Manager - Corporate Tax

Description

Manager
- Corporate Tax

Job Title Manager
- Corporate Tax

Reports to Head of Tax

Department Corporate Tax
- Finance

Location Cape Town
- South Africa

About j. awan & partners At j. awan & partners, we believe in "challenging the status quo every day", delivering seamless excellence to our customers across the world. We challenge the status quo by making tailor-made solutions to meet the specific requirements of our client's business interests and delivering our solutions to their needs with effective simplicity. We understand that time is precious and as such our tailor-made solutions are simple to understand, simple to embed and simple to use.

We are a fast-growing international Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Consultancy with our headquarters in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC). We also have our own Technology company creating bespoke cutting edge Reg Tech solutions. Our business presence covers multiple jurisdictions with offices in the UAE, KSA, UK & Ireland, Singapore, Porto, Pakistan, Qatar and now in South Africa. We provide Regulatory Governance, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Recruitment and Technology services (the "Services") to a large number of clients including global, regional and local financial services institutions, governments and other industry partners.

As part of our global expansion plan, we are now looking for an ambitious and agile professional with a strong background to join our team.

Job Purpose We are seeking an outstanding tax professional to deliver top-quality client experiences and maintain the highest standard of care in tax services. The successful candidate will help clients meet their tax obligations while managing the impact of tax on their business, advising on both local and cross-border tax matters, and helping clients navigate the fast-evolving UAE and international tax landscape.

The role also involves managing a portfolio of client engagements, maintaining high technical and service quality, and supporting the timely delivery of tax compliance and advisory services.

1. Corporate Tax Compliance & Reporting

• Oversee the accurate and timely preparation and review of UAE Corporate Tax returns, provisions and supporting workings across a portfolio of clients.
• Manage clients’ Corporate Tax registration, deregistration and tax group formation, ensuring all filings are completed correctly on Emara Tax and within statutory deadlines.
• Review book-to-tax adjustments, taxable income computations and disclosures, ensuring alignment with the Corporate Tax Law and relevant Cabinet and Ministerial Decisions.
• Act as the key point of contact for client engagements, monitoring progress, managing budgets and timelines, and ensuring all deadlines and deliverables are met.
• Ensure engagement documentation, working papers and filing evidence are maintained to a standard that withstands Federal Tax Authority (FTA) scrutiny and audit.

2. Tax Advisory & Technical Delivery

• Provide clients with clear, practical advice on UAE Corporate Tax.
• Advise on structuring, elections and reliefs, including the participation exemption, interest deduction limitation rules, transfer pricing and small business relief.
• Assist clients with the tax implications of new ventures and ongoing operations.
• Prepare and review technical memos, position papers and assessments on complex tax matters, presenting conclusions in a well-reasoned and commercially useful manner.
• Support cross-border and international tax matters, including permanent establishment risk, withholding taxes, and the application of double tax treaties.
• Coordinate with the VAT and wider advisory teams to provide clients with joined-up, firm-wide tax solutions.
• Prepare the internal tax accounts for Group entities within the Firm.

3. Client & Engagement Management

• Build and maintain strong, trusted relationships with clients across the financial services sector, acting as a reliable adviser throughout the engagement lifecycle.
• Manage the successful delivery of tax compliance and advisory projects for a broad range of local and international clients, balancing quality, profitability and client satisfaction.
• Lead client meetings, calls and correspondence, translating technical requirements into clear actions and next steps.
• Support client onboarding, including engagement scoping, letters of engagement and Know Your Client (KYC) requirements.

4. Billing & Commercial Management

• Take ownership of the monthly billing cycle for the client portfolio, including preparing and reviewing draft invoices, ensuring fees are raised accurately and in line with agreed engagement terms and scope.
• Monitor work in progress and liaise with the Finance and Billing teams to ensure timely invoicing and resolution of billing queries.
• Track budgets against actuals across engagements, flag scope creep and out-of-scope work and manage variation or excess-hours communications with clients.

5. Risk & Quality Management

• Identify potential tax risks and propose appropriate risk-mitigating…