Tax Manager

Main Purpose of the role:-

Supporting the Head of Tax in all tax matters across the scheme and other entities, including tax reporting, compliance, strategy and risk management.

Key Responsibilities:

* Deliver tax compliance and reporting in accordance with relevant tax law and best practice across all jurisdictions in which operates or invests (currently focus on UK / US with appropriate external advice). Taxes to include income taxes, corporate taxes and VAT
* Provide internal tax reporting and support. To include assistance with drafting reports for management committees and boards, and assistance with structuring inputs for investments, restructuring and divestments
* Lead initiative with Operations and Investment Accounts to create a “best practice” model for custodian management and interaction
* Management of external advisors providing assistance with the above
* Provide tax input and support to all Finance business change initiatives, including technical assistance and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and risk management
* Interaction with Finance colleagues to ensure that all relevant financial information is made available to Group Tax on a timely basis in order to facilitate accurate and consistent compliance
* Act as an ambassador for Group Tax within Liverpool, develop relationships within Finance, Pensions, Contribution Accounting and Service Delivery in order to become a point of contact for tax matters
* Develop relationships within the investment management area of the business, in order to assist the Head of Investment Tax in investment advisory work
* Management and production of tax compliance obligations of the scheme and its controlled entities (including companies, partnerships and trusts). Timely preparation and presentation of outputs
* Management and reconciliation of nominal ledger accounts as appropriate; delivery of reconciliations to group finance and external auditors as required
* First point of contact for stakeholders with tax technical queries on VAT, PAYE, CIS, Annual and Lifetime Allowance charge, liaising with external advisers where appropriate
* Timely preparation of FATCA, CRS and CDOT certification for the scheme and its controlled entities
* Deliver timely tax input to Investment teams including liaison with external advisers where appropriate
* Deliver high quality papers for internal reporting to the Head of Finance, maintain a schedule of papers and reports due
* Ensure that appropriate WHT is applied across all USS investments, working with Operations, Investment Accounts and external custodians to achieve appropriate rates
* Assist in scoping of external advice, ensuring that appropriate advice is engaged, achieving and demonstrating value for money
* Demonstrate a high level of understanding of the interaction between accounting records and data inputs in the production of tax outputs
* Develop an awareness and knowledge of existing investment structures, understanding compliance, reporting and tax risk implications of each
* Continue the development and maintenance of the Tax risk register

Technical Competencies, Skills and Experience

* Hold a professional finance and accounting qualification, practiced in tax
* Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
* Strong technical knowledge of UK GAAP / IFRS and of the UK tax system, exposure to both direct and indirect taxes helpful
* An awareness of international tax principles
* Knowledge and experience of financial systems, accounting processes, controls and have strong Excel skills.
* Ability to handle high volumes of complex and technical information and distil into clear messages to impacted stakeholders internally and externally
* Product knowledge of investment vehicles, valuation methods, pricing risk and fee structures
* Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build collaborative relationships with peers and multiple stakeholders
* A dynamic individual who can take responsibility to work independently and interact within non tax teams in Finance and across the organisation
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills, numerate and comfortable with financial models
* Able to work in a manner that is consistent with the organisation’s ethos and values

Technical Competencies, Skills and Experience

* Hold a professional finance and accounting qualification, practiced in tax
* Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
* Strong technical knowledge of UK GAAP / IFRS and of the UK tax system, exposure to both direct and indirect taxes helpful
* An awareness of international tax principles
* Knowledge and experience of financial systems, accounting processes, controls and have strong Excel skills.
* Ability to handle high volumes of complex and technical information and distil into clear messages to impacted stakeholders internally and externally
* Product knowledge of investment vehicles, valuation methods, pricing risk and fee structures
* Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build collaborative relationships with peers and multiple stakeholders
* A dynamic individual who can take responsibility to work independently and interact within non tax teams in Finance and across the organisation
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills, numerate and comfortable with financial models
* Able to work in a manner that is consistent with the organisation’s ethos and values