Tax Manager in West Bromwich

WORKING PATTERN: Hybrid, Minimum 60% (or three days)

Working with: All LDC groups and offices

As the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, LDC supports management teams across the UK to fulfil their growth ambitions and build great businesses. Since 1981, LDC has invested in more than 700 SME and mid-market businesses, including £3.7bn invested to back 175+ management teams over the last ten years.

Reporting to the Head of Tax, the Tax Specialist role will manage the tax and structuring aspects of investment transactions, support prudent tax management and serve as an adviser and sounding board for tax matters arising across our 90+ portfolio companies. The role involves collaborating closely with investment teams across all of LDC's offices, as well as teams in Finance and Legal, our value creation partners and other groups across the organisation.

The Tax function plays a well-established role in supporting investment value and contributing to the development of prudent, pro-active tax management across our investee companies. The successful candidate will play a full part in these longer-term governance and infrastructure initiatives, as well as managing a transactional portfolio.

The role would suit someone currently in an advisory role and looking to broaden their experience by moving in-house while retaining exposure to a broad cross-section of sectors, transactions and issues. It would also suit someone who is already in-house and looking for greater responsibility, or more direct engagement with investee companies and the variety of interesting issues that they encounter. As part of a small team, an inquisitive mind and a determined and questioning personality are important - you will be expected to challenge what you are told so that our decision-making is robust.

As part of Lloyds Banking Group, LDC follows HMRC's Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks, as well as the Group's Tax Strategy, informing our values-driven approach to managing tax. SMEs are getting to grips, and more, with the demands and opportunities provided by ESG and LDC actively supports those efforts - the successful candidate will contribute to our work in this interesting area.

Responsibilities

• Manage tax and structuring aspects of acquisitions, reorganisations and disposals, supported by external advisers.
• Support portfolio company transactions and initiatives e.g. bolt-on acquisitions, MIPs and refinancings.
• Identify and pursue opportunities to protect and increase investment value, helping to improve portfolio companies' tax control environment and reduce uncertainties and risks.
• Advise on tax across LDC and help to develop tax awareness within the organisation.
• Engage directly with portfolio companies on tax governance, tax risk management, development projects and ad hoc tax-related queries and discussions.
• Support the provision of accurate and robust tax information to LDC's investor.
• Contribute to prudent tax management across LDC and its portfolio.
• Manage and build productive relationships with external advisers.

Indicative

• Six-plus years of corporate tax experience, including substantial exposure to structuring, due diligence and execution of transactions in a UK private equity context.
• Inquisitiveness required to delve into and understand a changing menu of issues.
• Determination needed to query information and opinions to arrive at robust decisions.
• Diplomacy necessary to achieve these objectives while supporting a range of stakeholders.
• Can-do attitude, willing to take on a broad range of tasks and projects.
• Structured approach to organising and prioritising a range of work - as well as initiating projects and anchoring them you will need to be able to see them through to completion.
• Able to communicate with precision, conviction and concision.
• Confidence to operate at different levels within organisations, from interacting directly with senior management to managing input from junior advisers.
• Energised by the prospect of being part of several project teams at any one time, and contributing to a variety of objectives within those teams.

Beneficial

• Experience of working with SMEs or entrepreneurs, particularly in relation to management incentive plans and/or other transactional contexts.
• Familiarity with M&A and other transactional documentation, investment agreements, capital tables, partnership fund structures and VAT.
• Some exposure to international tax matters and cross-border transactions.

We are an equal opportunity employer and deeply value diversity within our organisation. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.