Private Client Tax Senior Manager

Armstrong Watson; Cockermouth; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme

Life Cover (4x salary)

Income Protection

Annual Leave Purchase Scheme

Smart Working Policy

Health Shield Cash Plan

Employee Assistance Programme

CPD support

Professional membership fees

Job summary

Armstrong Watson is recruiting a Private Client Tax Senior Manager to join our Cockermouth office. This full-time role focuses on delivering bespoke tax advisory work, client relationship management, and developing a high-performing tax team.

You will lead complex projects, identify opportunities, draft scopes and budgets, and collaborate with the Tax Leadership team to achieve growth. This is a hands-on role with coaching duties and cross-service support.

Qualifications

• CTA qualification (or equivalent) completed.
• Thought leader with credibility in the external marketplace.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience prioritising workload and meeting deadlines within budget.
• Experience directly line managing staff and delegating work.

Responsibilities

• Deliver complex tax advisory projects for private clients.
• Identify planning and advisory opportunities from existing client portfolio.
• Draft appropriate scope and budget for each piece of work with Tax Partner.
• Ensure risk management and review procedures on projects.
• Maintain client contact and communicate progress to relationship managers.
• Line manage Tax Seniors / Tax Assistant Managers and develop the team.
• Support other service lines in multi-service proposals and opportunities.

Skills

Thought leadership

Strong communication

Prioritising workload

People management

Education

CTA qualification (or equivalent)

Job description

Private Client Tax Senior Manager

Department: Tax

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Cockermouth

Description

About Us

Build something exceptional, with us...

Our ambition is clear and openly bold.

Armstrong Watson is on a journey to more than double our turnover by 2030, through disciplined organic growth, the attraction of outstanding talent, and the selective acquisition of like‑minded firms.

But growth alone is not the goal.

Reputation is.

And reputation is earned, not inherited.

Our strategic intent is simple to say and hard to deliver.

To become the most respected adviser to privately owned businesses in the North and the UK.

The firm business owners talk about.

The firm lawyers and bankers recommend without hesitation.

To achieve this, we are building the best Accounting and Financial Advisory firm to deal with, not just in the North, but across the UK. Exceptional service, deep expertise, trusted relationships, and absolute reliability define everything we do. These are not slogans; they are standards we hold ourselves to every day.

At our core, we exist for one reason, to help our clients achieve prosperity, a secure future, and peace of mind.

This strategy sets the direction.

Our people, our values‑led culture, and our standards will deliver it.

We are looking for people who want more than the next job. People who care deeply about:

• Standards and professionalism
• Doing work they are proud to put their name to
• Building long‑term client relationships
• Being part of a firm with real momentum and intent

If you want to grow with a business that is ambitious, values‑driven, and serious about excellence, Armstrong Watson offers opportunity and expectation in equal measure.

What you will find here:

• A firm with clear direction and momentum
• Clients who value advice and relationships
• Colleagues who care about doing things properly
• A culture built on Passion, Trust, Humanity and Honesty
• Genuine opportunity to shape your career as the firm grows

This is our moment, and our vision is clear, to build something genuinely remarkable.

The Role

We are recruiting for a Tax Senior Manager to join our growing Tax Consultancy service line. The successful candidate will be based at our Cockermouth office.

The key focuses for the successful candidate will be:

• Supporting the Tax Leadership team in identifying, devising and delivering bespoke tax advice and solutions to our clients;
• Delivering against agreed KPI’s, including individual and team fee targets;
• Playing a key role in delivering against the Tax Consultancy Service Line and office business development objectives to drive higher fees for your team;
• Coaching and developing junior members of the team.

The main elements of this role will include:

• Supporting the Tax Leadership team in delivering complex tax advisory projects
• Identifying planning and advisory opportunities from our existing client portfolio and targets
• Being responsible for drafting appropriate scope and budget for each piece of work to be agreed with the Tax Partner responsible
• Ensuring appropriate risk management and review procedures are followed in respect of all projects
• Being responsible for client contact on advisory projects
• Being responsible for communicating progress to client relationship managers in other lines of service where appropriate
• Having direct line management responsibilities for Tax Seniors / Tax Assistant Managers
• Identifying advisory opportunities within our existing client portfolio
• Supporting other service lines in multi-service proposalsSupporting Tax Partners in targeting tax only opportunities

Please note that we will be accepting candidates from agency suppliers in connection with this vacancy.

The Candidate

In order to fulfil the role, we would like a candidate to have:

• Successfully completed their CTA qualification (or equivalent)
• Excellent knowledge and expertise in order to be seen as a thought leader in their area to the external marketplace
• Strong communication skills - both written and verbal
• Experience in prioritising workload and be able to complete work within the budgeted time and to the required deadlines
• Experience in directly line managing staff, and be confident when delegating work

The Benefits

In return for your hard work helping us shape our future growth and development; we will provide a competitive salary and a positive benefits package which includes:

• Salary Sacrifice Employer Contribution Pension Scheme including Life Cover (4x salary) and Income Protection
• Competitive Annual Leave entitlement & Annual Leave Purchase Scheme allowing you to buy up to 5 additional days annual leave each year
• Smart Working Policy, giving you the ability to balance home and remote working
• Health Shield Cash Plan (cash back on a range of Health benefits and discounts on holidays, fashion and entertainment)
• Employee Assistance Programme (24/7 confidential support for wellbeing and health)
• Paid flu jabs and eye tests
• Introductory Commission Scheme (financial reward if you refer a new client)
• Employee Referral Scheme (financial reward if you refer new AW colleagues) enabling you to claim up to £2,500 for each referral
• Investment towards Continuous Professional Development (CPD), which includes access to comprehensive training courses and materials
• Paid professional membership fees

In addition to all the benefits you would expect from an award winning employer, you will be given the utmost encouragement and support to develop your career further.

When you're with us... we're with you.