Schemes Tax Director in London

As part of our growth strategy, we are looking to recruit an experienced Share Schemes Tax Advisory Director. The successful candidate will form part of the wider Saffery Corporate team and will be part of the tax advisory offering at Saffery. The role will involve helping our clients with a wide range of tax advisory projects including advising on transactions, undertaking tax due diligence, advising on corporate reorganisations, employee share incentives and interaction with fund principals. Work will be undertaken directly for tax partners in London as well as the regional offices. The candidate would also be encouraged to build their own relationships with both clients and other internal non‑tax partners and to work closely with other colleagues, in particular with the Corporate Finance team.

Responsibilities

• Work with our partners, to develop our go to market strategy;
• Lead on and collaborate with a diverse range of clients, including startups, growing entrepreneurial businesses, private family capital, large international groups, and investment funds;
• Advising client management teams and shareholders on designing and implementing employee share schemes including EMI, CSOP and growth shares;
• Contributing to tax due diligence projects, working closely with the corporate finance team and the employment tax and VAT teams;
• Advising on and assisting with the implementation of corporate reorganisations such as capital reduction and s110 demergers;
• Review of share purchase agreements, tax covenants and tax disclosure letters in connection with business acquisitions and disposals;
• Advising clients on the use of Employee Ownership Trusts;
• Preparing HMRC statutory and non‑statutory clearance applications;
• Advising on structuring international groups and cross border corporate transactions, including liaising with other firms in the Nexia network;
• Advising on structuring property acquisitions and disposals;
• Advising on the interpretation and application of double tax agreements in respect of corporate transactions;
• Liaising with tax compliance teams on follow‑up compliance work arising from transactions.

Although we are looking for a well‑rounded individual who can work alongside our clients and advise on a broad range of tax matters relevant to entrepreneurs, the ability to advise on share incentive schemes is of particular importance. In an ideal world the candidate would also have experience in preparing tax valuations for EMI options and growth shares, albeit valuation experience is not absolutely necessary for a successful candidate.

Qualifications

• An ability to provide advice and solutions to technical tax queries and interpret technical matters of varying complexity and communicate this information clearly to clients and other team members;
• Review and prepare advisory reports and correspondence on complex/technical tax matters;
• Strong UK tax technical skills and understanding;
• Project management skills, with the ability to plan and prioritise work, meet deadlines, monitor budgets;
• Provide feedback on the progress of work to those involved including clients, colleagues, and other advisers, keeping them informed of developments;
• Build and maintain relationships with clients and internal stakeholders;
• Client focus and commercial awareness;
• Commitment to building strong client relationship management with ability to develop quality outputs to clients;
• Excellent communication, both written and oral, in a range of situations and to a range of stakeholders;
• Ensure delivery of quality work and take day‑to‑day responsibility for projects.

Saffery LLP is an adviser to individuals and businesses across a range of sectors, providing market‑leading accountancy, audit, business advisory, tax and VAT services. Founded in 1855, we are the UK's 15th largest accountancy firm. When you work with us at Saffery, you work with people who know your name, not just a job title. We're a place shaped by friendly, intelligent people who are individually excellent and collectively exceptional. We're committed to our clients, but also to our greatest asset – our people.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion is a top priority for us. With our ED&I strategy, Everyone Belongs, we are building on our positive work culture and implementing initiatives to improve diversity and strengthen our equitable culture of inclusion, led from the top. In the UK, Saffery LLP is the 15th largest accountancy firm by fee income, with 90+ partners and 1,200+ staff across nine offices. Overseas, Saffery is represented in Cayman, Guernsey, Geneva, Zurich, Dublin and Dubai.