Employer Solutions - Associate Director

Grant Thornton (NI) LLP; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Grant Thornton Belfast is seeking an Associate Director to lead Employer Solutions engagements from Belfast, focusing on employment tax advisory and compliance for a diverse client base including owner-managed businesses and multinationals.

You will also support Transaction Tax Advisory work, nurture key client relationships, and develop junior colleagues while ensuring high-quality delivery and compliance with firm standards.

Qualifications

• ACA/ACCA and/or CTA qualified.
• Significant Employer Solutions experience within a large practice is desirable ( although equivalent industry experience will be considered ), with strong technical knowledge of employment taxes and related advisory services.
• Demonstrable experience of Transaction Tax Advisory assignments, including tax due diligence, structuring and transaction support, or a strong ability to apply Employer Solutions expertise within a transactions environment.
• Proven ability to manage and develop client relationships and contribute to practice growth.
• Strong project management and commercial awareness, including responsibility for engagement economics, budgets, WIP and recoverability.
• Experience leading, mentoring and developing high‑performing teams, with a proactive interest in team performance, development and wellbeing.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex tax matters clearly to clients and colleagues at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Leading the delivery of Employer Solutions engagements, ensuring high-quality outcomes, effective risk management and exceptional client service across a range of employment tax advisory and compliance matters.
• Supporting Transaction Tax Advisory engagements by leading the employment tax aspects of transactions, helping clients identify, manage and navigate people-related tax risks and opportunities throughout the transaction life-cycle.
• Owning and developing key client relationships, acting as a trusted adviser and identifying opportunities to support clients’ wider business objectives across both Employer Solutions and transaction-related work.
• Leading technical delivery and review, providing direction and coaching to Managers and junior team members, while remaining actively involved in complex technical matters, key judgments and client-facing discussions.
• Managing project timelines, quality standards and coordination across internal teams, clients and external stakeholders, ensuring the successful delivery of both Employer Solutions and transaction-related assignments.
• Overseeing engagement economics, including WIP, recoverability and billing, proactively managing build-up and supporting strong recovery performance.
• Taking responsibility for quality, risk management and compliance, ensuring work is appropriately reviewed, signed off, documented and escalated in line with firm procedures and professional standards.
• Supporting business development activities, including identifying opportunities with new and existing clients, preparing proposals and contributing to the growth of both the Employer Solutions and wider Tax practice.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across Tax, Advisory, Audit, Corporate Finance and third‑party advisers to deliver integrated solutions and maximise client value.
• Developing and mentoring team members, helping to build technical capability, engagement and retention across the team.

Skills

ACA/ACCA/CTA

Employer Solutions experience

Transaction Tax Advisory

Client relationship management

Project management

Mentoring teams

Communication skills

Job description

Belfast

Grant Thornton is part of a fast-growing and rapidly evolving international platform, bringing together specialist teams across the UK, Ireland, the US and an expanding global network of member firms. This creates opportunities for our people to work on complex, cross-border assignments, collaborate with leading specialists across the network and build expertise across the full spectrum of UK and international tax services. From Belfast, our team supports a diverse client base that includes owner-managed businesses, large corporates and multinational groups, giving our people exposure to some of the most interesting and complex tax challenges in the market while benefiting from the scale, resources and opportunities of a growing international platform

Job Description

Employer Solution - Associate Director

Grant Thornton is part of a fast-growing and rapidly evolving international platform, bringing together specialist teams across the UK, Ireland, the US and an expanding global network of member firms. This creates opportunities for our people to work on complex, cross-border assignments, collaborate with leading specialists across the network and build expertise across the full spectrum of UK and international tax services. From Belfast, our team supports a diverse client base that includes owner-managed businesses, large corporates and multinational groups, giving our people exposure to some of the most interesting and complex tax challenges in the market while benefiting from the scale, resources and opportunities of a growing international platform

Against this backdrop, the Grant Thornton Advisors (NI) Tax Team brings together over 100 specialists with deep industry, sector and technical knowledge. Within this wider platform, our Employer Solutions team advises a broad range of clients on employment taxes, reward, payroll and workforce-related matters, helping businesses manage risk, meet their compliance obligations and support their people strategy in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

The Employer Solutions team works with clients across that diverse base, from owner-managed businesses to large corporates and multinational groups. A key part of our offering involves supporting transaction-related work, working alongside our Transaction Tax Advisory team to help clients identify, manage and navigate employment tax issues that arise before, during and after a transaction. This gives our people the opportunity to be involved in some of the most interesting and high-profile deals in the market, while continuing to deliver broader Employer Solutions advisory services.

As our business continues to grow and client demand increases, we are investing in the continued development of both our Employer Solutions and Transaction Tax Advisory capabilities in Belfast. This role will build on the close working relationship between the two teams, helping clients receive integrated, commercially focused advice across both employer tax and transaction-related matters.

We are therefore seeking to recruit an Associate Director to join our Employer Solutions team in Belfast. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced and commercially focused tax professional to lead complex employer tax engagements, develop key client relationships, support business development activities and contribute to the continued growth of the practice. The successful candidate will also play a key role in supporting our Transaction Tax Advisory team, leading the employment tax aspects of transactions and helping clients navigate tax issues throughout the transaction life-cycle.

As an Associate Director, you will work closely with Directors and Partners to deliver high-quality, commercially focused advice to clients. Your primary focus will be Employer Solutions work, including advisory, compliance, risk management and client relationship leadership, while also supporting transaction projects where specialist employment tax input is required. You will oversee multiple engagements, develop junior team members, identify opportunities to expand client relationships and play a key role in the continued growth of both the Employer Solutions and wider Belfast Tax practice.

Main responsibilities will include:

• Leading the delivery of Employer Solutions engagements, ensuring high-quality outcomes, effective risk management and exceptional client service across a range of employment tax advisory and compliance matters.


• Supporting Transaction Tax Advisory engagements by leading the employment tax aspects of transactions, helping clients identify, manage and navigate people-related tax risks and opportunities throughout the transaction life-cycle.


• Owning and developing key client relationships, acting as a trusted adviser and identifying opportunities to support clients’ wider business objectives across both Employer Solutions and transaction-related work.


• Leading technical delivery and review, providing direction and coaching to Managers and junior team members, while remaining actively involved in complex technical matters, key judgments and client-facing discussions.


• Managing project timelines, quality standards and coordination across internal teams, clients and external stakeholders, ensuring the successful delivery of both Employer Solutions and transaction-related assignments.


• Overseeing engagement economics, including WIP, recoverability and billing, proactively managing build-up and supporting strong recovery performance.


• Taking responsibility for quality, risk management and compliance, ensuring work is appropriately reviewed, signed off, documented and escalated in line with firm procedures and professional standards.


• Supporting business development activities, including identifying opportunities with new and existing clients, preparing proposals and contributing to the growth of both the Employer Solutions and wider Tax practice.


• Working collaboratively with colleagues across Tax, Advisory, Audit, Corporate Finance and third‑party advisers to deliver integrated solutions and maximise client value.


• Developing and mentoring team members, helping to build technical capability, engagement and retention across the team.

Skills and attributes:

• ACA/ACCA and/or CTA qualified.


• Significant Employer Solutions experience within a large practice is desirable ( although equivalent industry experience will be considered ), with strong technical knowledge of employment taxes and related advisory services.


• Demonstrable experience of Transaction Tax Advisory assignments, including tax due diligence, structuring and transaction support, or a strong ability to apply Employer Solutions expertise within a transactions environment.


• Proven ability to manage and develop client relationships and contribute to practice growth.


• Strong project management and commercial awareness, including responsibility for engagement economics, budgets, WIP and recoverability.


• Experience leading, mentoring and developing high‑performing teams, with a proactive interest in team performance, development and wellbeing.


• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex tax matters clearly to clients and colleagues at all levels.

About Us

We are Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton Ireland is rapidly approaching 3,000 people, in 9 offices across Ireland, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Bermuda. With a presence in over 149 countries around the world and a global network of 73,000 people, we bring our clients the local knowledge, national expertise and global presence to help them succeed – wherever they're located.

At GT, we work as trusted advisors, bringing local knowledge and national expertise, with a global presence, to help businesses succeed – wherever they are located. We make business more personal by investing in building relationships and empowering our clients to make the right decisions for their organisation now and for the future. Whether that is working with the public sector to build thriving communities, with regulators and financial institutions to build trust, or with a diverse range of businesses to help them achieve their goals, Grant Thornton Ireland work hard to support clients to act on the issues that matter.

At GT Ireland we don’t just predict your future, we build it

A Career at GT

Looking for a more fulfilling role in professional services? One where fresh thinking, collaboration and diversity are valued? At Grant Thornton we do things differently.

What does this mean for you?

A career in a more inclusive working environment, a more collaborative work culture, a more supported, flexible working role, more possibilities to grow and more opportunities to help shape the future for your clients. We respect and value your experience. And we want you to bring your authentic self to work and be at your best. It is how it should be.

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About The Team

Equity, diversity and inclusion

At Grant Thornton, we provide equitable opportunities for all our colleagues. We are a responsible, sustainable business where equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is at the forefront of our workplace culture agenda, and today, we continue to build and develop on our existing ED&I structure and strategy to meet our workplace culture needs. People are at the heart of our business and teams built with varied individuals present diverse viewpoints, which need to be heard and valued.

We are all at our best when we are able to be ourselves and we view integrity and authenticity as integral values to bring to our day‑to‑day work-life at the firm. We are excited to see the personality and perspectives you will bring to our team because we know we will all benefit from them. Diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision‑making, improves the quality of our delivery, and helps us to meet the needs of our clients. Our firm is built on people and their ideas, so we want to hear all the new perspectives and fresh thinking you have to offer. You form the bedrock of our firm’s best‑practice principles and we will champion you as leaders from day one.

Reward And Benefits

Our reward and benefits are designed to create an environment where our people can flourish. We are committed to building a culture where our people have access to the necessary benefits to help promote a healthy lifestyle and thrive.

Recognition

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