working for PwC as part of that. This was in an HR role, but it opened my eyes to the various types of role in professional services. It also helped that my mother is a former internal auditor and she told me that it gave her a great basis for her career and was a route into different teams. This was important to me, so I applied for internal audit graduate schemes, because I wanted to gain an overview of all the parts of the business.
How much did you know about the profession?
Not much. I had the common misconception that it would involve analysing financial statements with a focus on financial risk. Many of those who advised me were out of date because so much has changed since they started their careers. My mother’s experience in internal audit began some time ago when things were done very differently, and she has since been involved in HR and payroll audits, which I don’t cover in the Operations & Economic Crime risk team that I work in. I was surprised at all the other elements, such as communication, that are essential.
Initially, I thought internal audit would be a stepping stone that would help me to understand the whole business and decide where I wanted to work in future. I found that I really enjoy the variety of the role and I know there’s lots more for me to learn here.
Why did you choose to go into banking?
I wanted a role that helped customers who I could visualise. I’m interested in debt financing and helping businesses to grow, but also in personal finance, offering advice and planning. The new Consumer Duty obligations mean that the impact of our work on customers and their experiences are more important than ever in all our audits, so we have a direct impact.
Why did you get involved in the DEI Council?
I am interested in how we develop soft skills and boost inclusion – especially after the Covid lockdowns. Members of my family are neuro-divergent, so I wanted to be part of how we adapt our thinking about differences. I also wanted to help support people who joined our team, but who didn’t know people with experience of corporate life.
The Council is a space where we can get together and discuss thoughts and concerns. I was only six months into my first job when we went into the first Covid lockdown and I felt I missed the lessons you learn from being around experienced internal auditors. This is a place where we can share experiences and suggestions for dealing with people and maximising our impact. Building a rapport is essential if we are to work as effective advisers and I was pleased that senior managers also said they learned things in these workshops.
You qualified with the ICAEW last year. Do you plan to take internal audit qualifications?
I started my ICAEW training during Covid, because I wanted to use the time well and I knew about the qualification from my time at PwC. I’ve recently been promoted, so I need time to get into this role, but I’m looking into doing an internal audit qualification next year.
What did winning the Rising Star Award mean to you?
It’s been absolutely lovely. I didn’t know the award existed and I was surprised when a colleague said they wanted to nominate me. Winning totally exceeded any expectations. It was shared around the whole department and put me in contact with lots of people.
It also made me more motivated to go above and beyond my job description, because I’m so pleased that people were excited by the training and support I’ve been organising and that they’ve benefited from it. The best reward is to know that you’ve helped people and they’ve put this into practice. It’s made me think about what else I can do.
It was also amazing to have time with all those shortlisted for the awards. Being in a room of people who have been selected for demonstrating best practice is a great opportunity to learn from them, get ideas, network and add them to your connections. It creates a feeling of community and also gets you noticed.
What would you tell an 18-year-old planning to apply for an internal audit role?
I would tell them to keep an open mind. Internal audit gives you a rare opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of all the parts of the organisation and helps you build end-to-end understanding of the business. It opens doors to other functions, but is also a great long-term career because the variety just keeps coming.
Technology is making the profession ever more exciting. Even since I started, the tools for text analysis and matching data sets have transformed what we do. We can now do technical elements quickly and efficiently and move on to more interesting, impactful work and use our professional judgment to reach better conclusions. People entering the profession now will take this support for granted.
What would you look for in a new recruit?
Curiosity. Most of the role is about asking questions and spotting opportunities. Being able to read between the lines is also important – what are people not saying and what really matters? What I enjoy most in the job is talking to people, listening to their stories and helping them to improve things.
What others said about Charlotte Gillanders
Keith Burns, Director, Internal Audit
“Charlotte has always demonstrated her strong ability to network across the organisation and build relationships with individuals and teams across the bank. This is demonstrated through charity work she has done, but especially in respect of diversity and inclusion, for which she is a key proponent in the Internal Audit Division. Overall, I believe that Charlotte embodies the behaviours of a future leader by showing passion and enthusiasm
for everything she does, focussing on her own development whilst supporting others.”
Janette Taylor, Head of Professional Practices, Internal Audit
“Charlotte’s passion for helping others, sharing her time and skills, and recognising that inclusivity is so important makes Charlotte a role model for auditors. Seeing her deliver the D&I Workshops was a great example of how Charlotte has grown and developed over the last four years. She role-modelled the key behaviours by recognising a need, engaging the support of others – and leading the way to make a difference.
Judges’ comments
“I saw real future leadership ability here.”
“I liked the way she’s qualified and then started helping to develop others and her role supporting diversity, equality and inclusion more widely.”
“I appreciated the consistency of her hard work, the effort she puts in and her enthusiasm as well as her success.”
“Charlotte is involved in so many things. She’s really building up her experience.”
Entries for the 2025 Audit & Risk Awards close on Friday 28 February.