You are one of the few corporate officers that has both the ability and the responsibility to look across all of the management silos within the corporation and make sure that the system of internal controls has no gaps and that the control framework is continually reviewed to keep up with corporate strategic initiatives, reorganizations, and process changes.
When an auditor becomes part of management, the independent view is lost. Further, you are the independent eyes and ears of the audit committee around the organization. As you work throughout the organization, you know which managers and which projects are likely to entail greater weaknesses in controls.