Head Of Tax in Southampton

A client of ours is seeking an experienced Head of Tax to take ownership of all tax matters across its North West European operations. This is a broad and highly visible leadership role, combining strategic tax planning with hands-on oversight of compliance, reporting, governance, and business partnering activities. Reporting into senior finance leadership, the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring a robust tax framework is maintained across the business while providing expert guidance on tax matters that support commercial decision-making and long-term growth.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop the Tax Accountant, providing technical guidance and professional development.
• Oversee all UK corporate tax, VAT, employment tax and transfer pricing compliance, ensuring accurate and timely submissions.
• Manage the preparation and review of corporate tax returns, including capital allowances claims relating to significant annual capital expenditure.
• Take ownership of tax accounting, including current and deferred tax reporting, statutory disclosures, and group reporting requirements.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning processes by providing tax-related insights and analysis.
• Maintain and develop the organisation's tax strategy, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements and best practice governance standards.
• Manage tax risk across the business, maintaining appropriate controls, policies and documentation.
• Act as the primary technical tax adviser to finance, legal, HR and operational teams, supporting business initiatives, projects and corporate transactions.
• Monitor changes in tax legislation and assess the impact on the business, proactively identifying risks and opportunities.
• Drive tax planning and optimisation initiatives while ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations.
• Manage relationships with external tax advisers and support interactions with tax authorities where required.
• Support senior finance leadership with governance requirements, controls testing and ongoing tax compliance processes.

The Ideal Candidate Will Have:

• ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification, ideally complemented by a CTA or equivalent tax qualification.
• Significant post-qualified experience in UK taxation, ideally gained within a multinational or complex corporate environment.
• Strong technical expertise across corporate tax, VAT, employment taxes, capital allowances, transfer pricing and tax reporting.
• Experience managing deferred tax calculations and tax disclosures under IFRS and/or FRS 102.
• A proven ability to interpret complex tax legislation and communicate its impact clearly to non-tax stakeholders.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• A proactive, commercially minded approach with the ability to balance strategic thinking and operational delivery.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced tax professional looking to take on a senior leadership role with broad responsibility, significant stakeholder exposure, and the opportunity to shape tax strategy within a large and complex organisation.

Reasonable Adjustments: Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients. If you need any help or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, please let us know when you apply or talk to the recruiters directly so we can support you.