Head of Direct Tax, UK & Ireland (12-Month FTC)

Carlsberg Britvic
Location: Hemel Hempstead, Breakspear Park, HP2 4TZ
Working Pattern: Hybrid
Contract Type: 12-Month Fixed Term Contract
Hours: Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week

Carlsberg Britvic is seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of Direct Tax, UK & Ireland to join the business on a 12-month fixed-term contract. This is a high-impact leadership role offering the opportunity to shape direct tax strategy, oversee compliance and reporting, and partner with senior stakeholders across a major multi-beverage organisation.

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Why Join Carlsberg Britvic?

Carlsberg Britvic is the UK’s largest multi-beverage supplier, bringing together an outstanding portfolio of much-loved beers and soft drinks. Our brands include Carlsberg Danish Pilsner, 1664, Poretti, Brooklyn, Hobgoblin, Wainwright, J2O, Robinsons, Tango, London Essence, and licensed rights to the Pepsi portfolio in the UK, including Pepsi MAX, 7UP, Lipton Iced Tea, and Rockstar Energy.

With 5 production sites and 16 logistics depots across the UK, we operate at scale while staying focused on one shared priority: helping our people succeed. As our business continues to evolve, this is an exciting time to join a company with ambition, momentum, and a collaborative culture.

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The Opportunity

In this role, you will lead the Direct Tax team across the UK and Ireland, ensuring the business meets all relevant direct tax compliance and reporting obligations while managing tax risk effectively. You will also provide practical, commercially relevant tax advice and help ensure the organisation’s tax affairs are managed efficiently and responsibly.

This is a broad and varied position within a small, multidisciplinary team, offering exposure to a wide range of technical and strategic tax matters. It is ideally suited to a tax leader who combines strong technical expertise with visible leadership, excellent communication skills, and a collaborative, partnership-driven approach.

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Key Responsibilities

As Head of Direct Tax, you will play a central role in leading tax activity across the business. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading and developing the Direct Tax team, ensuring delivery of all key compliance, reporting, and project requirements

• Managing direct tax compliance and reporting obligations across the UK and Ireland

• Building strong relationships with key stakeholders, including senior leadership, the CFO, HMRC, auditors, and external advisers

• Partnering with the wider business to explain complex tax matters clearly and support practical implementation of tax advice

• Shaping tax strategy and planning, including the optimisation of available tax reliefs

• Owning the direct tax risk and control framework, including SAO reporting

• Reviewing and approving direct tax compliance submissions, including:

• GB and Ireland corporation tax computations

• Partnership returns

• Reviewing and approving specialist tax submissions, including:

• Corporate Interest Restriction

• Transfer Pricing documentation

• RDEC claims

• Patent Box submissions

• Overseeing tax accounting and group reporting under FRS101 and IFRS

• Managing tax cash flow and effective tax rate forecasting

• Planning for loss relief utilisation and helping minimise interest restriction exposure

• Providing advice on transfer pricing and reviewing associated documentation

• Supporting global minimum tax / BEPS considerations

• Advising on business projects, including restructuring activity and legislative changes

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What We’re Looking For

We are looking for a capable and confident tax professional who brings both strategic insight and operational excellence. The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong organisational skills and a clear focus on delivery

• Excellent project management capability, with the ability to handle multiple priorities effectively

• Outstanding communication skills, with confidence in translating technical tax issues for non-specialist stakeholders

• Broad and in-depth UK direct tax knowledge

• Knowledge of Irish tax, which would be advantageous but is not essential

• Strong experience in tax accounting and year-end reporting under IFRS and local GAAP

• The confidence to champion the tax function internally across business units

• The ability to build and maintain strong external relationships with HMRC, auditors, and advisers

• A self-motivated and proactive mindset, with the ability to work autonomously

• A proven track record of delivering to internal and external deadlines

• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability

• A style that is enthusiastic, resilient, energetic, and collaborative

• Excellent interpersonal skills, with experience working in large or medium-sized organisations

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Qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have the following qualifications:

• ACA and/or ACCA

• CTA

• Degree qualified

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What’s In It for You?

Carlsberg Britvic offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and lifestyle.

Benefits Include:

• Competitive salary

• Company bonus scheme

• Monthly product allowance with alcoholic and non-alcoholic options

• Private medical options

• Life assurance

• Enhanced pension contributions

• Generous holiday allowance, including bank holidays

• 24/7 GP access

• High street discounts and other employee benefits

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Who You’ll Be Joining

You’ll become part of a strong, ambitious, and supportive team operating in a dynamic and evolving market. This is a great opportunity to step into a visible leadership role and contribute to the continued success of a major UK and Ireland business.

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How to Apply

If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, we’d love to hear from you. Please apply as soon as possible, as applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis and the vacancy may close early.

Once your application has been received, a member of the recruitment team will be in touch if your profile is shortlisted.

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Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Carlsberg Britvic, we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. This includes people of different races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, abilities, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and inclusive practices are embedded in everything we do.

If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know. We are happy to support accessibility needs to help ensure a fair and equitable experience for every candidate.