Pillar 2 Advisory Accountant - Large Business
HM Revenue and Customs
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 4th December 2023
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About the job
Job summary
Why HMRC?
Tired of 60-hour weeks, the corporate grind and only dressing down on Fridays? Are your technical accounting skills constrained by your management responsibilities, staff reviews and meetings? Would you like to lead on high-profile complex accounting issues that make a positive difference to the nation’s finances? If you’re nodding your head reading this, you’ve come to the right place.
The UK is taking a prominent and leading role in implementing the new Pillar 2 international tax reform. We want to make sure that multinational companies pay their share; and we would like you to join us in this challenge.
In return for your technical accounting skills, we’ll furnish you with a competitive salary, an average employer pension contribution of 27%, (and you’re an accountant, so you know how good that is), hybrid working, actual flexitime and genuine work-life balance alongside fascinating technical work. You’ll also be provided with regular CPD, tax training, a supportive network of technical specialists and a framework for career pathways.
This is a rare opportunity for an external candidate to join HMRC’s Advisory and Forensic Accountants Profession at a senior level. We are looking for an experienced technical accountant to support the HMRC Pillar 2 Programme. Equivalent roles in the private sector will include experienced Managers/Senior Managers in Big 4 Practice and Financial Controllers/Group Accountants in industry.
Working at HMRC as an accountant
Our team of 150 accountants have previously worked in varied roles in practice or industry, including audit and financial accounting positions. We use our technical and commercial knowledge in a range of interesting and exciting work.
This role will be based in our Large Business (LB) Directorate which forms part of HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group and is responsible for around 2,000 of the UK’s largest businesses to ensure they pay the correct amount of tax. Using your breadth of commercial and technical knowledge, you will assess the impact of the new Pillar 2 measures for our customers to enable you to structure the accountancy support that will be required for operational compliance work.
You will act as the Pillar 2 accounting lead in LB, providing accounting advice to case teams and upskilling tax specialists and other accountants in the Profession. You will work with customer compliance managers, tax specialists, policy colleagues and other deep specialists, as well as communicate externally with customers and their Big 4 advisors.
New Entrants to the Civil Service will join on the entry point stated, transferees from OGD need to read the guidance on how their pay will be calculated.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Job description
What is HMRC’s Pillar 2 Programme?
Firstly, you do not need to be an expert in “Pillar 2” to apply for this role, but the following may be of interest.
In October 2021, over 130 countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reached a landmark agreement on a two-pillar solution to reform the international tax framework in response to the global challenges of digitalisation. “Pillar 2” is the second strand of the two-Pillar solution and is a significant investment and priority for the UK Government and HMRC. The policy will help tackle opportunities for profit shifting and aggressive tax planning by multinationals. It will also place a floor on tax competition between jurisdictions, ensuring the sustainability of Corporation Tax as a major source of government revenues.
The work will be high profile and you will be required to work with a wide range of stakeholders across HMRC, external agents and our largest corporate customers.
Your role as a Pillar 2 Advisory Accountant HMRC benefits from having Advisory Accountants embedded across the organisation and the LB Accountant role advertised is to support the work of HMRC’s Pillar 2 Programme.
Key Responsibilities
Your role as a Pillar 2 Advisory Accountant
HMRC benefits from having Advisory Accountants embedded across the organisation and the LB Accountant role advertised is to support the work of HMRC’s Pillar 2 Programme.
In general, as an Advisory Accountant, you will:
• Be a visible leader within and outside HMRC, promoting the work of the directorates and HMRC, working cross directorate and actively implementing strategy.
• Provide accounting advice for complex accountancy issues. Analyse relevant customer facts, accounting frameworks and, where appropriate, challenge customers’ accounting analyses.
• Support risk activities, including reviewing financial statements, commercial and accounting information, meetings with customers and working with other specialists to form a view and assess the impact for tax.
• Communicate, meet and collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to influence behaviour, including case teams, policy experts, accounting firms, other advisory and forensic accountants, courts and customers.
• Develop and provide quality accountancy training to accountancy and tax professionals. Tailor training materials and offer follow-up support to delegates.
• Coach and mentor colleagues and trainees, using own skills and experience to aid their development.
• Assist delivery of strategic objectives, matching resource to risk, through prioritisation, work planning and national/cross directorate work sharing.
We are looking for experienced qualified accountants with practitioner experience in either practice or industry dealing with multinational corporate groups.
The ideal candidate will have deep accounting experience in the application of IFRS and UK GAAP, including consolidation practices.
It will be advantageous to have experience in US GAAP, knowledge of international tax considerations and overseas tax regimes, and experience of tax accounting.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate expertise and experience at a sufficient level and authority to appear credible to accountancy firms (Big 4), customers (multinational corporate groups), senior HMRC officers and tribunals.
This is a critical time for the Pillar 2 Programme, and the nature of the role may change as the work focus changes from implementation to operational compliance (estimated 2026 onwards). As part of your role, you may also be required to support wider priority risk areas for the Advisory and Forensic Accountants Profession.
Person specification
Practitioner experience (within the last 5 years) of preparing or reviewing financial statements of multinational corporate groups (either in practice or industry).
This must include the following:
- Consolidation practices (including UK GAAP and IFRS accounting frameworks)
- Deep understanding and practical application of UK GAAP and IFRS accounting frameworks
- Sound awareness of differences between accounting frameworks (e.g. UK GAAP, IFRS and US GAAP)
Commercial knowledge and an understanding of how large businesses operate including accounting systems.
Experience of considering the appropriate accounting treatment of a variety of specific transactions.
Ability to communicate orally and in writing with sufficient credibility to key stakeholders (including Big 4, multinational corporate groups, senior HMRC officers and tribunals).
Experience of leading across internal and external boundaries and empowering others to deliver.
Essential Criteria
If you are interested in applying, you must address all the following essential criteria and person specification requirements in your CV to be successful at the sift stage.
Full and complete qualification from, and continuing membership of, at least one of the following professional accounting bodies:
•The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
•The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
•Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
•The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
•The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
•The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
Please confirm which body you are a full member of within your CV.
You will be required to show evidence of your qualification and membership at interview.
Desirable Criteria
It would be advantageous for you to have knowledge/experience in the following areas:
- Clear understanding of accounting principles and the application of US GAAP.
- Knowledge of international tax considerations and overseas tax regimes.
- Experience of tax accounting.
Qualifications
•The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
•The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
•Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
•The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
•The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
•The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
Please confirm which body you are a full member of within your CV.
You will be required to show evidence of your qualification and membership at interview.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- A technical assessment in the format of a presentation to assess your technical accounting ability - further details will be provided in advance. (See below attachment for exemption details)
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a name blind CV.
Your CV will be tailored to the role advertised, detailing your job history and including for each role:
• A brief summary of your role, including dates
• Skills and experience gained
• Key achievements
When giving details in your CV, you should be explicit in highlighting your experience to address all of the essential criteria and person specification requirements listed in the advert. You should therefore include details of the work you have been involved in, and the roles you played.
The sift will be carried out against the CV, with the successful candidates being invited to interview. All interviews will be conducted via Teams video call.
Interview Process Details
During the panel interview, you will be asked Technical, Experience and Behaviours based questions (how you meet the essential criteria) which will demonstrate the things you do well and/or are motivated by.
The interview process will include:
A technical assessment in the format of a presentation to assess your technical accounting ability - further details will be provided in advance.
Current or former members of the HMRC Advisory and Forensic Accountants Profession may be exempt from the technical assessment, see the attachment below for further details.
A panel interview following the Success Profiles Framework used for all Civil Service recruitment, comprising the following:
- Behaviour question – question seeking examples of the “Leadership” behaviour
- Experience questions – questions to understand your suitability for the role advertised
Full details will be provided to those candidates invited to interview.
Please Note: The successful applicant for this role will need to be eligible for and willing to undergo standard BPSS Checks following appointment into the post.
Sift and Interview details
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
If interviews are required, they will be conducted over Teams.
If you wish to find out more about the role, please contact the vacancy holder, Ting Patrick, using the details below.
It is likely that the sift will take place shortly after the advert closing date. For those who are successful, technical assessments / interviews will most likely start around the w/c 11th December (please note these dates may be subject to change particularly with Christmas holidays).
If you are unavailable around this time, please email the recruitment team at the email address below.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.
Diversity and Inclusion
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 326137 & vacancy closing date 4th December 2023. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Ting Patrick
- Email : ting.patrick@hmrc.gov.uk
- Telephone : 03000 564806
Recruitment team
- Email : hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
