R&D Director

The successful candidate will be an experienced Research & Development tax credit professional joining fellow subject matter experts within Saffery’s Corporate Tax team. Serving a diverse client portfolio, spanning various business sectors, you will be leading opportunities to work on a wide range of R&D tax projects. As a senior member of our team, you will oversee more junior staff preparing R&D tax relief claims, ensuring compliance with R&D tax legislation and providing valuable expertise to our clients. You will actively be involved in marketing Saffery’s R&D offering and pitching for new opportunities. Although based in London, you will be supported by the national R&D team and involved in national R&D strategy as well as overseeing London clients.

The responsibilities include:

• Collaborate confidently and knowledgeably with senior colleagues across the R&D, corporate tax, audit, and accounts teams.
• Keep all relevant teams and partners informed about ongoing work and any issues, including technical updates, which may impact client relationships.
• Develop and maintain strong client relationships, delivering high levels of client service.
• Host client meetings and presentations, explaining our services effectively.
• Identify growth opportunities and participate in new business pitches for both new and existing clients.
• Manage and successfully deliver R&D tax projects, emphasising technical excellence and practical, business-driven solutions.
• Co‑ordinate and oversee interviews with clients' technical and finance teams, advising on R&D tax relief and qualifying R&D activities and expenditures.
• Review technical descriptions of client projects drafted by more junior team members for inclusion in reports to be submitted to HMRC, and edit client‑drafted descriptions for improvements.
• Review and sign‑off comprehensive documentation in line with UK BEIS guidelines and CIRD manual to support R&D claims while adhering to the firm’s quality standards.
• Contribute to claim methodology development and identify ways to improve the process to improve client service and recoveries.
• Lead R&D engagements, including cost monitoring, billing, risk management, deliverables, and client relationships.
• Be a source of technical expertise for both internal and client queries.
• Liaise with HMRC to address enquiries related to R&D tax relief claims.

We live by our potential meets personal mantra and understand that everyone has different requirements in terms of their ideal portfolio. Working with your line manager, we will develop a mix of work that suits your own individual needs.

The team is looking for someone who will fit into our small but growing team of Research and Development tax specialists, who lives our firm’s values and is a solid and dependable team member. The successful candidate will form a wider part of Saffery’s Corporate Tax team that spans our 9 office locations and comprises 7 partners and over 100 professionals. The Corporate Tax teams deal with a large portfolio of companies operating in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, technology, retail, recruitment, financial services, hospitality and property. These clients range from smaller owner‑managed businesses to large and complex listed groups.

The role would suit a qualified individual (for example ACA/ACCA/CTA) with several years’ post qualification experience in corporation tax. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Strong UK tax technical skills; specifically, with a Research and Development focus.
• Ability to analyse tax technical queries and provide robust advice and solutions.
• Project management skills, with the ability to plan and prioritise work, meet deadlines and monitor budgets.
• Responsibility for the delivery and quality of work.
• Excellent communication skills.
• A clear client focus with a commitment to building strong client relationships.
• Ability to work collaboratively with different teams.
• Coaching and mentoring skills to develop other team members.

Reward and benefits include:

• A 35 hour working week with a hybrid working policy with the flexibility to work from home for up to three days per week (our core hours are 10-4).
• Excellent benefits including contributory pension scheme, 25 days annual leave, Life Assurance cover and great flexible benefits and family friendly policies.
• Eligibility for the firm’s Profit‑Sharing Plan, paid in December.
• Eligibility for the discretionary bonus scheme.

About us: 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. As a proud member of Nexia, a leading, international network of independent accounting and consulting firms, we’ve got access to local insight on a global scale.

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. We hope you will apply to us, whatever your background, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, disability or neurodivergence, because individual differences equal collective strength. Built on values of excellence, integrity, enthusiasm and collegiality, Saffery is where Potential meets Personal.