Head of Corporate Tax - Advisory in Manchester

Performance based incentive of up to 50% of basic salary. Potential total earnings of £135,000–£172,500.

Corporate Tax in this firm is not a role built around routine compliance, recurring deadlines and waiting for the client’s next instruction. It is an opportunity to advise founders and privately owned groups on the decisions that shape how their businesses grow, change ownership and create value, while leading the development of a Corporate Tax department within one of the UK’s most ambitious independent advisory firms.

The firm is a high-growth, entrepreneur-led tax and strategic advisory business working with successful founders, privately owned businesses and high-net-worth individuals across the UK and internationally. It is creating four specialist tax departments covering Corporate Tax, M&A Tax, International Tax and Private Client Tax. Each department will be led by its own Head of Department, reporting to the Tax Director and supported by Managers, Assistant Managers and Associates.

An established tax advisory team is already delivering complex work for the firm’s existing clients. The Corporate Tax department now needs senior leadership to develop its proposition and help clients make better decisions across growth, ownership, structure and succession.

The firm has doubled its revenue in each of the past four years and is continuing to invest significantly in its leadership, specialist teams and wider advisory capability. Its ambition is to become recognised within the next three years as a leading independent alternative to the Big Four for successful founders, privately owned businesses and high-net-worth clients.

The objective is to combine exceptional technical advice with commercial thinking, faster decisions and direct access to senior advisers. The firm is building its services around what clients are asking for, rather than simply repeating the traditional accountancy model.

The network surrounding the firm is one of the most distinctive parts of the opportunity. The owner is currently launching a paid, selective private members’ club for successful founders and entrepreneurs. Membership is for business owners whose companies generate at least £1 million of EBITDA, and the club already has a waiting list. Members will receive direct access to the tax advisory team alongside private dinners, high-profile speakers and exceptional UK and international experiences.

The firm also has an established relationship with a private wealth-management business overseeing approximately £4 billion of assets. The owner has personally created and organised an exclusive upcoming event on Sir Richard Branson’s private Necker Island. It sold out within two weeks, generated an extensive waiting list and will bring together entrepreneurs representing approximately £3 billion in combined wealth.

These relationships create access to successful business owners at the moments when they are making important decisions about growth, ownership, structure and wealth. For the Head of Corporate Tax, that means building trusted relationships with the people behind the businesses and becoming involved while decisions are being shaped.

Your role will be to lead Corporate Tax advisory work for founders, shareholders and privately owned groups. This could include group reorganisations, ownership structures, acquisitions and disposals, investment, succession planning, exit preparation and the wider tax implications of significant changes in a business.

The work will involve more than identifying the technical answer. You will help clients understand their options, weigh the commercial consequences and put the right structure in place. You will lead complex assignments from initial discussion through to implementation, maintaining technical quality while ensuring the advice remains practical and relevant to the client’s wider objectives.

Alongside client delivery, you will own the direction, development and performance of the Corporate Tax department. You will help shape its proposition, methodology and standards, develop Managers, Assistant Managers and Associates, and work closely with the M&A Tax, International Tax, Private Client Tax and wider Strategic and Business Advisory teams.

Corporate Tax sits at the centre of many of the decisions entrepreneurial clients are making. A business may be preparing for investment, restructuring its group, acquiring another company, planning a sale or considering how ownership should pass to the next generation. The tax advice needs to reflect the commercial objective, the people involved and the wider personal consequences.

You will work directly with founders and decision-makers, often at an earlier stage of the process than would be typical in a traditional compliance-led environment. The private members’ club, wealth-management relationship and wider advisory platform create a broader context for those relationships. The opportunity is to help shape a Corporate Tax service that is connected to the business and personal decisions clients are already making.

A practice background is essential. You will bring substantial Corporate Tax advisory experience, strong technical judgement and a clear understanding of how corporate tax interacts with growth, ownership, investment and succession. You will be confident speaking directly with founders, shareholders and other senior decision-makers, translating complex technical matters into clear, commercially useful advice.

You should also be ready to contribute beyond individual assignments: developing people, improving the proposition and helping build a specialist department within a growing firm. If you want your next move to offer interesting clients, greater influence and the opportunity to help shape what comes next, please get in touch for a confidential conversation.