Tax Manager (VAT)

King & Spalding · London

King & Spalding is a leading global law firm with a commitment to excellence, innovation, and the seamless delivery of legal services. We harness innovative technology and exceptional talent to meet the complex needs of our clients in a fast-paced and dynamic legal landscape.

The Tax Manager (VAT) owns the day-to-day delivery of the Firm's indirect tax compliance activities across multiple jurisdictions, including Europe, APAC, and the Middle East. The role is accountable for maintaining compliance calendars, directing return preparation, completing or overseeing substantive reviews, coordinating external advisors, leading responses to indirect tax audits and inquiries, supervising the VAT Analyst, and ensuring that filings are accurate, complete, timely, and fully documented. The successful candidate will be a hands-on VAT compliance professional who takes end-to-end ownership of recurring filing obligations, drives issues through resolution, and leads practical improvements to processes, controls, technology, and the continued build-out of the Firm's indirect tax operations function.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Manage preparation, review, and submission of VAT/GST returns across applicable jurisdictions.
Manage European Sales Listings, Intrastat filings, and other periodic indirect tax reporting obligations.
Own the Firm's VAT compliance calendar and ensure filing deadlines and submission requirements are met.
Review supporting workpapers, account reconciliations, data extracts, and compliance documentation prepared by the VAT Analyst or external advisors.
Maintain organized compliance records, audit trails, filing confirmations, and supporting documentation.
Monitor VAT legislative and administrative developments that may affect the Firm's compliance obligations.
Evaluate the operational impact of regulatory changes and coordinate implementation of required filing or process updates.
Provide practical VAT guidance in response to routine queries from Billing, Accounts Payable, Finance, and local office teams.
Escalate complex technical matters, recurring risks, or significant compliance concerns to the Indirect Tax Operations Manager.
Support VAT registrations, deregistrations, and changes to existing registrations as the Firm's obligations evolve.
Manage recurring interactions with external VAT advisors and service providers.
Coordinate information requests, filing deliverables, filing reviews, and advisor follow-up items.
Coordinate responses to tax authority inquiries, VAT audits, and related compliance reviews.
Monitor advisor deliverables and escalate delays, quality concerns, or unresolved technical issues.
Support development of advisor governance procedures and filing review protocols.
Lead, supervise, mentor, and develop the VAT Analyst, with accountability for effective day-to-day performance and professional growth.
Set priorities, assign work, manage capacity, and hold team members accountable for accurate, timely, and well-documented deliverables.
Review work, provide timely and constructive feedback, and deliver technical coaching on VAT filings, reconciliations, documentation, and routine query handling.
Own the onboarding, training, and continued development of additional indirect tax operations team members as the function grows.
Establish and reinforce clear expectations for ownership, quality, timeliness, documentation, communication, and escalation discipline.
Support e-invoicing and real-time reporting initiatives by providing compliance input, data validation, testing support, and issue resolution.
Contribute to process documentation, compliance playbooks, checklists, desk procedures, and control improvements.
Identify opportunities to improve compliance efficiency, data quality, and filing consistency.
Support tax residency certificate requests, withholding tax documentation collection, and related tax operations activities as needed.
Participate in special projects and operational initiatives led by the Indirect Tax Operations Manager.

QUALIFICATIONS:

8+ years of VAT or indirect tax compliance experience, ideally within a multinational organization, professional services firm, or law firm environment.
Strong practical knowledge of VAT/GST returns, European Sales Listings, Intrastat reporting, VAT registrations, and related compliance requirements.
Experience managing multi-jurisdictional filing obligations and advisor relationships.
Experience supporting VAT audits, tax authority inquiries, or compliance reviews.
Strong Excel and data management skills.
Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and competing priorities across jurisdictions.
A proactive and solutions-oriented approach, with the confidence to take ownership of day-to-day compliance activities and drive issues through to resolution.
Interest in e-invoicing, tax technology, automation, and process improvement initiatives.
ATT, CTA, ACA, ACCA, or equivalent qualification, or progress toward qualification, is preferred.
Strong VAT compliance judgment and attention to detail.
Ability to manage multiple filing deadlines and competing priorities across jurisdictions.
Strong organizational skills and the ability to maintain disciplined compliance documentation.
Comfort working with large datasets, spreadsheets, reconciliations, and compliance reporting tools.
Practical communication style and ability to work effectively with Finance, Billing, Accounts Payable, local offices, external advisors, and tax colleagues.
Proactive, solutions-oriented approach with willingness to take ownership of day-to-day compliance activities.
Ability to supervise and develop less experienced team members.

The Firm offers a generous total compensation package with annual bonus in recognition of individual merit-based performance. Eligible employees may participate in King & Spalding’s comprehensive benefit program, including private medical insurance with Bupa, life assurance (4x salary), critical illness insurance (2x salary) and income protection insurance, 7% firm pension contribution, gym membership/wellness allowance contribution, Employee Assistance Programme, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and 25 days annual holiday.

King & Spalding LLP (K&S) is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees in full compliance with all local laws prohibiting discrimination, including on the basis of race, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy status or any other status protected by applicable law.

We are proud of our remarkably cohesive culture, which now encompasses more than 2,500 lawyers and business professionals worldwide. We seek to attract and develop the very best talent to work with us.

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