Accountancy Capital places Employment Tax Directors, Heads of Employment Tax and Senior Employment Tax Managers at £75,000 and above for in-house tax functions and advisory firms across the UK. Employment tax covers PAYE, National Insurance contributions (NIC), benefits in kind, share scheme reporting, off-payroll working (IR35), global mobility and the employment status of contingent workers. It is one of the highest-risk areas of a group’s tax profile, because the obligations run every month rather than once a year.
The risk has grown over the past five years. The off-payroll working rules were extended to the private sector in April 2021, contingent and gig workforce models have spread, internationally mobile workforces have created complex tax and social security positions, and HMRC’s employment tax compliance activity has become more targeted. Employer NIC also rose to 15% in April 2025, which raised the cost of getting payroll wrong.
This page covers Director-level employment tax hiring. For every tax role we recruit, from corporate tax to private client, see our tax recruitment hub. To brief a search, call 0204 553 8893 or email recruitment@accountancycapital.co.uk; candidates can register their background in confidence.
What an Employment Tax Director Does
The scope depends on headcount, sector and how international the workforce is, but most in-house Employment Tax Directors own six areas. Our guide to employment tax, IR35 and benefits in kind covers the technical background in more depth.
IR35 assessment and contingent workforce management
The April 2021 extension of the off-payroll working rules moved responsibility for deciding IR35 status from the contractor’s personal service company to the medium or large business engaging them. The Employment Tax Director owns the assessment framework: how engagements are assessed, how each decision is documented (using HMRC’s CEST tool or an equivalent methodology), how the Status Determination Statement is issued to the worker and the fee-payer, how disagreements are handled and how PAYE is operated where an engagement falls inside the rules. HMRC’s guidance on understanding off-payroll working (IR35) is the starting point.
PAYE and NIC
The Employment Tax Director oversees the PAYE operation, usually through the payroll team or an outsourced bureau, making sure all remuneration is correctly taxed and reported to HMRC through Real Time Information (RTI), that NIC is correctly calculated and paid, and that year-end obligations are met. Termination payments, salary sacrifice and expenses policies are typical problem areas. Our Payroll Manager job description shows where the payroll role stops and the tax role starts.
Benefits in kind and P11D reporting
The Employment Tax Director runs the benefits cycle: the annual P11D for each employee with reportable benefits, the P11D(b) and the Class 1A NIC payment, or the payrolling of benefits where the business has registered to do so. The areas that attract most HMRC attention are company cars and fuel (where list prices and CO2 figures are often misreported), employer-provided accommodation, beneficial loans to employees, and entertaining and hospitality where the business and personal elements need judgement. HMRC has announced that payrolling of most benefits is to become mandatory, currently scheduled for April 2027, making systems readiness a live project for many teams.
Share schemes and employment-related securities
Where the business operates EMI options, CSOP, SAYE, a SIP or unapproved options, the Employment Tax Director manages the annual Employment Related Securities (ERS) returns, makes sure taxable events such as option exercises, share sales and EMI disqualifying events are identified and reported, and advises on the employment tax consequences of new schemes, growth shares and changes to existing arrangements. Share schemes are covered in more detail below.
Global mobility
In a business with internationally mobile people, the Employment Tax Director manages the UK tax and social security consequences of inbound and outbound assignments: business visitors who may have created UK payroll obligations, outbound secondees whose residence position needs to be tested under the Statutory Residence Test, social security certificates, modified PAYE arrangements and shadow payroll. The replacement of the remittance basis with the four-year foreign income and gains regime from April 2025 changed the position for many inbound employees.
HMRC compliance and governance
The Employment Tax Director manages HMRC employment tax enquiries and compliance checks on PAYE, benefits and off-payroll working, responding fully and accurately and steering the matter to a sensible settlement. In larger groups they contribute to Senior Accounting Officer certification, the tax risk framework and the controls that support the corporate offence of failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. Specialist disputes may involve a tax investigations manager.
Employment Tax Director Qualifications
The role at £75,000 and above is typically held by a CTA-qualified professional with a clear employment tax specialism, usually built in the employment taxes or reward team of a Big Four, Top 10 or specialist employment tax firm. The CTA is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Taxation and remains the benchmark technical qualification for senior tax work. ACA or ACCA combined with extensive practical employment tax experience is also well represented at this level, particularly in financial services and PE-backed groups where the wider tax function is accountancy-trained.
The Association of Taxation Technicians qualification is common among employment tax specialists who came up through payroll or compliance, and ATT-qualified candidates with strong PAYE and benefits experience compete well for Senior Employment Tax Manager roles. At Director level, the specialism matters more than the letters: exposure to IR35, share schemes, global mobility and benefits rather than general corporate tax training.
Employment Tax Director Salary Benchmarks
| Employment Tax Role | London | South East | Midlands and North |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Employment Tax Manager | £75k–£100k | £64k–£85k | £57k–£76k |
| Employment Tax Director | £95k–£135k | £81k–£115k | £72k–£103k |
| Head of Employment Tax | £115k–£160k | £98k–£136k | £87k–£121k |
| Head of Tax (employment tax specialism) | £120k–£175k+ | £102k–£149k | £91k–£133k |
Figures are typical base salaries. Financial services firms and PE-backed businesses with large contingent workforces, where IR35 risk and global mobility complexity are highest, tend to pay at the upper end of each range, and bonus and share participation can add materially at Head of level. For wider benchmarks see our in-house tax salary guide, and for the equivalent corporate tax role see Corporate Tax Director recruitment.
Brief an Employment Tax Director Search — 0204 553 8893
Employment Tax Directors and Heads of Employment Tax across the UK at £75,000 and above, in-house and in practice. A consultant will respond the same working day, or email recruitment@accountancycapital.co.uk.
IR35 and the Demand for Employment Tax Specialists
The 2021 private sector extension created an immediate and lasting increase in demand for Employment Tax Directors with IR35 expertise. Businesses that had previously relied on contractors to decide their own status suddenly had to make and document a Status Determination Statement for every engagement and operate PAYE where an engagement fell inside the rules. Many responded with blanket “inside” decisions, solving the compliance problem at a cost to their access to skills.
More than five years on, the process has settled, but HMRC’s compliance activity has not eased. Since April 2024, HMRC can offset tax already paid by the worker against a deemed employer’s liability where status was wrongly decided, which reduces double taxation but does not remove the exposure or the cost of a dispute. The Employment Tax Director who can show HMRC that every determination was made with reasonable care, with documentation to support it, is in a far stronger position than a business that has handled IR35 reactively or inconsistently. Our view on when to hire employment tax in-house sets out the point at which this work outgrows an external adviser.
Share Scheme Reporting: A Specific Employment Tax Risk
Share schemes are one of the highest-risk employment tax areas in the mid-market, because the reporting obligations are often misunderstood and the consequences of errors are disproportionate. An annual ERS return must be filed by 6 July following the end of each tax year for every registered scheme or arrangement, even where nothing reportable happened in the year, and late filing attracts penalties.
EMI deserves particular care. For options granted from 6 April 2024, the grant must be notified to HMRC by 6 July following the end of the tax year in which it was granted, replacing the old 92-day deadline. Where a disqualifying event occurs, such as a change of control or the employee no longer meeting the working time requirement, the tax advantages are lost on later growth unless the options are exercised within the permitted window. Expected capital gains can become employment income, with PAYE and NIC consequences. Tracking these events as they arise, rather than in due diligence, prevents the most expensive failures.
In-House and Practice Employment Tax Director Roles
In practice, an Employment Tax Director sits in the employment taxes or reward team of an accountancy or advisory firm, usually one step below partner. The job combines technical advice across many clients, PAYE settlement agreements, HMRC disclosures and enquiries, share scheme design and valuations work, business development and team leadership.
In-house, the same title means depth in a single business: owning the controls, working closely with payroll, HR and reward, and being the person the CFO calls when a contractor programme, a restructuring or an acquisition raises a question. We recruit on both sides of that line, and our practice accountancy recruitment team handles advisory firm hires.
Practice to In-House: The Employment Tax Career Move
Most in-house Employment Tax Directors trained in the employment taxes or reward team of a Big Four or specialist firm, typically completing the CTA before moving in-house at four to eight years of post-qualification or professional experience. The dynamic is the same as in corporate tax: the practice-trained specialist brings breadth across many clients, while the in-house role demands depth in the specific issues of one business.
The specialists most in demand for the move are those who have run complex IR35 programmes, built share scheme frameworks or managed global mobility for a multi-country employer. Our guide to moving from practice tax to in-house covers what changes, and our London tax recruitment page covers the capital’s in-house market.
Interim and Fractional Employment Tax Cover
Not every business needs a full-time Employment Tax Director. A one-off project, such as an IR35 review, a benefits payrolling implementation, an HMRC disclosure or a share scheme clean-up before a transaction, is often better served by an experienced interim. Fractional arrangements, one or two days a week, suit groups whose employment tax needs are real but do not justify a permanent Director. Interim and fractional candidates are typically available within days. See interim tax professional recruitment and our guide to interim tax day rates.
How We Run an Employment Tax Director Search
A consultant from our recruitment team takes the brief: headcount and contractor numbers, share schemes in place, international footprint, payroll arrangements, open HMRC matters and the reporting line. We give a straight view on salary and candidate availability before you commit, and fees are agreed in writing before the search starts. We respond the same working day, and permanent shortlists typically follow within one to two weeks. Every shortlisted candidate is interviewed on IR35, benefits, share schemes and HMRC experience, and professional memberships are verified. See our in-house tax interview questions.
Registering as an Employment Tax Candidate
Employment tax specialists, whether CTA-qualified with an employment taxes background or tax professionals with specific IR35, share scheme or global mobility experience, who are considering a move from practice to in-house or between in-house roles are invited to register. We keep an active employment tax candidate network and contact registered candidates directly when a suitable brief comes in. Registration is confidential: register here or call 0204 553 8893.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an Employment Tax Director need the CTA?
It is the most common qualification at this level, but not essential. ACA or ACCA with deep employment tax experience is well represented, and ATT-qualified candidates compete well at Senior Manager level.
Should we hire an Employment Tax Director or rely on our adviser?
A large contractor population, share schemes, internationally mobile staff or an open HMRC check usually justify in-house ownership. Smaller groups often combine a strong Payroll Manager with an external adviser or a fractional specialist.
What does a search cost?
Fees depend on the role and the type of engagement, and are agreed in writing before a search starts.
How quickly will you respond?
The same working day. Permanent shortlists typically follow within one to two weeks; interim and fractional candidates within days.
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Founder, Accountancy Capital
Fellow of the ICAEW | Chartered Accountant holding an ICAEW practising certificate | Part of FD Capital Group
Adrian founded Accountancy Capital, one of the five specialist firms of FD Capital Group, after a career that included serving as Finance Director of a listed company, and holds a BSc from Queen Mary College, University of London. Our recruitment team assesses every Employment Tax Director candidate on the IR35, share scheme and HMRC experience that the role actually tests.
Related Pages and Resources
Tax Recruitment
Every tax role we recruit.
Salaries and Rates
Tax pay benchmarks.
For Candidates
Moving into in-house employment tax.
Employment Tax Director Recruitment — 0204 553 8893
Permanent, interim and fractional employment tax specialists across the UK at £75,000 and above. Same-working-day response on every brief, or email recruitment@accountancycapital.co.uk.