Direct Tax Manager - EMEA

Role type: individual contributor

Location: Saudi Arabia, preferably Riyadh

Why Cisco

We connect everything: people, processes, data, and things. We innovate everywhere, taking bold risks to shape the technologies that give us smart cities, connected cars, and handheld hospitals. We do it in style with unique personalities who are not afraid to change the way the world works, lives, plays and learns.

Who You'll Work With

The Europe, Middle-East, Africa and CIS (“EMEA”) Theatre Direct Tax team is part of Cisco’s Global Tax & Customs organization (“GTC”). The team consists of highly skilled and diverse individuals responsible for Cisco’s Direct tax affairs (profit-based taxes) in the EMEA theatre ensuring that Cisco remains tax compliant and efficient. Our team is flexible, friendly and cohesive and we are always willing to help each other. We work closely with external advisers, as well as with other expert groups within GTC including Transfer Pricing, Indirect Tax and Customs, and with many cross-functional business partners, e.g., Accounting, Finance, Treasury, Legal, Human Resources, Engineering, and the sales organization. We are also Cisco’s face towards the tax authorities.

Working in Cisco’s GTC team will provide a level of exposure, learning and experience outside of a typical tax job and build your business acumen skills.

This Direct Tax Manager position in the team will primarily cover Saudi Arabia responsibilities with the opportunity to expand the portfolio over time to wider territorial coverage in EMEA and clearly defined functional roles (such as Deals, M&A etc.).

The successful candidate will report to the Direct tax sub-theatre lead responsible for various Countries and functional areas.

Who You Are

• You are a passionate individual with strong knowledge and strong experience in Saudi Arabia Direct taxation and compliance. This experience may have been gained in practice or at a large multinational, and ideally includes some knowledge and experience in Transfer Pricing.
• Ideally you will also have some prior International and Direct Tax experience and knowledge for other specific Countries or regions in EMEA. Additional tax experience and knowledge in functional areas such as M&A is also a plus.
• You have strong analytical and tax research skills, which are essential to the role, in addition to excellent communication and presentational skills to clearly explain impacts to Cisco in the appropriate manner for the target audience.
• You also have a broad level of business acumen allowing you to act as an excellent cross-functional business partner, quickly identifying business unit needs and providing tax guidance based on an understanding of Cisco’s overall structure.
• You are motivated and an enthusiastic professional who loves working with people.
• You are able to work independently and can multitask.

What You'll Do

As a Direct Tax Manager within the Cisco EMEA Tax team you will be in charge of Cisco’s Direct tax affairs for Saudi Arabia, including optimising and maintaining Cisco’s Direct tax position in the territory.

You will be responsible for performing, monitoring, maintaining and continuously improving end-to-end Direct tax support in Saudi Arabia, including with respect to:

• Tax compliance cycle;
• Direct Tax planning projects;
• Direct Tax and Transfer Pricing audits;
• Liaising and managing the Direct Tax relationship with the Saudi Arabian tax authorities;
• Direct Tax cross functional business support including Deals, Supply Chain, Treasury, Technical Services and Replacement spare parts, to enable the business in a tax efficient and compliant way;
• Managing and controlling any uncertain Direct tax positions;
• Advising and/or performing a consulting role for Direct tax matters;
• Supporting mergers, acquisitions, integrations and business restructurings;
• Reviewing key legislation and regulatory developments in your assigned countries as well as OECD/G20 international tax developments; and
• Co-ordinating EMEA theatre direct tax support for discreet functional areas (e.g., Deals or M&A)

Our minimum requirements for this role include:

• Fluency in English & Arabic
• University Degree in Tax / Law, Finance or Accounting
• Minimum 6 years in International Taxation and/or Direct Tax related role
• Excellent strategic negotiation skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Project management, organizational and execution skills
• Enjoy working at a fast pace and in a people friendly environment

The ideal candidate will have strong cross-functional and business partnership skills, show good initiative and should be comfortable in a constantly changing and challenging environment.

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