SOX ITGC Lead

Job Family: JF-GOVCOMP — Governance & Compliance Job Level Range: L1-L4 (CERG Grade S1-S4/M3) CERG Canonical Role: SOX ITGC Lead (CERG-GOV-OM-001 §6.1)

1. Role Summary

The SOX ITGC Lead owns the organization’s IT General Controls compliance for Sarbanes-Oxley. They manage the ITGC control evidence, coordinate SOX audits, and ensure that financially relevant systems have documented, tested, and effective controls. They are the bridge between cybersecurity governance and financial audit.

2. NICE Workforce Framework Mapping

NICE Work Role Definition: See JF-002 for the official NICE Work Role definition and complete CERG-to-NICE mapping. The NICE TKS database is available at https://www.nist.gov/nice/framework/.

3. Job Family & Level Placement

4. Key Responsibilities

4.1 Core Responsibilities (All Grades)

• Own the SOX ITGC compliance program: control scoping, design assessment, operating effectiveness testing, and deficiency management - Maintain the SOX ITGC Operational Package: control matrix, test scripts, evidence requirements, and audit coordination materials - Manage the ITGC evidence library: ensure every in-scope control has current, testable evidence - Coordinate SOX ITGC audits: external auditor logistics, evidence production, walkthrough facilitation, and deficiency response - Track ITGC deficiencies: remediation plans, compensating controls, and retesting schedules - Partner with IT operations, application owners, and business process owners to ensure controls are designed and operated as documented - Integrate SOX ITGC requirements with the broader CERG control baseline and evidence library - Report ITGC compliance posture to the Governance Pillar Leader and CISO - Monitor changes to financially relevant systems and assess impact on the ITGC control scope

4.2 Grade-Level Responsibility Differentiation

Grade-level responsibility differentiation for this role is defined in JA-001 §7 (Role-to-Grade Mapping). The grade definitions (S1-S4 SME Track, M1-M4 Management Track) and leveling dimensions are in CERG-GOV-JA-001 §4-5. Behavioral anchors at each grade are in CMP-001.

5. Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

5.1 Domain Expertise

• Deep expertise in SOX ITGC requirements: access management, change management, computer operations, and program development controls - IT audit methodology: control design assessment, operating effectiveness testing, sampling, and deficiency evaluation - COSO and COBIT frameworks - External auditor coordination and relationship management - IT general controls across ERP systems, databases, operating systems, and network infrastructure - Integration of SOX ITGC with broader cybersecurity controls to avoid duplicate testing

5.2 Technical Skills

Technical skills for this role are documented in the original JD-001 content extracted into this file (see §5.1 Domain Expertise). Additional technical skill definitions aligned to NICE Skill Statements are maintained in JF-002.

5.3 CERG-Specific Knowledge

CERG-specific knowledge requirements for this role are defined in OM-001 §6 (Canonical Role Roster) and RAC-001 §7 (Role Descriptions). See §12 (Related CERG Documents) for the complete list of standards and procedures relevant to this role.

6. NICE TKS Statement References

The following Task, Knowledge, and Skill statements are extracted from the NIST NICE Framework v2.2.0 Work Role [OG-WRL-012 — SOX ITGC Lead primary mapping] and filtered by relevance to this CERG role. The full TKS database is maintained at https://www.nist.gov/nice/framework/.

Full TKS Reference: The complete TKS statement set for the primary NICE Work Role (OV-SCA-001 → OG-WRL-012) is in the NICE Framework Components v2.2.0 dataset (download). JF-002 contains the complete CERG-to-NICE crosswalk with secondary role mappings.

7. Typical Qualifications

7.1 Education

• 7-15+ years in IT audit, SOX compliance, or information security governance - Bachelor’s degree in accounting, information systems, or a related field - Relevant certifications: CISA, CISSP, CPA, or equivalent

7.2 Certifications

Certifications for this role are defined in TRN-001 §3 (Certification Matrix). The matrix specifies Required, Recommended, and Aspirational certifications per role and grade.

7.3 Experience

Typical experience ranges by grade are defined in JA-001 §4-5. See §7.1 (Education) above for education requirements.

8. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs for this role are defined in MTR-001 (Metrics, Dashboard, and CISO/Board Reporting). KPI allocation by job family and grade-level thresholds are documented in PERF-001. Each role’s evaluation criteria are embedded in the per-role JD document structure defined by JF-001.

9. Competency Expectations by Grade

Competency expectations for this role follow the Governance pillar behavioral anchors from CERG-GOV-CMP-001. Each cell describes observable behavior demonstrating the competency at that grade. Anchors are cumulative: an L3 expectation includes the L1 and L2 anchors.

Full Reference: See CERG-GOV-CMP-001 for the complete competency model, including the Management Track addendum (§7) and guidance on using the model for hiring, development, and promotion (§8).

10. Success Profile

A SOX ITGC Lead is successful when ITGC audits are boring — no material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, no surprises. Key indicators: control testing pass rates are above 90% with a clear trend line; control deficiencies are identified by internal testing before the external auditors find them; remediation plans for any control failures are documented and tracked; SOD conflicts are identified and remediated proactively. The lead ensures that ITGC is a well-oiled machine that the external auditors trust.

11. Career Path

11.1 Within-Family Progression

Within JF-GOVCOMP, this role can progress on either a senior SME path or a management path depending on organizational scale. The SME path follows L2/S2 through L4/S4 as the role gains deeper regulatory interpretation authority, audit representation capability, policy authorship, and cross-framework judgment. The management path generally runs from M1 to M3 when the role leads analysts, owns a compliance function, manages calendars and evidence operations, and contributes to budget and staffing decisions. See JF-001 §9.3 and JA-001 §7.4.

11.2 Cross-Family Movement

Cross-family movement options are defined in the Family-to-Family Career Lattice (JF-001 §4). The Left-Right Knowledge Model (FRM-001 §9.2) and cross-training expectations (OM-001 §10.4) operationalize cross-family career movement.

11.3 Management Track Option

At L3+ (SME track), a Management track option may be available per CERG-GOV-JA-001 §8.1 (SME to Management Transition). Readiness indicators include: consistently sought out for guidance by junior team members, leading cross-functional initiatives without formal authority, and communicating clearly with non-technical stakeholders. The transition is a track change, not a grade promotion — an S3 Advisor moving to M1 Manager carries their technical credibility into the management role. Management competencies are defined in CERG-GOV-CMP-001 §7. See CERG-GOV-JA-001 §5 for Management grade definitions (M1-M4) and §9 (Span of Control and Team Design) for when to create a management role.

12. Related CERG Documents

13. Document Control

Revision History

Review Triggers

• Change to this role’s definition in CERG-GOV-OM-001 §6.1
• Change to this role’s NICE Work Role mapping in JF-002
• Change to this role’s grade range in CERG-GOV-JA-001 §7
• Direction from the CISO

Governance owns this document. The Governance Pillar Leader (Policy & Standards) is responsible for initiating reviews, managing the revision cycle, and obtaining approval for all changes.

Related Documents

Source: roles/jf-govcomp/CERG-GOV-JD-GOVCOMP-003_SOX_ITGC_Lead.md · Download .md · View on GitHub