Global Tax Controversy Lead

Agoda Company Pte. Ltd.; Madrid; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Agoda is seeking a Senior Manager, Tax Controversy to lead and coordinate global tax audits, disputes, and authority engagements across multiple jurisdictions. You will shape frameworks, defend tax positions, and collaborate with Tax, Legal, Government Affairs, and Finance teams to mitigate risk and influence policy.

The ideal candidate has 8–10+ years in tax controversy, strong technical tax knowledge, and exceptional negotiation and communication skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Law, or related field.
• Advanced degree (JD, LLM, MST, or equivalent) preferred.
• Professional certification (CPA, Chartered Accountant, or equivalent) is an advantage.
• Minimum 8-10 years of relevant experience in tax controversy, audit defense, or tax litigation, in law firms, accounting firms or MNCs with significant experience in the Asia Pacific region.

Responsibilities

• Independently manage assigned tax controversy matters, including audits, notices, refund claims, appeals, and litigation.
• Lead assigned cases, setting strategy and overseeing end-to-end management from initial inquiry to resolution.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with tax authorities, external advisors, and internal stakeholders on assigned controversy matters.
• Develop and implement effective strategies for resolving tax disputes and managing tax risk across jurisdictions.
• Analyze and interpret complex tax laws, regulations, treaties, and case law to support and defend the company's tax positions.
• Prepare, review, and quality‑control responses to tax authority inquiries, RFIs, and audit findings, ensuring technical accuracy and consistency.
• Draft and review persuasive arguments, legal memoranda, position papers, and documentation for dispute resolution, appeals, and litigation.
• Develop and maintain best‑practice frameworks, playbooks, templates, and documentation standards for managing tax audits and controversy globally.
• Maintain comprehensive and well‑organized documentation and records of all controversy‑related activities in the region and globally.
• Support the company’s global tax strategy and ensure consistency in controversy management and messaging across jurisdictions.
• Drive the tax control framework, ensuring tax controls are designed, documented, executed and continuously improved to support compliant, defensible and audit‑ready tax positions.
• Drive standardization, automation and simplification across tax processes, with a focus on improving the quality, consistency and evidentiary strength of tax data and documentation.
• Incorporate AI‑enabled ways of working in a practical and responsible manner, including improving velocity, consistency and scalability without compromising technical quality, audit readiness or risk management.
• Ensure governance and controls materially enhance controversy readiness, audit support, documentation quality and the defensibility of Agoda’s filed and reported tax positions.
• Collaborate closely with internal Tax, Legal, Government Affairs, PR, Finance, and business teams to ensure aligned positions and coordinated responses.
• Monitor tax and policy developments globally and assess the potential impact on ongoing and future controversies.
• Provide technical input to policy and advocacy initiatives, working with Government Affairs and industry groups where relevant.
• Support the identification, assessment, and communication of controversy‑related tax risks, exposures, and mitigation actions.
• Promote tax controversy awareness and best practices within the Agoda Group and in collaboration with other BHI brands.
• Develop practical training materials and provide guidance for junior team members and other departments on tax controversy.
• Drive continuous improvement in controversy management processes, incorporating learnings from past audits and disputes into future risk mitigation.
• Maintain clear, timely updates and case documentation for the Global Lead for Tax Controversy and relevant internal stakeholders.

Job description

Agoda is seeking a Senior Manager, Tax Controversy to lead and coordinate global tax audits, disputes, and authority engagements across multiple jurisdictions. You will shape frameworks, defend tax positions, and collaborate with Tax, Legal, Government Affairs, and Finance teams to mitigate risk and influence policy.

The ideal candidate has 8–10+ years in tax controversy, strong technical tax knowledge, and exceptional negotiation and communication skills.