Tax Manager in London

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

British Council Pay band: 8

Benefits Include, but are not limited to:

Department: Finance

Contract type : Indefinite (permanent)

Closing Date : Sunday 7th of July, 2024 ( 23:59 GMT)

Location : UK Wide (Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester or London)

You must have the legal right to work in the UK at the time of application.

  British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service. This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

Role Purpose:

Reporting to the Group Tax Manager, the role-holder will play a key role in supporting the Group Tax Manager on all Direct (e.g., Corporation Tax, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, etc.) tax initiatives across the UK and International Regions and Countries covering strategic developments in tax policies, processes, procedures, and systems. This will include contributing to mitigation of global tax risks and ensuring complex operations globally are managed tax efficiently, delivering opportunities for future growth in the scope of operations and new initiatives.

This role will require a person with strong knowledge of large international organisations with multiple product / service channels and with solid experience in coordinating and sharing tax best practice with Regions and Countries.

The role-holder will be a forward looking, innovative and commercial thinking finance professional. He/ She will have the ability to organize, articulate and analyse financial and tax information and produce valuable input to the organization into minimizing tax risk and maximising financial surpluses which need to be managed extremely carefully as the Council undergoes transformation changes.

Role Context:

Group Tax and Status is a specialist team within the wider group finance function, reporting to the Chief Financial Officer.

The international tax specialists in the team provide advice on direct and indirect tax matters to the wider finance function and leaders of strategic business units, manage global tax risks and support group reporting obligations for corporate income tax and transfer pricing. The team also includes UK VAT compliance specialists and finance business partners who support the finance aspects of setting up new entities overseas.

Whilst day to day overseas tax compliance is the responsibility of regional finance colleagues, the Group Tax team provides specialist tax support to regional finance colleagues when new overseas entities are being established, there are major tax changes in overseas jurisdictions or there are challenging fiscal audits requiring specialist input.

In recent years, the group tax charge has become a material item for group reporting purposes. Also, in response to BEPS and other international tax developments, the group is subject to increasingly onerous tax reporting obligations and transfer pricing compliance requirements in multiple jurisdictions.

The successful candidate will be part of a specialist team within the organisation, the Status & Tax Workstream, which continues to review the appropriateness of our corporate status in overseas territories as activities evolve and in response to local regulatory requirements. The Tax Manager will work with external advisers, global network colleagues and head office specialists in legal, finance systems, treasury, and governance on the taxation aspects of country-specific projects to design and implement new status solutions as required.

The support needs of the British Council are changing continually as its business model and distribution channels becomes more complicated and onerous in terms of compliance. This will require people who embrace change and seek continual service improvements and personal career development aspirations.

Main Accountabilities/Responsibilities but not limited to the following:

Consultancy, analysis, and problem solving.

Strategy and Planning

Leadership

Relationship and Stakeholder Management

Sector/subject expertise

Provide direct tax advice for the benefit of global finance colleagues and Strategic Business Units leads in relation to tax structuring of intra-group transactions and new business opportunities.

Role Specific Knowledge and Experience:

Minimum/essential

T echnical knowledge

Specific experience

Desirable experience:

Technical knowledge

Specific experience

Professional Qualification and Certification

CTA, ADIT or ATT qualification with Chartered Institute of Taxation or equivalent professional body.

Desirable - Membership/fellowship of one of the following

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement