Tax Manager

What's the role? Official title is Finance Manager - Tax and will be based in our Dubai, UAE office. Reporting directly to the Head of Tax, this role delivers both international tax advisory support and operational oversight of the Company's tax compliance framework. The role combines strategic tax advisory and compliance leadership responsibilities across a multinational operating environment. Key responsibilities include advising on bids, projects, and commercial arrangements; assessing permanent establishment exposure; interpreting tax treaties; managing withholding tax and transfer pricing considerations; and recommending appropriate tax structures. The position also leads tax compliance, tax accounting, governance, and control initiatives across the organization. Due to the highly mobile nature of the Company's operations, including the international deployment of vessels, equipment, and personnel, strong expertise in international tax and cross-border business activities is critical. Key responsibilities include: Cross-border Reviews, Treaties and Withholding Tax • Advise on bids, projects, and commercial operations across multiple jurisdictions, assessing permanent establishment risks, treaty applicability, withholding tax implications, transfer pricing considerations, and tax-efficient structures to support commercial decision-making and pricing. • Manage cross-border tax compliance requirements, including treaty relief and refund processes, withholding tax recovery, and the indirect tax and import implications of vessel and equipment movements, while maintaining robust supporting documentation and stakeholder coordination. Bids, Projects and Contracts • Provide project-focused tax advisory from bid stage through completion, recommending optimal contracting structures and operating models, assessing corporate tax, withholding tax, payroll tax, and social security implications, and translating bid assumptions into executable tax strategies. • Lead project tax execution and risk management, overseeing registrations, compliance, treaty relief implementation, ongoing monitoring and deregistration activities, while drafting, reviewing, and negotiating tax provisions in commercial agreements and validating tax recharges from contractors and vessel owners. Structuring and Transfer Pricing • Support corporate structuring, acquisitions and reorganizations including the establishment and closure of entities and branches, asset transfers, intra-group financing and incentive plans. • Implement and maintain the transfer pricing framework including intercompany agreements and recharges, benchmarking, and Master File and Local File documentation. • Track legislative, treaty and OECD developments where the group operates or bids, and assess their effect on tax cost, the effective tax rate and reporting obligations. Compliance and Tax Accounting • Lead the Group s global tax compliance framework, ensuring the timely preparation, review and submission of corporate income tax, indirect tax and withholding tax returns, overseeing cross-border payment reviews, treaty relief claims, and remediation of historical tax exposures where required. • Manage tax reporting and governance across the Group, including current and deferred tax accounting, uncertain tax positions and effective tax rate analysis, while maintaining robust tax controls, policies, documentation and alignment across tax filings, statutory reporting and transfer pricing requirements. Audits, Risk and Stakeholders • Lead tax audits, inquiries and disputes across multiple jurisdictions, coordinating with external advisers, managing technical tax positions, and preparing supporting documentation and responses for tax authorities. • Serve as a trusted tax business partner to Commercial, Operations, Legal and Finance teams, providing practical tax guidance throughout bids and project delivery, while managing adviser relationships to ensure commercially sound, high-quality and cost-effective tax solutions. Who are we looking for? • Bachelor's degree in Law, Accounting, Finance or Economics is required. • Professional tax or accounting qualifications such as ADIT, CTA, ACA/CA, ACCA, or CPA are preferred, along with advanced tax specialization through a Master's degree in Taxation or International Tax • Minimum 8 years tax experience in a multinational group, a major accounting firm or a tax authority, or a combination of these. • Substantial hands-on international tax experience across multiple jurisdictions is essential: permanent establishment, treaty application and relief, withholding tax, cross-border structuring and transfer pricing. • Solid VAT and indirect tax knowledge for cross-border services and equipment. • Hands-on experience of multi-country tax compliance, tax accounting under IFRS (IAS 12) and tax audits, with ONESOURCE or similar tax technology an advantage. • Experience of tax input to international bids, tenders and contract tax clauses. • Offshore, marine or energy services experience is strongly preferred. • Able to research primary sources, reach a clear position, defend it with advisers and tax authorities, and explain it simply to non-specialists and senior management. • Able to manage several jurisdictions and projects in parallel, prioritizing by financial and tax risk, and to work independently. • Advanced English skills, both written and verbal.