Associate, Indirect Tax (VAT), DLA Piper

THE OPPORTUNITY

DLA Piper provides the full range of tax services that address the challenges of international commerce and business operations.

With more than 370 tax advisors in offices throughout the world, we help multinational companies address the complex challenges of international commerce and business operations as well as manage and resolve tax disputes.

We wish to boost the specialist VAT capability in the UK, as we see the potential for growth in this area.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The UK Tax Team has offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester and also works on a "One UK" basis, as a team. We support three areas of DLA Piper practice, namely working with our clients and colleagues on international tax projects, working with the lawyers in the UK groups, such as in corporate, finance, IP and real estate on transactional work, and adding value to the Sectors in which the firm operates.

Candidates will have a broad diet of work, that will include, but not be limited to:

- Assisting in raising the profile of VAT within the UK sectors, in particular across financial services, IPT, Insurance, cross border goods and services
- Strategically advising clients and managing client expectations and project delivery appropriately
- Liaising and taking instruction from clients
- Attending client meetings and meetings with internal Partners and Associates
- Meetings with the International VAT Group
- Business development activities, including identifying opportunities to grow the practice
- Litigation and contentious work
- Work alongside transfer pricing and trade group to cross sell business and work on projects together

ABOUT YOU

We do not set upper or lower limits of PQE for any of our vacancies. We have however given an indicative PQE as an approximate guide for applicants. Candidates who have between 4 to 5 years PQE are likely to have the right level of knowledge and have gained the right level of experience needed to be able to undertake this role.

- The successful candidate will be a qualified Lawyer, Chartered Tax Advisor or Chartered Accountant (or equivalent)
- Candidates will have strong indirect tax experience gained in a leading regional or City firm
- Have experience in areas of VAT, especially financial services and cross border goods and services
- Be interested in business development activity and growing the practice
- Customs duty and/or contentious VAT experience is desirable, but not essential
- Be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of the technical issues that are key to our clients
- Drafts documents using a commercial, client focussed style
- Complies with professional standards and all relevant regulatory obligations
- Able to handle multiple priorities, working to sometimes conflicting timescales in a fast-paced and challenging environment
- Direct tax experience is useful, but not essential
- Able to build trust and rapport to develop effective relationships, internally and externally

ABOUT US

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

- Be Supportive - we care about others, value diversity and act thoughtfully
- Be Collaborative - we give, we share and we join in
- Be Bold - we stand tall and challenge ourselves to think big
- Be Exceptional - we exceed standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At DLA Piper we are working hard to ensure that our talent pool is diverse. For us, diversity isn't just about visible differences, it's the unique blend of talents, skills, experiences and perspectives that makes each of us an individual.

We know it's crucial to have a culture and environment where those differences are genuinely valued and that's why we strive to be a business where everyone can thrive, develop and succeed based on their talent. Our aim is to build an inclusive and supportive culture where all our people feel they belong and can achieve their best.

AGILE WORKING

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That's why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits, we may conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers.