Senior Manager - Tax Operations

Job Title - Senior Manager - Tax Operations

Job Location - Bangalore

About Unilever:

Be part of the world’s most successful, purpose-led business. Work with brands that are well-loved around the world, that improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We promote innovation, big and small, to make our business win and grow; and we believe in business as a force for good. Unleash your curiosity, challenge ideas and disrupt processes; use your energy to make this happen. Our brilliant business leaders and colleagues provide mentorship and inspiration, so you can be at your best. Every day, nine out of ten Indian households use our products to feel good, look good and get more out of life – giving us a unique opportunity to build a brighter future.

Every individual here can bring their purpose to life through their work. Join us and you’ll be surrounded by inspiring leaders and supportive peers. Among them, you’ll channel your purpose, bring fresh ideas to the table, and simply be you. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you.

About Uniops:

Unilever Operations (UniOps) is the global technology and operations engine of Unilever offering business services, technology, and enterprise solutions. UniOps serves over 190 locations and through a network of specialized service lines and partners delivers insights and innovations, user experiences and end-to-end seamless delivery making Unilever Purpose Led and Future Fit.

Background
ComEx Tax Operations team is responsible for Tax compliance and related operational activities for Unilever. Its primary role is the collection and analysis of tax and finance data and fulfilment of all UL tax filing obligations across Corporate Income Tax, VAT and Sales Taxes; Withholding Tax, Transfer Pricing, together with some aspects of Customs Duty Management. It also plays a key role in fulfilling UL’s quarterly and annual group tax reporting obligations for our statutory financial statements and supports Tax audits by providing data and analysis. ComEx Tax Operations is also responsible for monitoring the tax control framework, driving standardisation to the Tax Global Process Model (GPM), driving data quality improvement, and eliminating manual processes.

Main purpose of job:
The purpose of the role is to lead a cluster of countries and realise the ComEx Tax Operations team’s mission to strengthen the foundations of tax compliance delivery. This can be achieved by maximizing automation, improving data quality and continuously improving our processes. This will demonstrably uplift the quality of our service to stakeholders whilst reducing the cost of Tax Compliance for Unilever.
The Lead with ensure that KPIs of tax returns filed on time/paid on time are consistently met, the key controls around reconciliations of tax returns to accounting records are operated and that all further operational support included in Tax Ops scope it delivered.

Key Requirements of the Role

• Lead and manage the Tax Operations Team for a cluster of countries

• Play an active role in the global Tax Operations management team with the aim of sharing ideas and ensuring as far as possible a globally standardised way of working and adoption of best practices

• Lead the engagement with internal stakeholders in the Tax Business Partner, wider ComEx and market Finance Teams

• End to end management of Direct/Indirect/Transfer pricing Tax compliance process, ensuring that all data forming the basis of tax calculations is adequately checked and corrected where necessary.

• Ensure on time and accurate preparation and submission of Tax returns, meeting both internal and external deadlines.

• Ensure all tax related payments to government / tax authorities are initiated in line with all relevant Unilever processes.

• Support in country tax audits by providing adequate documentation, data support and data analysis.

• Ensure all ComEx owned tax controls are operated as per the Unilever control framework and any deficiencies are reported

• Ensure accurate implementation in ComEx processes of any tax, legal, or regulatory changes identified by Tax BPs or 3PSPs.

• Highlight process deficiencies and areas of high manual effort to the Tax Ops PEC and work with them to operationalise automation and process improvement initiatives that are developed in response.

• Ensure all process documentation (DTPs) is regularly updated to reflect actual working practices and facilitate smooth transfer of responsibilities between team members when roles are rotated

• Ensuring all delivery issues are documented, investigated and resolved in a timely manner

• Ensure any process and delivery issues are effectively managed, escalated and resolved

• Share information on status of issues, including issues log, root cause analyses and after-action reviews, with key stakeholders regularly.

• Lead and be the expertise centre of one area of tax (Eg WHT/Tax reporting)

• Coach and develop team members to ensure career progression, employee engagement and well-being.

Skills:
Technical Skills

• Good understanding of Tax principles across Corporate Income Tax/VAT/other Sales Taxes/ Withholding Tax/Transfer Pricing

• Working knowledge of Deferred Tax, Advance Tax, Tax Adjustments

• Good knowledge of accounting, finance and business process.

• Good working knowledge of ERP systems, preferably SAP ECC, plus an understanding of ancillary software such as LongView, PowerBI and Excel

Soft skills:

• Proven track record of leading and developing a team, preferably in a multi-national accounting service centre environment.

• Results focus to deliver consistently to inflexible external deadlines.

• Attention to detail

• Strong problem solving, analytical and critical thinking skills

• Effective and engaging communicator with the ability to engage senior stakeholders, junior team members and external service providers.

• Self-motivated with the ability to work autonomously and take full ownership of job responsibilities.

Educational Qualification and Experience

• Chartered Accountant of equivalent with 10+ years of post-qualification experience

• Experience in leading in a shared service centre environment highly advantageous

• Leading large teams

Key interfaces

• Global Tax Team

• Country Tax Team

• Country Finance Team

• Outsourced Service Provide (Big 4))

• Central R2R/P2P/O2C teams

• IT Team

• Process Excellence Team

NOTE:

At HUL, we believe that every individual irrespective of their race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, nationality, caste, disability or marital status can bring their purpose to life. So apply to us, to unleash your curiosity, challenge ideas and disrupt processes; use your energy to make the world a better place. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you!

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