Tax Disputes Lead – Associate Director

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world. We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

Our Tax team thrives on keeping busy. Friendly, driven and diverse, they service our clients across the country and around the world. By providing expertise in many different specialist areas of tax, they collaborate across BDO to deliver wider business solutions. From meeting clients’ evolving business needs to managing changes to legislation, there are always fresh challenges to face in the Tax team. If you’re after a career that will keep you on your toes, we’ll give you the autonomy to drive your career forward.

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

As an Associate Director, you will be responsible for managing a portfolio of clients and for the timely delivery of services. You will also support Partners/Directors with complex HM Revenue & Customs enquiries and voluntary disclosures to ensure a satisfactory settlement is negotiated between the client and H M Revenue & Customs. You will be expected to contribute toward marketing and business development initiatives and build sustainable internal and external client relationships.

• Be a stakeholder in the delivery of the Tax strategic framework by involvement with team's strategy in conjunction with Partners/Directors.
• Manage the everyday running of the HM Revenue & Customs enquiries or disclosure for a portfolio of clients.
• Prepare investigation and disclosure reports, including all computational aspects of the report, for submission to the HMRC Specialist Investigations, working directly to a Partner and delegating appropriate tasks to junior staff.
• Liaise directly with clients, contacts and other parties to ensure work is completed and produced according to the desired timescales.
• Prepare agendas for all meetings with clients and/or H M Revenue & Customs and ensure that all points are followed up after the meeting.
• Prepare work plans and liaise with the partner/director to ensure that the report covers all areas included in the work plan.
• Take part in the negotiation of the settlement either directly or by providing the partner with an aide memoir in relation to the details of the case and the specific technical arguments that are likely to arise.
• Recruit, retain, develop and motivate the team's junior employees. This includes participating in recruitment, ensuring job appraisal documentation is completed within deadlines, and ensuring appropriate objectives and development plans are in place for counselees.
• Manage the billing and collection in respect of each client in their portfolio.
• Identify and recognise business and sales opportunities and inform the Partner/Director and client as appropriate.
• Maintain a network of professional and business contacts.
• Act as an ambassador of the firm, participate in marketing events, keep abreast of the wide range of services the firm offers and suggest innovative products and services.

• CTA/ACA/ACCA qualified (or overseas equivalent), or relevant work experience within HM Revenue & Customs.
• Demonstrable post qualified experience across all aspects of tax dispute resolution.
• Strong experience of HMRC enquiries and voluntary disclosures.
• Report writing and tax computational experience.
• Excellent client relationship, project management and business management skills.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office.
• Previous people management experience with the ability to develop team members.
• Highly collaborative and a team player.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to the business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer every colleague the opportunity to work in ways that suit you, your teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy. Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.