Head of Tax Knowledge

Mercer & Hole is a leading accountancy practice ranked among the top 50 in the industry, dedicated to professional development and excellence in all our services. We offer comprehensive accounting, tax, and advisory services to a diverse range of clients. As we continue to expand, we are looking for a dynamic and experienced Head of Tax Knowledge to join our team. This role is crucial for ensuring technical excellence in our advice and in the training of our staff.

Main duties:

• Establish and lead a tax knowledge team across the private client & trusts as well as the wider tax teams.
• Work with the L&D team to understand and shape the training programme for all grades across tax and agree what will be delivered internally and via external third parties.
• Deliver training to the team as part of the L&D programme and in relation to ad‑hoc legislative changes, e.g., after Budget Day or when draft legislation or consultations are published as Teams meetings that are recorded so all offices can attend.
• Be responsible for the annual Tax Day working.
• Create a thought leadership programme of external content in conjunction with Marketing and the relevant partners.
• Attend relevant external tax technical committees as agreed.
• Create a framework to share knowledge internally, both within tax and the wider firm.
• Be responsible for ensuring that internal standard appendices are kept up‑to‑date.
• Provide deep specialist advice on our most complex clients.
• Act as a ‘partner sign‑off’ where appropriate.
• Be responsible for cold and hot reviews across tax.
• Agree ‘house views’ on key risk areas and provide training to the teams to ensure consistency such as FICs, EOTs.
• Have oversight of the compliance cycle and agree on technical areas of risk to ensure that these are adequately managed.
• Review tax protocols and create tax principles and tax risk framework in consultation with the tax partners.
• Be responsible for the internal and external response to the Budget alongside marketing and the relevant tax partner.
• Speak at external conferences as and when required.

Location: This role will be based in our London office, you will be required to be in the office 60% of the time.

Qualifications & Experience:

• A levels and Degree qualified.
• Professional qualification such as ACA, CTA, STEP or a legal qualification within private client, ideally some in practice as well as within a knowledge team.
• Deep specialist tax knowledge across private client and trusts.
• Proven experience in a similar role within an accountancy practice or financial services firm.
• Demonstrable evidence of achieving results by working through others – this is a strategic role to have oversight of the training we offer, supporting those ‘on the ground’.
• Excellent influencing, presentation and communication skills.
• Strong organisational and project management skills.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

Software used: MS Suite software, Outlook, PeopleHR, Teams, Zoom, Alphatax, CCH.

Values and behaviours:

• Together – The firm with the family feel. Express gratitude. Smile. Be humble and confident. Have fun.
• Resilient – Change is imminent, and business is imperfect. Be open minded & agile. Assume positive intent and exercise the power of positive thinking.
• Understanding – Each individual matters and will be heard and respected. Honesty, integrity, empathy and kindness are fundamental.
• Supportive – We support what is important to you and show kindness in our behaviour to each other. We encourage each other to realise our potential.
• Thrive! – We strive to be the best, innovate and always do exceptional work. That’s who we are and what our clients deserve.

Seniority level: Director

Employment type: Full‑time

Job function: Accounting/Auditing and Finance

Industries: Accounting