Role Overview
- Job Title: European Tax Manager
- Location: Home Office (Watford / North West London area, UK)
- Reporting To: Senior Finance Management (Head of Tax / Finance Director)
- Sector: Global Retail & Wholesale
A leading Fortune 50 multinational retail and wholesale giant is seeking a qualified European Tax Manager to lead direct and indirect tax compliance across five key European markets (UK, France, Spain, Sweden, and Iceland).
In this newly created role, you will take full ownership of the regional tax compliance calendar, head a distributed team of in-country tax specialists, and partner closely with US group tax, local buying, and operations teams to embed robust tax governance.
Key Responsibilities
Multi-Jurisdiction Compliance & Operations
- Oversee and direct the end-to-end tax compliance calendar across the UK, France, Spain, Sweden, and Iceland to ensure accurate, timely filings and payments.
- Review and approve periodic indirect tax (VAT) returns and statutory submissions across all operating jurisdictions.
- Oversee master data VAT liability determination: review VAT rates applied to new inventory lines, conduct quarterly product portfolio audits, and deliver actionable guidance to Buying teams to mitigate VAT liabilities and compliance risks.
- Prepare and review local corporate tax computations, returns, and payment schedules (including UK quarterly instalment payments).
- Manage local tax provisions, statutory account tax disclosures, and deferred tax calculations, while supporting the US corporate tax team with group reporting and Pillar Two compliance.
- Lead local transfer pricing (TP) compliance, maintain local files across all jurisdictions, and support group TP master file maintenance.
- Act as the lead operational contact for European tax authorities (including HMRC, AEAT, and DGFiP), proactively managing tax audits and enquiries.
Governance, Controls & Special Regimes
- Support the UK Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) regime, managing process mapping, control testing, and formal governance documentation.
- Support the drafting, updating, and publication of the UK Tax Strategy.
- Formulate, implement, and standardise regional tax operating procedures aligned with group standards and local statutory requirements.
Business Partnering & Tax Technology
- Identify opportunities to enhance tax engines, ERP setups, and reporting automation to strengthen controls and streamline data flows.
- Collaborate closely with Legal, Commercial Buying, and Finance teams across Europe and the US to evaluate contractual and structural tax implications.
- Provide concise operational and risk updates to senior finance leadership.
Candidate Profile
Qualifications & Experience
- Fully qualified tax professional (CTA, ACA, ACCA, or international equivalent), or demonstrably qualified by experience in a large-scale, multi-jurisdictional environment.
- Proven track record leading multi-country European indirect tax (VAT) compliance.
- Strong working knowledge of UK tax compliance across VAT, Corporation Tax, and the Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) regime.
- Prior experience managing, developing, and mentoring tax professionals.
- Background in large-scale retail, wholesale, FMCG, or high-volume supply chain businesses is strongly advantageous.
Technical & Personal Skills
- Advanced Excel capabilities with experience extracting, analysing, and manipulating large-scale transactional data.
- Strong cross-functional communicator capable of articulating complex tax requirements clearly to non-tax stakeholders (commercial buyers, logistics, IT).
- Highly organised with proven capability in managing concurrent statutory deadlines across multiple jurisdictions.
- Additional European language proficiency (French, Spanish, or Swedish) is an asset.
