---
title: 'IT Audit Project Lead at McMaster-Carr'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/it-audit-project-lead-mcmaster-carr-chicago-xj5ttrefh4yw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# IT Audit Project Lead at McMaster-Carr

- **Company:** McMaster-Carr
- **Location:** Chicago, IL
- **Posted:** 2026-04-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mcmastercarr/jobs/4063656009

## Job description

## Who We Are

McMaster-Carr is a leading e-commerce company that industrial customers have trusted for over 120 years. Our products help them get manufacturing lines back up quickly, keep operations running smoothly, and prototype the next generation of innovative solutions. We earn and keep that trust by offering the right products, making them easy to find, and delivering them fast, so customers can solve problems with greater speed, precision, and ease.

Our industry-leading e-commerce experience, indispensable product selection, and world-class service bring hundreds of thousands of customers to mcmaster.com each day. But we're never standing still. Curious, exceptional people are at the heart of our evolution. They turn new challenges and disruptive technologies into opportunities to refine our operations, expand our offering, and deliver a better experience for every customer.

## What You'll Do

As a member of the IT Audit team, you’ll work closely with teams across our Technology organization to learn about our custom systems and assess McMaster‑Carr’s IT security controls. Our internal audit team brings creativity and critical thinking to each project while building strong relationships with technology leaders. While we use leading enterprise security tools, the vast majority of the systems that run our business are custom‑built and continuously evolving—requiring auditors to apply security principles and professional judgment rather than relying on standardized, checklist‑based assessments. Because of this bespoke environment, assessing controls requires a strong foundation in security principles and the curiosity to learn about and assess the company’s practices for meeting its security goals.

As an integral member of our internal audit team, you'll play a key role in high-impact work.

- Conduct audits independently from planning through reporting. Communicate findings and recommendations clearly and focus on helping teams strengthen security and operations.  You’ll serve as a risk and controls expert, partnering with Technology leaders to assess the effectiveness of IT security controls that protect the business.
- Build trusted partnerships with technology leaders. While you’ll gain exposure to many different teams, you'll frequently work with members of the security, mainframe, and infrastructure teams. By gaining and demonstrating an understanding of their systems and tools, you’ll develop trust with the subject matter experts and enable collaboration that makes deep audit work possible.
- Develop deep knowledge of McMaster-Carr's custom-built systems. From McMaster.com to payment processing to internal infrastructure, you’ll devise practical test plans to assess how controls protect the business. You'll work directly with subject matter experts to understand which servers handle sensitive data, how access is controlled, and how encryption is applied at each stage.
- Use critical thinking in the application of security frameworks to our technology environment. Whether assessing our security controls holistically or completing the PCI assessment of credit card data flows, we carefully consider our internal context and the intended security goal of the relevant framework to determine whether our processes align with the framework’s guidance.
- Help shape a growing IT audit function by influencing audit topics, following curiosity into new areas, and connecting insights across engagements.

## Who You Are

We are seeking bright, curious, and ambitious individuals eager to make an impact. Ideal candidates have:

- 5+ years of relevant work experience, including at least 3 years in an audit role, with recent experience auditing security controls
- A 4-year degree
- A certification in audit or cybersecurity
- Experience assessing security controls, with working knowledge of topics such as firewalls and network segmentation, incident response management, security configurations, logging and monitoring, backup and recovery practices, and user access management
- The ability to engage quickly with unfamiliar technology environments, ask astute questions, and apply audit judgment in settings without rigid policies or standard playbooks
- Exceptional communication and analytical skills--able to synthesize technical concepts, explain risk clearly, and connect ideas across different audits and systems

## Benefits

Cash Compensation

Total cash compensation generally ranges from $200,000 - $259,000 and includes profit sharing based on company performance.

Growth & Learning

- 100% tuition reimbursement
- Informal and formal mentorship
- Employee resource groups

Health & Wellbeing

- Medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision plans with no monthly premiums
- Inclusive, all-gender benefits

Family & Future

- Paid parental leave for all new parents
- Adoption and surrogacy assistance
- First-time home buyer assistance
- Industry-leading company-funded retirement accounts

Time Off

- Paid vacation and personal time

## Equal Opportunity Employer

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and dedicated to providing employees a workplace with reasonable accommodations and free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. At McMaster-Carr, we do not make employment decisions based on age, ethnicity, citizenship status, military status, gender identity and expression, race, religion, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected group.

This position is not eligible for work authorization sponsorship by McMaster-Carr.

Data We Collect

We may collect professional, education and employment-related data, and any assessments made throughout the recruiting process, to evaluate candidacy for employment. To communicate with job applicants, we may collect applicant names, contact information, and other personal identifiers, including those outlined in the California customer records statute. Through voluntary disclosure, we may also collect protected classifications under federal or California law (e.g., race, gender, etc.). For additional details about the personal information we collect and its uses, please click [here](https://www.mcmaster.com/cpra_job_applicant_notification/).

## About McMaster-Carr

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: McMaster-Carr is a privately held e-commerce and catalog company that supplies over 600,000 industrial products to businesses for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO).
- **Entity Type**: Private (family-owned, bootstrapped)
- **Headquarters**: Elmhurst, Illinois, USA
- **Founded**: 1901
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed (family‑owned business)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Industrial supplies & equipment distribution (MRO)
- **Target customers**: B2B – engineers, maintenance teams, purchasing agents, and manufacturing/construction firms (small businesses to large enterprises)
- **Mission / purpose**: To be the complete, one‑stop source for industrial supplies, delivering high‑quality products with fast, reliable service. (Paraphrased from the company’s stated focus on “handpick[ing] every product” and shipping 98% of orders from stock the same day.)

## Products & Services
- **Industrial Supply Catalog**: Over 600,000 SKUs covering fasteners, raw materials, plumbing, electrical, safety equipment, precision tools, and more. Offered as a SaaS‑like web platform with CAD downloads, material certificates, and 3D models.
- **Same‑Day / Next‑Day Delivery**: 98% of orders ship from stock at standard rates, with same‑day or next‑day delivery to many U.S. locations.
- **In‑House Software & Technology**: Custom‑built e‑commerce engine, inventory management, distribution automation, and mobile applications developed by internal engineering teams.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue is not publicly reported; industry estimates often place it in the $3–5 billion range, but the company does not confirm figures.
- **Notable Investors**: None (family‑owned; no external funding raised)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Active hiring across six U.S. facilities (Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Princeton, Fort Worth) for roles in software engineering, distribution automation, customer solutions, and management.
  - Expanding its technology team with focus on automation, data centers, and mobile app development.
  - Recently posted openings for “Automation Engineering Manager” and “CMMS Engineer,” indicating investment in warehouse and process automation.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Massive Catalog & Fast Fulfillment**: Unmatched breadth of inventory (600k+ products) combined with near‑universal in‑stock availability and same‑day shipping—a difficult combination for competitors to replicate.
- **In‑House Technology**: All software (e‑commerce, distribution, logistics) is built and maintained internally, giving McMaster‑Carr tight integration and the ability to rapidly iterate.
- **Strong Supplier Relationships & Quality Control**: Products are hand‑picked and verified; material certificates and traceability are standard.
- **Engineering‑First Culture**: Technology teams are highly autonomous and work on challenging projects (warehouse robotics, high‑performance web apps, data center design).

## Strategic Focus
- **Automation & Distribution Efficiency**: Investing heavily in automated material handling, robotics, and facility reliability to maintain speed and accuracy as order volumes grow.
- **Technology Talent Development**: Growing the software engineering and IT teams to support custom development of internal tools, customer‑facing platforms, and infrastructure.
- **Geographic Expansion**: Operations centers in five major U.S. regions (plus the Chicago HQ) to provide fast delivery nationwide; newer facilities in Fort Worth and Princeton signal continued geographic scaling.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Values**: Emphasizes “capability, not skill”—hiring curious people who can grow across roles. Strong inclusion and diversity programs, prayer/meditation spaces, all‑gender restrooms, mentoring groups.
- **Work Model**: Hybrid for many tech roles (typically 3 days on‑site per week); distribution and customer‑facing roles are generally on‑site. Remote flexibility varies by position.
- **Compensation & Benefits**:
  - No‑monthly‑premium medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision plans for employees and dependents.
  - Generous profit sharing and company‑funded retirement accounts.
  - 100% tuition reimbursement, adoption/surrogacy assistance, paid parental leave.
  - First‑time home‑buyer assistance, financial counselors, and college assistance for dependents.
- **Engineering Culture**: Engineers work on diverse projects (web, mobile, data centers, automation) with support for learning through reading groups, guilds, and technical leadership tracks.

## Sources
1. [mcmaster.com/careers](https://www.mcmaster.com/careers)
2. [mcmaster.com](https://www.mcmaster.com/)
3. [builtin.com/company/mcmaster-carr](https://builtin.com/company/mcmaster-carr)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/mcmastercarr](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/mcmastercarr/jobs/4088048009)

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