Senior Manager – Tax  Operations

Function / Sub-Function: Tax Data Centre of Excellence

Scope: LATAM

Location: Bosques, Mexico city (other locations may be considered for the right candidate but frequent travel to CDMX would be required)

Background:

ComEx Tax Operations team is responsible for Tax compliance and related operational activities for Unilever. Its primary role is the collection and analysis of tax and finance data and fulfilment of all UL tax filing obligations across Corporate Income Tax, VAT and Sales Taxes; Withholding Tax, Transfer Pricing, together with some aspects of Customs Duty Management.  

It also plays a key role in fulfilling UL’s quarterly and annual group tax reporting obligations for our statutory financial statements and supports Tax audits by providing data and analysis. ComEx Tax Operations is also responsible for monitoring the tax control framework, driving standardisation to the Tax Global Process Model (GPM), driving data quality improvement, and eliminating manual processes.

Main purpose of job:

The purpose of the role is to lead the Latam regional team in realising the ComEx Tax Operations team’s mission to strengthen the foundations of tax compliance delivery by maximising automation improving data quality and continuously improving our processes in order to demonstrably uplift the quality of our service to stakeholders whilst reducing the cost of Tax Compliance for Unilever.

  The Lead with ensure that KPIs of filed on time/paid on time are consistently met, the key controls around reconciliations of tax returns to accounting records are operated and that all further operational support included in Tax Ops scope it delivered to Global Tax and Finance stakeholders.  The Lead will also partner with our 3PSP in the delivery of tax returns for the approval of the Global Tax Business Partners.

Key Requirements of the Role:

• Lead and manage the Tax Operations Team in the Latam Region,

• Play an active role in the global Tax Operations management team with the aim of sharing ideas and ensuring as far as possible a globally standardised way of working and adoption of best practices

• Lead the engagement with internal stakeholders in the Tax Business Partner, wider ComEx  and market Finance Teams across Latam      

• End to end management of Direct/Indirect/Transfer pricing Tax compliance process, ensuring that all data forming the basis of tax calculations is adequately checked and corrected where necessary.

• Ensure on time and accurate preparation and submission of Tax returns, meeting both internal and external deadlines.

• Ensure all tax related payments to government / tax authorities are initiated in line with all relevant Unilever processes.

• Support in country tax audits by providing adequate documentation, data support and data analysis.

• Ensure all ComEx owned tax controls are operated as per the Unilever control framework and any deficiencies are reported

• Ensure accurate implementation in ComEx processes of any tax, legal, or regulatory changes identified by Tax BPs or 3PSPs.

• Highlight process deficiencies and areas of high manual effort to the Tax Ops PEC and work with them to operationalise automation and process improvement initiatives that are developed in response. 

• Ensure all process documentation (DTPs) is regularly updated to reflect actual working practices and facilitate smooth transfer of responsibilities between team members when roles are rotated

• Ensuring all delivery issues are documented, investigated and resolved in a timely manner

• Ensure any process and delivery issues are effectively managed, escalated and resolved

• Share information on status of issues, including issues log, root cause analyses and after-action reviews, with key stakeholders regularly.

• Coach and develop team members to ensure career progression, employee engagement and well-being.

 Skills:

Technical Skills:

• Good understanding of Tax principles across Corporate Income Tax/VAT, GST & other Sales Taxes/ Withholding Tax/Transfer Pricing

• Working knowledge of Deferred Tax, Advance Tax, Tax Adjustments

• Good knowledge of accounting, finance and business process.

• Good working knowledge of ERP systems, preferably SAP ECC, plus an understanding of ancillary software such as Vertex, LongView, PowerBI, Alteryx and Excel

Soft skills:

•  Proven track record of leading and developing a team, preferably in a multi-national accounting service centre environment.

• Results focus to deliver consistently to inflexible external deadlines.

• Attention to detail

• Strong problem solving, analytical and critical thinking skills

• Effective and engaging communicator with the ability to engage senior stakeholders, junior team members and external service providers.

• Self-motivated with the ability to work autonomously and take full ownership of job responsibilities.

Educational Qualification and Experience:

• Accountancy or Tax qualified with 10+ years of post-qualification experience

• Educated to degree level

• Experience in leading in a shared service centre environment highly advantageous

• Fluency in Spanish and English language

Key interfaces:

Global Tax Team Country Tax Team Country Finance Team Outsourced Service Provide (Big 4)) Central R2R/P2P/O2C teams IT Team Process Excellence Team

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.