FS Tax Associate Director - Transactions

Grant Thornton’s Financial Services (FS) Tax practice provides tax advisory, transactions and compliance services to a variety of clients in the Financial Services market ranging from large international banks, asset managers and insurance companies to UK based private equity and alternative funds, as well as start-up fintech companies.

We have ambitious growth plans in our FS Tax team and are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic Associate Director to help deliver transaction tax services to our clients. We support our clients throughout the entire deal lifecycle from the initial proposal stage and assisting with offer terms, undertaking due diligence and advice on the acquisition structure through to completion and post-deal advice.

We work with sophisticated and dynamic businesses, developing your technical knowledge and gaining experience of working on challenging and interesting engagements.

Part of the role will focus on working alongside the partner group in building out the practice, building strong client relationships within the current and target client base. Working in practice means that the job is, by its nature, different every day and we want someone who is actively looking for this challenge. An agile approach to working with different projects and people is therefore essential.

We’re happy to talk flexible working and consider reduced hours and job shares, we’ll support you to balance your work and life.

As Associate Director in the FS Tax team, focussing on transactions, you will provide tax structuring advice and will undertake tax due diligence on both buy-side and sell-side transactions for private equity and corporate clients in the financial services sector.

• You will take a lead in working alongside the Transaction Services teams to ensure that your work goes hand in hand with theirs.
• You will be responsible for leading due diligence meetings with the target business, overseeing the due diligence analysis and reviewing reports to ensure they have been accurately and robustly prepared ahead of final review by the partner/director.
• You will prepare and review structuring reports based on the proposed acquisition structure, considering the key tax implications in line with the commercial requirements of the transaction.
• You will be involved in all other aspects of the transaction, including reviewing forecast models, funds-flows and considering legal documentation with the support of an exceptional team.
• You’ll be working closely with external key contacts within private equity funds, corporate clients, law firms and intermediaries to drive business development across the team.
• You will be involved in business development, researching and preparing proposals to win new work and taking part in presentations to prospective clients.
• You will manage project budgets, ensuring bills are raised accurately and promptly, fees are collected in a timely manner and debtors kept to a minimum.
• You will demonstrate an ability to produce a well-supported piece of technical research using legislation, guidance issued by tax authorities and/or the firm’s technical resources.
• You will support the ongoing training and development of the team.

Joining us as an FS Tax AD the minimum criteria you’ll need is a professional qualification (CTA / ACA / ACCA or equivalent), and to be confident managing a portfolio of Financial Services clients.

It would be great if you also had some of the following skills, but don’t worry if you don’t tick every box, we’ll help you develop along the way.

• UK corporation tax compliance and/or M&A experience (previous experience of working with financial services clients not essential)
• Exposure to other tax issues – transfer pricing, R&D, VAT, employment taxes, stamp duty, share transactions/share option schemes
• Proven experience in client handling and project management, building and sustaining relationships
• Experience of advising on technical tax matters is essential
• Demonstrable experience of managing multiple deliverables, showing prioritisation skills and meeting deadlines…