ROLE OVERVIEW:

Associate Partner - Indirect Taxation. Combining technical skills and practical experience across industries and geographies to provide tailored advice to clients. This will include identifying risk areas and sustainable planning opportunities throughout the tax life cycle. Role would entail wide exposure and visibility to wide ranging ERP platforms/tax engines and high degree of familiarization with indirect tax laws and tax automation.

DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION:

Project Management:

- Provide strategic advisory on complex classification, valuation, and tax applicability issues, ensuring clients benefit from available tax benefits, exemptions, and robust compliance frameworks.

- Lead the design and implementation of innovative, risk-managed tax planning strategies, including Indirect Tax Reviews, Health Checks, Due Diligence, and supply chain solutions to optimize GST and Customs duty costs.

- Oversee comprehensive reviews of business operations, identifying both tax planning opportunities and compliance gaps, while driving process enhancements to strengthen commercial value.

- Shape litigation strategies and represent clients in high-stakes disputes, including drafting replies, preparing appeals and submissions, and leading appearances and arguments before adjudication and appellate authorities, anti-dumping authorities, and up to the Tribunal level.

- Plan and present high-impact proposals to clients, including detailed cost and resource estimations, working collaboratively with Partners to secure large mandates and expand client relationships.

- Drive supply chain tax planning initiatives, standardizing procurement and distribution models to achieve optimal tax positions across diverse business structures.

- Act as a trusted advisor, maintaining strong senior client relationships and guiding teams to deliver best-in-class indirect tax solutions that align with clients' strategic objectives.

Client Management & Business Development:

- Act as the trusted senior point of contact for clients, ensuring proactive, transparent communication and seamless coordination with Partners, stakeholders, and internal teams.

- Build and nurture strategic relationships with CFOs, Tax Directors, and industry leaders, strengthening the firm's professional network and positioning as a go-to advisor.

- Drive business development initiatives, identifying and qualifying leads from diverse sources, evaluating feasibility, and collaborating with Partners to craft compelling pitch proposals and win new mandates.

A/C Mining/Revenue:

- Grow client wallet share through effective cross-selling of complementary services and expansion of existing retainers.

- Leverage success-based fee models where appropriate to align client interests and create additional revenue streams.

- Proactively track industry trends and regulatory developments to identify new opportunities and innovative service offerings.

Knowledge Management:

- Act as an internal domain authority, providing technical leadership on complex tax and regulatory matters.

- Lead the development of thought leadership, including articles, publications, and knowledge pieces that strengthen the firm's market presence.

- Mentor Principals and Managers, guiding them to build deep specializations and become trusted experts within their domains.

Brand Management:

- Representing and endorsing the firm's expertise and scope of service at various external forums. Interacting with peers and building a high-quality network in the industry.

- Publishing articles and research papers on a regular basis. Sharing knowledge and learning at external forums to increase visibility and credibility.

People Management:

- Drives a culture of learning, coaching, and high performance, fostering continuous development and collaboration.

- Champions retention and engagement strategies, ensuring top talent is motivated, supported, and retained.

Ideation/ Innovation:

- Initiate and drive development of proprietary structuring models.

- Design and implement forward-thinking litigation strategies, leveraging deep technical knowledge and creative problem-solving.

- Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

- Promote knowledge sharing and cross-collaboration.

Internal Process/MIS:

- Owns project health reviews.

- Ensures billing discipline, receivables management, and data accuracy.

BD & Lead Generation:

- Identify and generate leads from public and private sources, evaluating feasibility and driving new business opportunities.

- Define scope of services and cross-sell opportunities, including success fee models where appropriate, to grow client wallet share.

- Prepare cost estimates and pitch proposals, working closely with Partners to close deals and expand the client portfolio.

Essential skills, experience & attributes:

- 14 to 17 years of experience in Indirect tax practice.

- Passion to work in indirect tax field. Good understanding of indirect tax laws including GST.

- Good command over MS Excel - can use formulas and comfortable with computations.

- Strong interpersonal skills (ability to liaise at all levels). Ability to communicate and interact with clients.

- An energetic and innovative individual with entrepreneurial attitude and strong business acumen.

- Financial analysis and modelling skills with excellent knowledge of data analysis and forecasting methods.

- Stress resilient with ability to handle multiple simultaneous priorities.

- Ability to work cooperatively as well as independently under pressure with close attention to detail.

- Excellent planning and organizational skills with the ability to successfully adapt to changing priorities.

Competencies:

- Innovation & Problem Solving: Generating new ideas, challenging assumptions to create new solutions that create significant value for client and firm. Framing and analyzing problems deeply to create solutions with long term perspective.

- Firm Building: Striving to improve the firm's image, offerings and overall performance. It demands organizational commitment and blending of visionary thought with pragmatism and perseverance to meet and balance the client's and firm's needs. Institutionalizing values, practices, processes, policies, developing capability and culture to create the platform for firm development.

- Building Biz: Committed to think about the ongoing and evolving needs of the firm, learning how new and different solutions can be leveraged to move the organization forward and monetized into revenue. Entrepreneurial mindset in creating new opportunities where none exist. Systematically deepening accounts and creating desired value positioning for creating steady and sustainable business performance.

- Continuous Learning & Expertise Building: Committed to think about the ongoing and evolving levels of expertise and perspective required to cater to changing client and industry requirements. Driven to consistently expand technical knowledge, distribute work-related knowledge to others in order to help the firm stay ahead of the curve.

- Nurturing Relationships: Working to build and maintain warm and strategic relationships or networks with people who are part of the firm's immediate and extended circle. Helping everyone in experiencing the 'Firm way' and thereby create long lasting, trusted and mutually beneficial relationships.

- Developing Others: Developing Others involves a genuine intent to foster the long-term learning or development of others through coaching, managing performance and mentoring. Entrusting responsibility to others as per their strength, performance and development needs, and keeping track of accomplishments. It plays it key role in creating leadership pipeline to fuel the firm's aspirations.