Interim VAT Manager, West London

Under the companies global VAT strategy, Global Indirect tax consists of a team of 5 indirect tax professionals with responsibility across all areas of the enterprise on a regional basis, the UK/Ire being one such regions given its size and importance. This role will include pro-actively and effectively managing VAT risks and issues, liaising with UK/Ireland Finance Directors, Tax Authorities and external advisors. It will also involve the maintenance of the Indirect Tax governance framework that ensures all aspects of VAT are appropriately controlled and prioritised, and the provision of timely, relevant, practical and pro-active business decision support within the framework of the VAT strategy.

Key Role and Responsibilities
• Maintaining full visibility of all VAT risks across the UK/Ireland, which will involve gathering and verifying information from multiple stakeholders and business units;
• The implementation of a strategy for proactively identifying and managing the above risks;
• Advising the business on the VAT impact of any decisions that it takes. This will include advising on rates of tax applicable to our product portfolio, the impact of miscellaneous sales transactions such as property sales/purchases and M&A transactions etc.
• Enforcement of a robust governance framework that ensures all aspects of VAT management are appropriately managed and controlled;
• To effectively implement VAT optimisation opportunities and minimise VAT costs.
• To manage the relationship with HMRC and all UK/Ireland VAT audits taking place, involving settlement negotiation with Tax Authorities
• To work closely with the Tax & Stats Global Process Owner and the VAT compliance he design of tax efficient and controlled compliance processes

Experience

• Tax qualified professional (CTA) with minimum of 7 years experience in Indirect Tax, ideally in an in-house role involving the international movement of goods. Experience of working in a Tax department that is not directly responsible for compliance and utilises offshore BPO facilities
• Strong technical VAT skills is essential to the role but with the ability to identify practical and commercial solutions
• Ideally strong knowledge of the VAT/Sales Tax issues faced by a multinational manufacturing/distribution business, and the interaction of VAT/Sales Tax with Customs Duty and Transfer Pricing, is essential to enable the identification of risks and opportunities and the management of the same
• A broad knowledge of the issues around off-shoring, streamlining and standardising Indirect tax compliance and the separation of this function form the core tax function is essential to understand the relationships and dependencies in managing VAT issues.
• The role requires effective communication at senior levels within the organisation, particularly with senior Finance in order to build confidence in the Global Indirect Tax capability and gain effective buy-in for VAT initiatives.
• The role requires the ability to communicate complex tax technical and systems issues at senior levels as above in order to furnish stakeholders with the information needed to reach an informed decision about the efficacy of proposed solutions. Different stakeholders may have different views, so negotiation and mediation skills will also