Group Head of Taxation - Dubai

Group Head of Taxation 1. Job InformationJob Title: Group Head of Taxation Business Unit: Corporate Headquarters Department: Finance Location: Dubai, UAE Reports To: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Scope: Group-wide (The Parent Company and its global subsidiaries across the UAE and multiple international jurisdictions)

Job Summary

The Group Head of Tax is a pivotal executive appointment tasked with architecting, establishing, and scaling a high-performing, centralized in-house tax function for the Group and its international subsidiaries.

Based at the corporate headquarters in Dubai, the incumbent assumes ultimate accountability for the Group s global fiscal footprint, ensuring bulletproof regulatory compliance while legally optimizing the global tax position.

Operating as a trusted strategic partner to the CFO and executive leadership, this role spans a highly diversified corporate portfolio that may include trading, agri value chains, manufacturing, logistics, and international investments.

The mandate covers the full spectrum of UAE Corporate Tax, complex cross-border transfer pricing, global structuring, permanent establishment (PE) mitigation, and thin capitalization management.A central objective of this role is leading a corporate transformation: shifting the organization from an advisor-reliant operational model to a self-sufficient, insourced Center of Excellence, while selectively leveraging external specialists for highly complex, non-routine matters.

UAE Fiscal Management & Local Compliance Multijurisdictional Advisory & International Tax M&A, Transactions & Deal Structuring Global Risk Mitigation & Cross-Border Frameworks Audit Defense & Stakeholder Management

Required Experience

Preferred Background & Core

Competencies

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Core Responsibilities

• Strategy, Governance & In-House Transformation
• Tax Architecture: Design and deploy the global tax strategy and target operating model, defining clear parameters for compliance, risk appetite, and resource allocation between HQ and international subsidiaries.
• Corporate Governance: Institutionalize a rigorous tax governance framework, establishing transparent escalation matrices, KPI scorecards, and a standardized financial reporting cadence for the CFO and the Board.
• Capability Insourcing: Transition the organization from a historically advisor-led model to a mature internal function, systematically reducing structural dependence on external firms for day-to-day operations.
• Growth Alignment: Proactively evaluate the tax ramifications of corporate expansion plans, infrastructure investments, and new market entries to prevent tax leakage from inception.
• Corporate Tax Sovereignty: Lead the operational readiness, ongoing computation, filing, and optimization protocols under the UAE Federal Decree-Law on Corporate Tax, maximizing Group Relief and Tax Group benefits where eligible.
• Indirect Tax & Economic Substance: Oversee the accuracy and submission of UAE VAT filings, Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) notifications, Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR), and free zone compliance requirements.
• Regulatory Advisory: Act as the definitive internal authority on emerging UAE tax legislation, translating statutory adjustments into clear operational mandates for regional business heads.
• Global Footprint Oversight: Monitor and interpret the fiscal landscapes across the Middle East, Africa, and wider international hubs, providing technical advice on the practical, bottom-line impacts of local tax laws.
• Capital & Yield Optimization: Structure efficient cross-border financing, cash pooling, and dividend repatriation pathways, ensuring compliant access to Double Taxation Treaties (DTTs) and managing withholding tax exposures.
• Subsidiary Controls: Coordinate closely with regional finance directors to ensure local filings match the overarching Group tax policies and standards.
• Transactional Due Diligence: Provide front-end tax advisory for all corporate activities, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, asset-versus-share deals, and legal carve-outs.
• Structural Optimization: Partner with Strategy, M&A, Legal, and Treasury to engineer tax-efficient acquisition vehicles, funding channels, licensing setups, and eventual exit routes.
• Post-Deal Integration: Manage the tax integration of newly acquired entities, encompassing immediate compliance reviews, structural alignment, and the remediation of legacy tax liabilities.
• Transfer Pricing (TP) Engineering: Formulate and maintain the Group s global Transfer Pricing master files, local files, and benchmarking studies, ensuring all intercompany flows (management fees, trading flows, logistics recharges) meet the arm's length principle.
• OECD & BEPS Compliance: Direct data collection pipelines and modeling exercises to evaluate exposures under OECD BEPS Pillar Two, ensuring readiness for Global Minimum Tax ($15%$) rules and related safe-harbor disclosures.
• PE Prevention: Mitigate Permanent Establishment (PE) risks by developing frameworks to monitor cross-border movement, executive travel, regional project teams, and procurement agents.
• Thin Capitalization Management: Monitor interest limitation and thin capitalization thresholds across debt portfolios, ensuring compliance with UAE interest deduction limits and global equivalents.
• Financial Reporting Integration: Own the tax provisioning, disclosure notes, and deferred tax calculations under IAS 12 for the consolidated financial statements, defending positions during external audits.
• Authority Representation: Act as the principal point of contact for the UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) and international regulatory bodies, leading the defense strategy during audits, objections, and formal disputes.

Job Requirements

• Educational Qualifications & Professional Charters
• Academic Foundation: Bachelor s degree in Accounting, Finance, Tax Law, or Business Administration from a recognized institution.
• An LL.M. in International Taxation or a Master s in Tax is highly advantageous.
• Professional Certification (Mandatory): Active professional credentialing given the seniority of this position, such as:
• Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) Chartered Accountant (ACA / CA / ACCA) Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT) Specialized Training: Documented, advanced coursework in UAE Corporate Tax, OECD Pillar Two, and advanced Transfer Pricing methodology.
• Total Career Tenure: A minimum of 12 to 15 years of progressive corporate and international tax experience within complex corporate structures.
• Regional Expertise: Direct, hands-on experience navigating UAE Corporate Tax and VAT frameworks.
• Multijurisdictional Exposure: A proven track record managing tax footprints across emerging markets, specifically the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Technical Portfolio: Substantial experience leading M&A tax structuring, global transfer pricing setups, thin capitalization modeling, and PE risk minimization.
• Big 4 + In-House Hybrid: Combined career path featuring initial technical training at a Big 4 accounting firm (Senior Manager/Director level) followed by high-level in-house leadership.
• Transformation Catalyst: Demonstrated experience pioneering corporate tax transformations, building internal tax functions from scratch, or designing enterprise-wide tax governance frameworks.
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