Tax Manager, Belgium and France

About Umicore

Reducing harmful vehicle emissions. Giving new life to used metals. Powering the cars of the future. As a global materials and technology group, we apply our specialist knowledge to offer materials and solutions that are essential to everyday life. We aim to be a clear world leader in materials for clean mobility and recycling and have turned our sustainability approach into an even greater competitive advantage. With ambitions like this, imagine what you could do?

About the role

This position has the responsibility for leading and coordinating all Umicore corporate tax compliance, reporting audit and planning matters in Belgium and France. Key aspects of the role are process integrity, pro-active audit preparedness, value creation, business partnership, collaboration and change management/continuous improvement.

What you will be doing?  

Key aspects of the role are to establish and maintain:

• Belgian income (including withholding) tax compliance and reporting integrity in pro-active and seamless partnership with the global tax team. This role shall contribute to the success of the global team and its process integrity and ensure that all key tax matters in Belgium and France are pursued (and visibility raised for them) on a timely basis. The incumbent shall contribute to the improvement of best-practice global processes and to the regular management of the tax accounting and the documentation of deferred tax assets.
• Audit preparedness in all key Belgian tax matters and participation in the preparation of the global tax dashboard. 
• Tax value creation actions in Belgium and France, including corporate simplification. Track legislative changes, model their impact on Umicore’s key KPIs (i.e. cash and book taxes, and compliance). 
• A pro-active stakeholder relationship with the business partners in Belgium and France across all Business Groups/Units. The incumbent shall be a key advocate of the global tax team in the relationship with the Business Units/Groups in Belgium and France; regularly identify business needs generating tax opportunities or risks, make the business partners aware of the key tax requirements, and gain their support. 
• Provide tax support to restructurings and M&A transactions in Belgium and France in alignment with other members of the global tax team.

The tax leadership in Belgium and France involves:

• Coaching of all legal entity finance leaders in Belgium and France
• Selection, in alignment with the global tax team, and management of external tax advisors in Belgium and France
• The leadership, in collaboration with the global functional tax teams, over all tax audits in Belgium and France; stewardship shall be provided in audits of non-corporate taxes belonging to the primary responsibility of other functional teams
• The monitoring and review, in alignment with the global tax team, of all material tax inputs given to the Group Auditor in the constituent audits of entities in Belgium and France.

Whom we are looking for

Education/experience:

• Tax Law, Economics or Finance Master - University preferred
• CPA / tax advisor exam / postgraduate degree in taxation preferred
• 10 years+ tax management experience in an in-house role; additional Big-4 exposure a plus
• Knowledge of financial/tax modelling; and SAP and Microsoft Office skills; OTP or Longview user a plus

Technical skills:

• Very good technical knowledge of the tax laws and accounting rules of  Belgium (France a plus)
• IAS-12 proficiency
• Good exposure to the Belgian provisions re: transfer pricing, R&D and payroll tax incentives

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Competencies:

• Hands-on self-starter who quickly establishes end-to-end ownership over his/her practice and delivers solutions in full transparency, accountability and integrity
• Excellent collaborative problem solving & decision making skills; self-motivated and organized with the ability to deliver results independently yet in team alignment in a fast-paced and diverse environment
• Strong change management skills and process orientation with a structured, yet flexible (non-dogmatic) approach
• Excellent organizational and communication skills; fast learner who is able to work independently as an informal leader and team player; track record of successful partnering with other functional stakeholders at all organizational levels and across geographies in a global organization
• Strong bandwidth, detail oriented and ands-on
• Excellent cross-cultural leadership (with an emphasis on coaching and informal leadership), communication, willingness to mentor and develop the Umicore finance function
• Strong business orientation and proven track record as an effective business partner
• Proficiency in French, Dutch and English (spoken and written).

What we offer

We aim to lead the way. Not just for our customers, but for our employees too. That is why we strive to create a collaborative environment in which we can all succeed, and a culture through which we can all share ideas, develop our expertise and advance our careers. We engage in building an inclusive work culture that offers equal opportunities for all employees irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. As you would expect from a world-leading organisation, we will also reward your contribution with a competitive salary and benefits.

With ambitions like this, IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD DO