Senior Client Manager - Pathway to Associate Director

seek.com.au; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free onsite parking

Convenient public transport

Job summary

SEEK is seeking a Senior Accounting Manager for its Business Services & Tax Advisory practice in Sydney. The role offers significant autonomy, direct partnership exposure, and ownership of premium client relationships across Australia and offshore.

You will lead a growing team, oversee complex tax and advisory work, and ensure high-quality deliverables while mentoring junior staff. A dynamic senior leader will excel in client meetings and strategic problem-solving.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' Australian public practice experience, including several years at Manager level.
• CA or CPA qualification required.
• Deep Australian tax and accounting knowledge.
• Experience dealing with high-net-worth individuals, family groups, companies and trusts.
• Strong experience reviewing work prepared by junior, intermediate and senior accountants.
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing accounting staff.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage a portfolio of premium clients and maintain trusted relationships.
• Lead and develop the accounting team locally and offshore.
• Review complex financial statements and tax returns for accuracy.
• Coordinate with lawyers, advisers and external professionals as needed.
• Ensure deadlines, quality and client expectations are met.
• Provide strategic input on tax, structuring and advisory matters.
• Lead client meetings and communicate complex issues clearly.

Skills

Leadership

Client relations

Technical accounting

Communication skills

Team management

Public practice experience

Education

CA or CPA qualification

Job description

Senior Accounting Manager - Business Services & Tax Advisory

Sydney | Business Services & Tax Advisory
Attractive senior package, negotiable on experience

Technically strong. Excellent with clients. A natural leader of people.

If that sounds like you, read on.

We are looking for an experienced Senior Manager to take real ownership across three areas: our clients, our people and the quality of work delivered.

You will manage relationships with high-net-worth individuals, family groups and privately owned businesses. You will oversee and develop a team of accountants across Australia and offshore. And you will be one of the senior technical people others turn to when something is complex or doesn't look right.

This isn't a role where you wait for work to land on your desk.

We want someone who sees what needs to happen and makes it happen.

The role

You will have significant autonomy and work directly with the Partner.

Own the client relationship

You will manage a portfolio of premium clients and become the person they know, trust and call.

You will:

• Be the senior point of contact for high-net-worth individuals, family groups, companies and trusts
• Understand the client's broader affairs, not just their annual compliance work
• Build genuine relationships and communicate regularly with clients
• Run client meetings and explain complex issues clearly and confidently
• Identify tax, structuring and commercial issues before the client has to ask
• Raise difficult issues when necessary and provide practical solutions
• Work directly with the Partner on complex tax, structuring and advisory matters
• Coordinate with lawyers, advisers and other external professionals where required
• Manage client expectations, deadlines and communication

We need someone who is just as comfortable across the table from a sophisticated client as they are working through a complex technical issue.

Communication skills are not a nice-to-have in this role. They are essential.

Lead the team

This is a genuine management role, not just a senior reviewer position.

You will have responsibility for helping lead the broader accounting team across local and offshore staff, from junior accountants through to experienced senior staff.

You will:

• Oversee workflow and job allocation across the team
• Keep jobs moving and ensure deadlines are being managed
• Know where the bottlenecks are and deal with them
• Provide clear direction and support when staff get stuck
• Review work and give practical, constructive feedback
• Train, mentor and develop junior and intermediate accountants
• Support senior accountants on more difficult technical matters
• Help staff develop their technical, organisational and client-management skills
• Ensure local and offshore team members work together effectively
• Identify gaps in knowledge, processes or workflow and take the initiative to fix them
• Set high standards and hold people accountable to them

We don't want a manager who simply allocates a job, waits for it to come back and reviews it.

We want someone who knows what is happening across the team and steps in before a small issue becomes a big one.

Own the quality

You will also be one of the senior technical review points within the firm.

You will:

• Review and finalise complex financial statements and tax returns
• Review work prepared by junior, intermediate and senior accountants
• Catch what others miss
• Work across complex company, trust, individual and family group structures
• Handle matters involving Division 7A, trust distributions, CGT concessions, restructures and group tax planning
• Research unfamiliar or difficult matters and get to an answer
• Identify risks and issues that need to be addressed
• Maintain a consistently high standard of work across the team

You won't be expected to know the answer to everything.

You will be expected to recognise when something doesn't look right, know how to investigate it and take responsibility for getting it resolved.

The person we are looking for

You are probably already a Manager or Senior Manager in Australian public practice.

You are technically strong, but that's only part of what has made you successful.

People trust you.

Clients enjoy dealing with you. Junior staff feel comfortable asking you questions. Senior staff respect your technical judgement. When something goes wrong, your instinct is to work out how to fix it rather than explain why it happened.

You will ideally have:

• 8+ years' Australian public practice experience, including several years at Manager level
• CA or CPA qualification
• Deep Australian tax and accounting knowledge
• Experience dealing with high-net-worth individuals, family groups, companies and trusts
• Strong experience reviewing work prepared by intermediate and senior accountants
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing accounting staff
• Experience managing workflow and deadlines across a team
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• The confidence to lead client meetings and have difficult conversations
• Strong judgement and commercial awareness
• High attention to detail
• Strong organisational skills and follow-through
• A genuine sense of urgency when something needs attention

Above all, you will have initiative.

If you identify a problem, you don't just point it out.

You own it, work out what needs to happen and get it resolved.

The qualities that matter

Proactive

You don't need a list from the Partner each morning to know what needs attention. You look ahead, anticipate issues and act.

Energetic

You bring pace and enthusiasm to the role. When things get busy, you organise, prioritise and keep people moving.

A communicator

You pick up the phone. You talk to people. You listen. You can turn a complicated tax issue into something a client can understand and make a decision on.

A problem solver

You're naturally curious. If something looks wrong, you dig into it. If a process isn't working, you improve it. If a team member is stuck, you help find the answer.

A leader

You don't just check people's work. You make the people around you better.

You set expectations, give feedback, teach, follow up and provide support. You understand that different staff need different levels of direction and you adjust accordingly.

This role would suit someone who

• Enjoys being responsible for clients, not hidden behind another manager
• Likes leading and developing a team
• Wants genuine autonomy
• Enjoys complex technical work
• Has high standards and notices when something isn't right
• Likes solving problems rather than passing them upwards
• Wants to have an impact on how a firm operates
• Is looking for a long-term senior role with room to grow

This role would not suit someone who

• Is technically strong but would rather avoid client conversations
• Enjoys clients but relies on others for the difficult technical answers
• Wants to review work but doesn't want responsibility for developing the people preparing it
• Waits to be told what needs to be done
• Identifies problems and passes them on rather than solving them
• Avoids difficult conversations
• Wants work handed to them rather than taking ownership of it

What is on offer

• A package reflecting the seniority and responsibility of the role, negotiable based on experience
• Direct working relationship with the Partner
• Genuine ownership of sophisticated private client relationships
• Leadership responsibility across the accounting team
• Interesting and complex technical work
• Exposure to high-level tax, structuring and advisory matters
• Autonomy to make decisions and solve problems
• The opportunity to influence systems, workflow and how work is delivered
• Regular professional training and development
• Flexibility for the right person
• A professional environment where people work hard, do things properly and go home at a reasonable time
• Free onsite parking and convenient public transport