Job title: Tax Advisor – Corporate Business
Company: British International Investment
Job description: Our mission and objectives
- British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. We invest with the aim of solving the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.
- We have 75 years of experience successfully supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in Africa and Asia, and have recently expanded to invest in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean.
- We invest to achieve impact and a financial return which is then reinvested for more impact. Over the past five years, we have committed £7 billion of new investments, with our net assets growing in value to approximately £8.1 billion. We are now invested in 1,400 businesses which directly employ over 950,000 workers and support many more. Over the next five years, we plan to grow further, and aim to commit around £9 billion of new investments over the period.
- Our current five-year strategy responds to the opportunities and challenges facing developing and emerging economies. To ensure our capital is used in the best way possible to meet these opportunities and challenges, it sets out three clear strategic objectives – to invest in productive, sustainable and inclusive development. These objectives mean an increased focus on climate finance, including investing in green infrastructure; on financing digital transformation; and on driving inclusive outcomes, including through gender and diversity finance.
- We changed our name to British International Investment in 2022, to more accurately reflect our central role in the UK Government’s international financing offer.
- In the last few years, we have expanded our presence in Africa and Asia by opening new offices in Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana and Singapore; with further expansion planned.
- We take an entrepreneurial approach to investment. We think innovatively about ways to deploy our capital, attract, and mobilise other investors, and drive transformational impact.
- Deliver impact. We are a team of over 600 and place immense value on diversity within our organisation.
- Read more about us and the strategy at
Team and role overview
BII has in recent years received access to significant funding from FCDO to deploy in private sector businesses in the most difficult places, with a growing investment mandate, BII has also established a number of investment platforms with specific mandate to invest in select sectors, products and geographies as well as offices in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, India, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana to provide BII with local on-the ground knowledge and expertise to help with its investment processes.
- BII’s tax function is split into two specific divisions:
- the Tax Corporate Business whose focus is to manage the direct and indirect tax affairs of the BII group of companies
- the Tax Investment Business whose focus is to provide tax advice on transactions undertaken by BII
- This opportunity is within the Tax Corporate Business Reporting to the Head of Corporate Tax, the successful candidate will be a key contributor to the Corporate Business Tax function’s remit over the following key areas:
- Tax compliance and reporting
- Tax risk management and governance
- Group tax planning and tax policy
- We are therefore looking to recruit a high-quality professional who is motivated to use their skills to assist the group remain operationally compliant.
- The Tax function sits within BII’s Legal team. Whilst the successful candidate will report to BII’s Head of Corporate Tax, they will, necessarily, work closely with BII’s finance, legal, HR and corporate secretarial teams as well as the Tax Investment Business Team.
Responsibilities
Tax compliance and reporting
- Oversee and manage the direct tax compliance and financial reporting obligations for BII and its subsidiaries in the UK and other operational jurisdictions, with the help of external consultants
- Updating the Head of Corporate Tax on relevant global tax developments
- Assist BII’s Finance team with the preparation of tax disclosures for inclusion in the financial statements of group entities
- Work with Finance, Treasury, Investment Operations and Legal teams to ensure transaction structures as advised by the Tax Investment Business are implemented correctly
- Prepare transfer pricing documentation and implement transfer pricing policy for all cross-jurisdictional transactions across the BII group of companies
- Assist the Head of Corporate Tax in developing controls and oversight for reporting and settlement of taxes on business transactions, including VAT, WHT, GST and any other service tax
- Work with Finance to ensure UK VAT recovery methodology as agreed with HMRC is correctly implemented
- Work with Payroll and Rewards teams to develop controls and oversight for reporting and settlement of employment taxes
- Develop standards and tools for BII to monitor tax practices of portfolio companies and to encourage best practices. Work with the Development Impact team on how best to gather data on taxes contributed by portfolio companies to assess BII’s impact on economic development across all jurisdictions in which BII invest
- Seek to improve compliance processes, leveraging IT to do so. Assist BII’s Investment Operations with respect to tax related processes
Tax Risk Management and governance
- Assist the Head of Corporate Tax in designing risk management framework to evaluate and monitor key tax risks for the business and develop appropriate risk management controls and processes
- Assist the Head of Corporate Tax raise awareness of global tax developments across the wider BII business. Keep pace with BII’s evolving structure and ensure tax matters are adequately considered
- Develop and manage relationships with key personnel within the business and ensure they understand the strategy and to guide behaviour within controls framework
- Act as a tax business partner on international tax issues including providing advice on BII’s international growth strategy and to plan and manage direct tax exposures in relation to permanent establishment risk and transfer pricing
- Develop and manage relationships with key personnel within the business and ensure they understand the strategy and to guide behaviour within controls framework
Group tax planning and tax policy
- Support the Head of Corporate Tax in formulating and implementing the tax strategy and tax policies for the group
- Track international tax developments against BII’s business model to ensure BII’s tax strategy remains appropriate and keeps pace with best practices of other development institutions
- Support the Head of Corporate Tax in identifying areas of value-add that can be delivered to the wider business across projects, such as geographic expansion initiatives, corporate rationalisations, restructurings
- Assist the Head of Corporate Tax in designing policies for various business divisions with a view to ensuring tax risks are appropriately managed
- Contribute to BII’s communications on tax and regulatory policy and how regulatory environments might be improved in BII’s target countries
- Supporting the Head of Corporate Tax in communicating with government departments and tax authorities (in the UK and in BII’s target countries) to obtain certainty on how BII is to be treated for tax purposes
- Provide internal tax support on day-to-day business operation matters to the Group.
The candidate
Background, skills, aptitude
- A qualified accountant or chartered taxation adviser with 5 to 8 years’ post-qualification experience in an international tax practice in a corporate in-house role or at a major accountancy or tax advisory firm. A mix of tax advisory firm and in-house experience is preferred but not essential
- Experience of tax compliance and reporting is essential gained either in-house or in practice
- International tax experience particularly a working knowledge of proposed future tax developments is essential
- UK tax experience preferred
- Ability to independently assess risks and make well-reasoned judgements and recommendations to the Tax function and / or wider business
- Proven ability to communicate complex taxation concepts a wide composition of stakeholders, including non-tax professionals
- Proficiency in MS Office and working knowledge of tax tools/ ERP/ investment management platforms is a bonus
- A self-starter – able to work independently with a willingness to “muck in” and get involved in all areas of the business where required
- Cultural sensitivity and a proven ability to work across cultures.
- Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII’s development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals through previous executive or non-executive activity.
Our cultural values
We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:
- Impact-led, commercially rigorous
- Tenacious in the face of challenges
- Collaborative and caring
British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.
Please provide a cover letter with your application
Salary: Competitive
Expected salary:
Location: London
Job date: Thu, 19 Oct 2023 07:09:56 GMT
