Global Mobility Tax Senior Manager

Job summary

Cognizant manages an extensive global mobility program through its in-house global mobility team, working in collaboration with other support functions and external partners. The Global Assignment Centre of Excellence consolidates global mobility expertise and coordination skills to enhance corporate functional capabilities for deploying associates on international assignments and business travel. We seek an experienced global mobility tax professional with robust knowledge in expatriate tax, social security, short-term assignments, global mobility policy, global employment companies, and employer of record services to meet growing business needs (this role will initially be hired by CTS India, and may be requested to transfer to CTS GSL India).

Key Responsibilities/Accountabilities:

• Advice and execution on global mobility, expatriate tax and social security, shadow payroll, cost estimates, tax return program management, employer of record, and global employment company arrangements
• Working with our STAP CoE team on fly-in / fly-out cross border assignments including cost estimates, tax cost accrual, shadow payroll and social security requirements, coordination with associates and business teams for India outbound and intra APJ assignments
• Assisting with due diligence for new assignment locations – Working with the GM Immigration & Relocation CoEs and Emerging Markets team and Corporate Tax team, plus other Corporate Function stakeholders to review global mobility, employment tax and social security requirements for new assignment locations
• Preparing India outbound assignment net pay program calculations and assisting with tax return program management
• Project work – assisting on tasks and projects at the direction of the Global Assignment leadership team, supporting other Corporate Functions as required
• Co-ordinating with the domestic talent management, payroll, immigration and other teams to support moves with global mobility tax implications
• Sharing knowledge and coaching re Global Assignment CoE colleagues and other internal stakeholders
• Cost saving initiatives – Identify and recommend all viable tax and social security reduction opportunities; work with Corporate Functions to implement where required
• Invoicing, fees & rebilling - Manage external vendor fees and billing processes relating to area of responsibility
• Liaising with professional advisers to obtain advice on global tax matters and effectively communicating the outcomes and resulting obligations; managing necessary actions on international cases through to completion.

Requirements / Qualifications:

• Tax / accounting qualification
• 10+ years’ experience in expatriate taxation including work experience with a Big 4 accounting / advisory firm; or with multi-national company and / or consulting firm
• Experience of managing global expatriate tax and social security compliance processes on a day-to-day basis
• Current knowledge of overseas tax and social security requirements and expertise of relevant tax legislation with an ability to combine the technical knowledge with pragmatic and commercial judgement
• Any experience of working with expatriate moves in the Asia Pacific would be an advantage
• Knowledge of income tax, benefits, social security (provident fund) in India
• Practical experience of cross border stock compliance and preparing calculations for payroll instructions
• Good knowledge and practical experience of MS365 Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, CoPilot)
• Focused on problem solving approach to issues
• Attention to detail and the ability to focus on complex issues
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritize, organize and deliver to tight deadlines
• Experience of working in virtual project teams across spread across multiple time-zones
• Energetic, strong team player, who is comfortable with a hands-on approach.
• First class communication and numerical skills; fluency in English is a must
• Must work well with cross-functional, culturally diverse teams
• Any European or Asian language skills beyond English (mandatory) would be a plus
• Thorough understanding and experience of expatriate tax concepts such as tax equalization, hypothetical taxes, shadow payroll, social security totalization agreements.
• Exposure to US tax return filings and associated tasks would be an advantage