Group Head of Tax

University of Sheffield; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Sheffield is seeking a Group Head of Tax to lead our tax strategy and operations across the university. You will oversee VAT, Business Taxes, Employment Taxes, and Global Mobility, partnering with HMRC and senior stakeholders to ensure proactive compliance and strategic impact.

You will build and lead a high‑performing tax team, drive a major SAP upgrade with tax requirements embedded from day one, and advise on spin-outs, international policies, and complex contracts.

Qualifications

• CTA, ACA, or equivalent professional qualification, or substantial high-level work experience in a complex environment.
• Experience leading tax strategy and compliance across multiple tax types.
• Experience in higher education or charity sector is desirable but not required.

Responsibilities

• Shape Strategy & Maintain Compliance: Lead worldwide tax strategy, compliance risks, and group operations, while maintaining relationships with HMRC.
• Lead & Inspire a Specialist Team: Motivate, develop, and support the tax team to deliver a high‑quality service.
• Drive Business Transformation: Oversee SAP system replacement project with tax requirements embedded from day one.
• Advise across Diverse Operations: Provide pragmatic advice on contracts, spin-outs, and international policies.
• Build Tax Awareness: Upskill colleagues across departments to understand tax requirements clearly.

Skills

Tax strategy

Team leadership

Regulatory compliance

Global mobility

Contract advisory

Education

CTA/ACA or equivalent

Job description

Are you an energetic, collaborative tax leader looking for a fresh challenge where no two days look the same? We are looking for a Group Head of Tax to lead our tax strategy and drive tax operations across our vibrant organization. With a turnover of £900m and £1bn in net assets, this is a broad, high-impact role where you'll balance strategic vision with hands-on, practical guidance across all areas of tax. You will lead a dynamic team of specialists covering VAT, Business Taxes, Employment Taxes, and Global Mobility. Beyond managing day-to-day compliance, you'll be at the heart of key organizational milestones-from supporting spin-out business structures and global mobility policies to playing a key role in our upcoming finance system upgrade. What You’ll Be Doing

• Shape Strategy & Maintain Compliance: Lead worldwide tax strategy, compliance risks, and group operations, while maintaining a transparent, proactive relationship with HMRC.
• Lead & Inspire a Specialist Team: Motivate, develop, and support our talented team to deliver a helpful, customer-focused service.
• Drive Business Transformation: Act as the lead tax authority on our major SAP system replacement project, ensuring tax requirements are embedded seamlessly from day one.
• Advise across Diverse Operations: Provide pragmatic advice on commercial contracts, spin-out company structures, subsidiary initiatives, capital projects, and international working policies.
• Build Tax Awareness: Educate, upskill, and guide non-finance colleagues across all departments, making complex tax requirements clear, accessible, and easy to follow. You might have a specific tax specialism in direct or indirect tax, but you'll need a solid working knowledge across all main tax types (including Global Mobility and Employment Taxes). You should have CTA, ACA, or equivalent professional qualification, or substantial high-level work experience in a complex environment.

Prior experience in Higher Education or the charity sector is desirable, but we welcome strong applications from industry or Big 4 / private practice backgrounds. A track record of managing, mentoring and developing teams, and clear communication skills are essential. Most importantly, we want someone who pairs strong technical capability with an approachable, pragmatic mindset.

Working With Us We are a hard-working, professional team, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. We pride ourselves on being friendly, approachable, a little bit quirky, and genuinely supportive. We believe the best solutions come from collaboration, straightforward advice, and a positive team environment.

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university. We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities,a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more at sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits and join us to become part of something special. We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.