Tax Recruitment Brief Reframed to Secure a Process Specialist

Following changes to accounting standards and the Charity Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), a charity needed additional expertise to review and improve its tax-related systems and processes.

The existing finance team did not have the capacity to deliver the required changes alongside its day-to-day responsibilities, so the organisation created an 18-month fixed-term position, initially advertised as a Tax Accountant.

However, the role was proving more complex than its title suggested.

Rather than requiring a traditional tax specialist, the organisation needed someone who could review existing processes, identify inefficiencies, improve data analysis and reporting, and support the implementation of new system requirements.

The challenge was finding someone with the right combination of financial understanding, systems expertise and process improvement experience.

During our discussions with the client, we explored the responsibilities in more detail and identified that the position was primarily focused on systems and process transformation within the tax function, rather than specialist tax accounting.

We recommended reframing the role to focus on the skills genuinely required.

This included broadening the search beyond candidates with direct tax or charity-sector experience and considering professionals from accountancy practice who were looking to gain experience within industry.

We also advised the client to consider candidates qualified by experience (QBE), rather than making a formal accountancy qualification essential.

This approach opened the opportunity to a wider pool of candidates with relevant transferable skills.

Through our existing candidate relationships, we identified a professional with 16 years’ experience specialising in lean operations and digital transformation.

Their background included re-engineering legacy processes, simplifying complex financial data, removing duplication and improving operational efficiency.

They also had experience connecting finance and operational functions to deliver automated reporting and clearer management information.

Although their specialist tax knowledge was more limited, they were enthusiastic about developing their expertise in this area, while bringing substantial systems and process improvement experience to the assignment.

The client appointed the candidate to the 18-month fixed-term position.

By looking beyond the original Tax Accountant job title and focusing on the practical requirements of the project, we identified someone whose experience closely matched the organisation’s need for systems improvement and financial process transformation.

The appointment also provided the successful candidate with an opportunity to develop their tax knowledge and broaden their experience within finance.

• Original Tax Accountant brief reviewed and reframed around systems and process improvement.
• Candidate search broadened beyond traditional tax specialists and charity-sector experience.
• Qualified-by-experience candidates considered alongside formally qualified accountants.
• Candidate appointed with 16 years’ experience in lean operations and digital transformation.
• Successful appointment to an 18-month fixed-term contract.