Tax Director, Southern Africa, EWA, NALI, Israel, Arabia and TUI at Unilever

JOB PURPOSE

• The Tax Director is a member of the tax leadership team responsible for all tax matters in the Southern Africa, East West Africa, NALI, Israel, Arabia and TUI regions.
• Tax matters include meeting all statutory obligations for all taxes in all countries, meeting all local and global reporting obligations and implementing local, regional and global tax planning initiatives in line with Unilever’s tax principles in order to realise a Competitive Effective Tax Rate (ETR), optimise Unilever’s indirect tax position and optimise the tax contribution to Unilever’s free cash flow.
• The Tax Director partners One Unilever and Business Group Led operations in the geography, and reports to the VP, Tax Markets and Expertise.
• This role requires a strategic thinker with deep expertise in tax planning, compliance, risk management and being capable of navigating complex regulatory environments and driving finance performance. The successful candidate will work closely with senior leadership to align tax strategies with Unilever’s overall business objectives.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Tax Director has the following areas of responsibility:

• Management of the tax function and relationships
• Identify and execute local tax planning opportunities, regarding both direct and indirect taxes
• Business partners the National Finance leads and General Managers in the relevant countries
• Compliance with all tax obligations in the countries including but not limited to corporate income tax, transfer pricing, indirect tax, and withholding taxes

Risk management, controls and reporting

• Management of the tax function and relationships
• The Tax Director organises the local tax business partner teams, the regional BPO teams (UniOps) and external tax support for the business in each of the relevant countries. Resources in the individual countries can be junior, senior or external depending on the size and complexity of each of these countries. The Unilever tax compliance operating model includes support from regional BPO teams (UniOps). The Tax Director will specifically be expected to leverage economies of scale where possible, through the use of automated tax tools, pooling of resources and outsourcing. The Tax Director builds and maintains relationships with tax authorities and advisors in the countries.

Activities

• Organises the tax function of the countries with internal, BPO and external resources.
• Addresses training / education needs of local resources, implementing the tax development and training agenda.
• Ensures adequate external resources are available in all countries.
• Develops the peer network in the countries.
• Managing relationships with the tax authorities in the countries.
• Represents Unilever tax advocacy interests through active engagement with the relevant tax authority and industry organisations.

Projects/initiatives

• The tax Director supports the planning and execution of business restructures and entity rationalisation. The tax Director executes projects concerning tax planning, optimisation of capital, reserves and debt structuring.
• Activities
• Takes initiatives for projects concerning local tax planning in the countries.
• Implements global and regional projects in the countries.
• Monitors tax efficiency of the capital structure in the countries.
• Manages the continuous improvement of the quality and efficiency of compliance processes in the countries.
• Manages ETR and cash tax in the countries through initiatives that reduce withholding taxes and non-deductibles.

Advice and support

• The Tax Director works in close collaboration with finance, legal, treasury, pensions, company secretarial, and global tax teams to provide advice and support concerning all tax aspects of Unilever’s business operations, in order to maximise tax efficiency of business’ initiatives, create awareness of tax inefficiencies, realise compliance and provide high quality decision support.
• Activities
• Provides strategic tax advice to senior leadership and the board of directors for companies in the geography on the tax impact of business strategy and decisions as well as day to day operations.
• Monitors and advises on changes in tax legislation in the geography and the impact on the company.
• Supports regional projects (SC, treasury, global contracts etc) by advising on the tax aspects thereof relevant to the countries.
• Monitors, supports and advises on transfer pricing issues in countries.
• Advises on cross-border tax issues (transfer pricing, withholding taxes, tax deductibility etc) relevant to the countries.
• Contributes actively to the global tax agenda and supports the implementation of the Global Tax Strategy in the countries.
• Supports the M&A teams in due diligence and executing in country M&A projects.

Compliance

• The Tax Director, together with in country tax and finance resources and regional BPO resources is responsible for the delivery of tax compliance, in line with Global policy, in order to contribute to achieve timely, correct and complete compliance.
• Activities
• Is responsible for the delivery of tax compliance for all taxes in the geography.
• Monitors level of compliance and adequacy of tax controls in the countries.
• Understands implications of changes in tax laws on business operations in order to ensure accurate and timely tax compliance
• Ensures that adequate documentation / data is created and maintained for tax planning and audit purposes.

Risk Management, reporting and forecasting

• The Tax Director is responsible for the proper assessments of current and future risks, and the formulation and implementation of appropriate policies and procedures, in line with Global policy.
• Activities
• Negotiates audit settlements consistent with Unilever’s overall tax strategy.
• Is responsible for tax litigation, including pro-active assessment of financial costs vs benefits of tax litigation.
• Monitors and manages significant contingent tax issues and reports to senior management in country and in group tax.
• Provides information to the centre, supports development of annual and quarterly forecasts for ETR and cash tax.
• Monitors and supports countries with significant audit issues.
• Provides technical expertise to ensure accurate tax booking/accounting. Ensures that tax reporting under IFRS is well understood in the relevant countries.
• Responsible for tax reserves/provisions.
• Coordinates support documentation for tax audits.
• Interacts with tax authorities.
• Interacts with Internal Audit teams.
• Ensures compliance with global controls framework related to tax processes.
• Conducts regular tax risk assessments and implements corrective actions as needed.

ALL ABOUT YOU
Experiences and Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field; a Master's degree or professional certification (e.g., CPA, CFA) is preferred.
• Relevant experience in tax management, with a proven track record of leadership in a multinational corporation.
• Strong knowledge of international tax laws, regulations, and best practices.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate with senior management and external stakeholders.
• Ability to ensure Tax remains connected to business operations to manage tax risks and take advantage of tax opportunities.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and ethical standards.

Skills

• Effective Communication
• Prioritisation
• Stakeholder management
• Risk Management
• Insightful Analytics