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Sally McIntyre-Brown
Private Practice team
London office
Big 4 Firms
The grade of tax director is principally a role that exists in the Big Four firms. Over the past seven years, the role of a director has replaced that of the salaried partner. Every firm will have different expectations from their director group. But universally this is a senior management role, where directors would be expected to play an active part in the strategic leadership of their department, be leading significant client relationships and delivering technical projects.
Progression for directors can take them down three paths:
- Senior Technical Director - This is a highly valued and often extremely well remunerated position within a firm. Technical directors will be regarded across their firm (and its clients) as the leading technical experts in a particular field. Often they will be instructed on project work by clients, based on their reputation for technical excellence. Accordingly, firms recognise their importance to the firm and will create a bespoke remuneration package.
- Senior Client Service Director - Where one has a particular strength in maintaining high level and significant client relationships that are deemed to be valuable to the firm, a director may forge a role of a senior client service director. In each case, there are likely to be specific reasons why they have not become partners. As with the technical role, senior directors are likely to be right at the top end of normal remuneration scales.
- Partnership - When most people achieve directorship, their next career goal will be to step up into the equity partnership, which is unlikely to happen in less than two years.
Principal areas of demand
Directors are particularly in demand in the following areas:
- Corporate and international structuring for large FTSE groups (and the foreign-owned equivalent) including specialist areas such as transfer pricing, financing and supply chain consulting
- Employment taxes generally, including share scheme specialists
- Private company and private client
- Indirect tax - very strong demand
- Mid-cap corporate
Remuneration
Based on the wide range of roles that a director may fulfil, the bracket for remuneration is also wide. The range is currently from c£85,000 through to £250,000-plus.
Notice periods
Notice periods are normally three months.
