Our people
Spencer graduated from Leeds University in Management Studies and took his Masters in Computer Science at Birkbeck College. After working as a software developer for three years, he joined Risk Advisory Services in 2005.
“Wherever I’m working we tend to be in small teams. This gives you the chance to really get to know people and there’s a really friendly atmosphere in the office with lots of banter.”
A typical day for me would be spent at the client’s offices. I would probably have half the day in meetings with them planning the forthcoming review, and the other half interviewing staff and understanding how the business and computer systems operate. Typically I’ll meet with the Financial Director and Head of IT to discuss management controls, systems acquisitions and implementations.
You’ve got to be up for a challenge. Often you have to understand a whole computer system in just seven hours. That not only includes the computer system itself, but also how the company is run and all compliance issues that relate to it.
Within my first month I was working on a Sarbanes-Oxley job. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals, so compliance is crucial to our clients. By the end of my first year, I was conducting interviews and testing on-site without supervision. It’s a very steep learning curve but, with guidance from your manager and so much on-the-job training, you find yourself picking it up really quickly.
What I like best about this area is that it’s so dynamic. Nothing stays the same for very long and we constantly have to keep up with technological advancements.