Internal Controls & Business Process Consultant (contract position)

Temporary project-based consulting assignment, fixed-term format. Although the role is posted under Cyprus, we are open to candidates based in other locations. The engagement is fully remote, provided the candidate can support collaboration with stakeholders across relevant time zones. We are looking for an experienced Internal Controls & Business Process Consultant to perform risk assessment and design of internal control environments of recently acquired grocery retail businesses. The consultant will assess business processes and the internal control environment across four small-sized legal entities located in different countries. Each entity has its own IT environment, local reporting, personnel, financial systems, approval flows and operating procedures. The objective is to perform a structured risk assessment and Internal Control System assessment , identify and prioritize key control gaps based on risk exposure, and propose pragmatic remediation options aligned with the parent company’s reporting and compliance goals. This role requires hands-on experience with Internal Control Systems and risk-based control design, retail and e-commerce industry . SOX or COSO familiarity is a plus, but the focus is on pragmatic internal controls rather than formal SOX compliance. Key Responsibilities Develop an understanding of current business processes and IT environment. Conduct interviews with local stakeholders and relevant parent company functions to define internal controls requirements, including IT, finance, procurement, inventory, legal/compliance, HR, reporting, operations, communications (PR/GR) and requirements of system owners. Perform risk assessment and assess AS IS ITGCs and business control gaps across four legal entities. Prioritize identified risks and control gaps based on impact, likelihood, compliance/reporting relevance, and remediation complexity. Design pragmatic and risk-based TO BE controls for key business processes and IT environment, considering business maturity, effort, and operational feasibility. Develop remediation scenarios and recommendations, including trade-offs between speed, cost, complexity, risk reduction, and long-term scalability. Prepare a remediation plan for each legal entity with prioritized actions, dependencies, owners, and implementation considerations. Present findings and recommendations in a clear, structured, management-ready format. Skills, Knowledge and Expertise Proven experience with Internal Control Systems , internal controls design, control environment assessment, or risk-based control frameworks. Experience identifying control gaps and designing practical remediation actions for business processes. Strong understanding of how controls are embedded into daily operations, approval flows, reporting, reconciliations, system access, documentation, and segregation of duties. Experience with retail business and e-commerce processes, ideally grocery, dark stores, food delivery, e-commerce, marketplaces, or multi-location retail operations. Experience with process mapping, current-state assessment, gap analysis, and TO BE process/control design. Experience working with small or mid-sized businesses where processes may be local, manual, partially documented, or inconsistently applied. Strong stakeholder interviewing, workshop facilitation, analytical, documentation, and presentation skills. Ability to translate complex findings into clear, structured, executive-ready recommendations. Ability to prioritize risks and control gaps based on business impact, likelihood, compliance/reporting relevance, and remediation complexity. Practical mindset: ability to balance control requirements with business reality, cost, speed, and implementation effort. Preferred experience Post-acquisition assessment, M&A integration readiness, or control environment setup for acquired entities. Internal audit, external audit preparation, or audit readiness projects. Familiarity with SOX, COSO, or similar frameworks is a plus. Experience with ERP systems, accounting, reporting, procurement, contract management, workflow, or BI/DWH systems. Benefits Temporary project-based consulting assignment, part-time / fixed-term format.