Group Tax Manager - 4 Month Fixed Term Contract

Trainline plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare & dental insurance

Work from abroad policy

2-for-1 share purchase plans

EV scheme to reduce carbon emissions

Extra festive time off

Family-friendly benefits

Job summary

Trainline plc is seeking an Interim Group Tax Manager who will own the full breadth of our UK and European tax obligations, including corporation tax, VAT and employment taxes. You will report to the Group Head of Tax and partner with Finance, HR Operations, Legal and Treasury to support the tax function.

The role requires ACA/CTA/ACCA or equivalent, substantial tax experience, and proven ability to deliver accurate tax disclosures, forecast taxes, and manage audits across jurisdictions.

Qualifications

• Professional tax or accounting qualification such as ACA, CTA, ACCA, or equivalent.
• Significant experience preparing UK corporation tax returns and audit provisions at Group level.
• Experience managing compliance obligations across multiple jurisdictions and taxes (CT, VAT, employment taxes).
• Strong analytical ability and high proficiency in Microsoft Excel with complex models.

Responsibilities

• Own compliance tax matters across UK and European entities (CT, VAT, employment taxes).
• Lead tax accounting end-to-end: tax disclosures, audit provisions, tax journals and postings in D365.
• Drive budgeting/forecasting of corporation taxes; manage quarterly instalments and cash tax positions.
• Review UK/EU VAT returns via MTD and oversee transfer pricing across group entities.
• Lead R&D tax relief claims and ensure timely submissions.
• Champion tax process improvements and provide training to the team.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Mentoring / coaching

Independent worker

Education

ACA

CTA

ACCA

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft D365

Pigment

Job description

About us

At Trainline, our purpose is to empower greener travel choices, connecting people and places. Trainline enables millions of travellers to find and book the best value tickets across carriers, fares, and journey options through our highly rated mobile app, website, and B2B partner channels.

Great journeys start with Trainline

We’re Europe’s leading independent rail platform, helping millions of travellers find and book the best-value rail and coach journeys across our app, website and partner channels.

Our job is to make the green travel choice the best choice. By building a better train travel experience, we help more people choose rail - creating a positive impact for customers, our business and the planet.

We’re a team of more than 1,000 Trainliners from over 50 nationalities, working across London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Edinburgh and Madrid. Now is a brilliant time to join us and help shape the future of travel.

Introducing the Trainline Tax Team

Trainline is a FTSE 250 global travel tech business, and our Tax team plays a central role in how we manage our financial responsibilities across the Group. Since our Group Head of Tax joined, we have been on an exciting journey - building out a dynamic in-house tax function and transitioning from a fully outsourced model to a proactive, value-adding internal advisory and compliance capability. With a clear roadmap in place and an enthusiastic Senior Tax Analyst already embedded in the team, this is a genuinely compelling moment to join and help shape the next chapter of what our tax function can be.

As Interim Group Tax Manager, you will report directly to the Group Head of Tax and take real ownership across the full breadth of our tax obligations - spanning corporation tax, VAT, employment taxes, and transfer pricing across our UK and European entities. You will work closely with colleagues across Finance, HR Operations, Legal, and Treasury, acting as a key bridge between the tax function and the wider business, whilst also playing an active role in supporting the professional development of the Senior Tax Analyst and managing relationships with external advisors and auditors.

In this role as the Interim Group Tax Manager

• Own the management of all compliance tax matters across the Group's UK and European entities (UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium), including corporation tax, VAT, and employment taxes, working with external advisors to ensure accurate and timely submissions across all jurisdictions.
• Lead the tax accounting function end-to-end, including preparation of tax disclosures in statutory accounts, management of Group audit provision corporation tax calculations, and ownership of tax journals and postings using Microsoft D365 - acting as the bridge between tax and finance.
• Drive the budgeting and forecasting of corporation taxes, leveraging forecasting software (Pigment) and automating calculations where possible, whilst managing Quarterly Instalment Payments and cash tax positions in collaboration with the Finance and Treasury teams.
• Review and manage UK and EU VAT return submissions via Making Tax Digital software, and oversee Operational Transfer Pricing across Group entities, ensuring intercompany agreements are maintained and invoicing is operating as expected.
• Lead the management of R&D tax relief claims across Group jurisdictions, working closely with technical teams and external advisors to ensure submissions are accurate and timely.
• Champion tax process improvement across the business, identifying automation opportunities, communicating best practices, and delivering training to the wider team to embed lasting change.
• Manage tax governance for the Group, including the CCO risk register, the SAO annual process, tax accounting controls, and process documentation, ensuring a well-governed and audit-ready function.
• Support the Group Head of Tax on ad-hoc research and project work - including monitoring VAT issues, transfer pricing developments, and the tax treatment of new product offerings - whilst also actively supporting the Senior Tax Analyst's development in the profession.

We'd love to hear from you if you have

• A professional tax or accounting qualification such as ACA, CTA, ACCA, or equivalent, with significant experience in a broad tax role gained in practice, in-house, or a combination of both.
• Proven experience preparing UK corporation tax returns and audit provisions at Group level, paired with a strong working knowledge of tax accounting principles.
• Experience managing compliance obligations across multiple jurisdictions and a range of taxes, including corporation tax, VAT, and employment taxes.
• Strong analytical ability and high proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the capability to build and review complex financial models and tax calculations with a high level of accuracy.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to translate complex tax matters into clear, accessible language for non-specialist stakeholders across the business.
• A proactive, hands-on approach, with the ability to work independently, manage competing deadlines effectively, and collaborate across teams to deliver high-quality outcomes.
• Experience supporting or mentoring colleagues within a tax or finance team, with a genuine interest in contributing to others' professional growth.
• Ideally, some exposure to tax forecasting or automation tools; familiarity with Microsoft D365 or a similar ERP system would also be helpful, though not essential.

More information

Enjoy fantastic perks like private healthcare & dental insurance, a generous work from abroad policy, 2-for-1 share purchase plans, an EV Scheme to further reduce carbon emissions, extra festive time off, and excellent family-friendly benefits.

We prioritise career growth with clear career paths, transparent pay bands, personal learning budgets, and regular learning days. Jump on board and supercharge your career from day one!

We're operating a hybrid model and ask that Trainliners work from the office a minimum of 60% of their time over a 12-week period. We also have a 28-day Work from Abroad policy.

Our values represent the things that matter most to us and what we live and breathe everyday, in everything we do

• Think Big - We're building the future of rail
• Own It - We focus on every customer, partner and journey
• Travel Together - We're one team
• Do Good - We make a positive impact

We know that having a diverse team makes us better and helps us succeed. And we mean all forms of diversity - gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, nationality and diversity of thought. That's why we're committed to creating inclusive places to work, where everyone belongs and differences are valued and celebrated.

Interested in finding out more about what it's like to work at Trainline? Why not check us out on LinkedIn, Instagram and Glassdoor!