Tax & Treasury Manager

Job Introduction

Sodexo is a premier global food and facilities management services business, operating in 80 countries around the world.  Group sales are in excess of €18.2bn with the UK & Ireland representing a £1bn business.  The group is listed on the Paris stock exchange with a market capitalization of over €9bn. Sodexo employs 420,000 people worldwide at over 34,000 sites, with around 35, 000 employed directly in the UK & Ireland.

The UK & Ireland comprises a mix of Public and Private sector business, with expertise in food, soft services and hard facilities management, delivered across a range of six key customer segments; Sports Leisure & Travel, CS-IFM, Defence, SJS, Healthcare and Education.

Over recent years Sodexo UK & Ireland has developed its integrated facilities management portfolio and competence, and the continued growth in delivery of outstanding IFM services to large, complex clients is a key component of the UK & Ireland company strategy. The continued focus will be on the future growth of the Private Corporate Services business and the further diversification into large scale public contracts.

As Tax and Treasury Manager, you will bring your comprehensive experience of corporate Tax to our central finance function.

Reporting to the Director of FP&A, Tax and Treasury, you will lead, co-ordinate and manage the tax team responsible for the UK & ROI tax compliance work, together with the Senior Accounting Officer processes and procedures.

You'll lead and manage the provision of strategic tax advice to the business segments on operational contracts and trading structures with responsibility for project management of the implementation of strategic initiatives.

You will also manage the treasury function and oversee the daily operations of the treasury function, in particular long and short term liquidity forecasting, weekly performance reports and implementation of advisory projects.

*We ideally need someone in place 1st June.  However, we will wait for the right person.  Therefore, we would seek a temporary colleague in the meantime.

Role Responsibility

Overall Direction

• Provide leadership and startegic direction to the Tax and Treasury teams in supporting the UK and ROI Sodexo segments
• Technical advice and project management of the implementation of strategic and advisory projects
• Understand the implications of taxation and finance changes and plan accordingly
• Oversee the tax compliance process and identify process improvements
• Oversee the treasury team’s daily activities, in particular cash forecasting and liquidity requirements
• Assist the Director of FP&A, Tax & Treasury with ownership of the relationship with Tax Authorities and external banking relationships

Cost Management & Control

• Offer advice and be a key driver of improvements to processes and systems to improve the tax compliance process and also cash forecasting process
• Evaluate the impact of changes in tax legislation or developments in the UK & ROI business and implement strategic projects as required
• Evaluate cash management strategic projects and implement as required

Reporting & Analysis

• Oversee preparation of tax returns (VAT, Corporate, Employment etc)
• Manage and oversee the tax budgeting/forecasting and half year/year end reporting process
• Liaison with HMRC and banks
• Manage and oversee the cash forecasting and weekly liquidity reporting process

Other

• To assess the impact of change programmes planned, making recommendations as to prioritisation, resource allocation and plan changes
• Help define business priorities and identify people related risks and issues in the business
• Contingency planning to integrate new demands into a stretched HR agenda – e.g. acquisition implications
• Creating systems, process and best practice within the area of tax and treasury
• Developing and supporting team members
• Instigating cost saving initiatives
• Liaison with segment finance teams as appropriate

The Ideal Candidate

• CTA qualified, or equivalent
• Strong commercial experience of corporate tax (and ideally some VAT, international and employment tax)
• Experience of managing teams - skilled leader, mentor and trainer, proven through experience and track-record.  Team player.
• Flexible approach and adaptable to a changing working environment
• Excellent project management skills and experience of implemeting projects
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills at all levels with the ability to influence and gain results
• Customer orientated
• Ability to find solutions, lead change, seek continuous improvement in processes – with a pragmatic approach that takes due consideration of the ability of teams to absorb change
• Ability to navigate through complex situations and matrix organisation structure, to deliver results in a multi stakeholder and consultative culture

Desirable

• Qualified Accountant
• Previous experience of liquidity forecasting and treasury activities
• Able to demonstrate practical accounting process knowledge.
• Good Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel

Package Description

Band C

£Competitive plus benefits

About the Company

In the UK and Ireland, Sodexo employs some 35,000 employees to deliver integrated facilities management services to clients at over 2,000 locations in the corporate, healthcare, education, leisure, defence and justice sectors. With an annual turnover of over £1bn, we provide everything from catering, cleaning and reception to security, laboratory and grounds maintenance services, enabling our clients to focus on their core business.