Job Description
We’re working with a highly regarded, mid-market accountancy and business advisory firm to recruit a Tax Manager with a strong interest in M&A and transactions tax. This is a superb opportunity for someone who enjoys deal work and wants more variety, ownership and progression.
You’ll join an established corporate tax team that works together with an award-winning Corporate Finance and transaction diligence practice, supporting a diverse client base across a wide range of sectors.
The opportunity
You’ll be part of a successful tax team that has advised on numerous high-profile and mid-market transactions, including:
* Acquisitions and disposals
* Management buyouts (MBOs) and private equity–backed deals
* Group reorganisations and demergers
* Cross-border and international structuring
Work is primarily UK-based, which means you genuinely get to own the tax and advisory work, rather than spending most of your time on project management or coordination. The transactions are sector-agnostic and include:
* Tech and data-led businesses
* University spinouts and R&D-heavy companies
* More traditional industrials, services and consumer businesses
Key responsibilities
* Lead or play a key role in tax due diligence assignments for buy-side and sell-side transactions.
* Advise on transaction structuring, including tax-efficient acquisition and disposal structures.
* Support on international tax aspects where relevant, working alongside internal specialists.
* Advise on employment-related securities and other transaction-linked tax issues as required.
* Work closely with the firm’s Corporate Finance and transaction diligence teams, as well as other tax specialists (e.g. VAT, employment tax).
* Build strong relationships with management teams, private equity houses and other stakeholders, explaining complex tax issues in a clear, commercial way.
* Contribute to training, coaching, and developing junior team members.
What we’re looking for
We’re open on title – the firm can hire from Assistant Manager through to Senior Manager and will flex the role to the right person:
* Qualifications:
* ACA or CTA qualified (or equivalent), with strong corporate tax technical skills.
* Experience:
* Solid experience in corporate tax, with demonstrable exposure to transactions tax (M&A, due diligence, structuring or PE-backed work).
* Brand is less important than capability and attitude. Experience can be from Big 4, Top 10 or strong mid-tier/regional firms
* Mindset & personality:
* Genuinely comfortable with the pace and peaks/troughs of deal work – quiet periods followed by urgent deadlines.
* Commercial, pragmatic and able to tailor advice to owner-managers, PE investors and corporates alike.
* A clear, confident communicator who is comfortable dealing with stakeholders at all levels.
* Team player:
* Enjoy collaborating with corporate finance, other tax specialists and wider teams across offices.
* Eligibility:
* You must have existing UK right to work – the firm cannot provide new sponsorship for this hire.
Location, hybrid working & travel
The firm’s core offices for this role are Reading, Oxford, Newbury, or Southampton, with a marginal preference for Reading because that’s where Corporate Finance is based.
* Hybrid working once probation is passed – typically 2–3 days a week in the office on average, applied flexibly depending on workload.
* During the first three months, they expect you to be in the office most days to build relationships and learn the deal processes.
* Occasional travel between offices to work with colleagues and clients.
* They’re particularly keen on candidates currently commuting into London who live within reach of Reading/Oxford/Newbury/Southampton and would value a shorter local commute.
Culture & progression
This firm is “big enough but not too big”:
* Large enough to have specialist teams (employment tax, VAT, corporate finance, restructuring, etc.) and to run firm-wide events.
* Small enough that you are known by name, can make a visible impact, and don’t feel like a tiny cog in a huge machine.
* Friendly, supportive environment.
* Good work–life balance, even in transactions – this is not a culture of routine late nights and weekends.
* Strong retention – once people join, they tend to stay.
* Clear career progression, with genuine scope to move from Manager to Senior Manager for the right individual.
Other benefits
* Discretionary annual bonus based on contribution and going above and beyond