Global Head of Tax

Private Equity Chemicals | Geleen, Netherlands

Company Background

Founded in 2023, with a combined heritage of over 100 years, our client is a leading global engineering materials company. With a turnover of approximately €4 billion and a highly skilled, diverse workforce of around 4,000 employees worldwide, the company ranks among the top engineering materials companies globally.

The company was formed through the strategic combination of two highly complementary industry leaders in engineering materials, both of which have long-standing histories of innovation and expertise. Under private equity ownership, it leverages the strengths of its predecessor companies to drive sustainable growth, deliver cutting-edge solutions, and maintain leadership in the highly competitive global engineering materials market.

Brief

Sal Partners was engaged to identify a new Group Head of Tax to oversee all group-related tax matters, establish a global tax team, and work closely with the Group CFO and the funds Head of Tax.

The ideal candidate needed to fulfil several key criteria: (i) extensive group tax experience within an organisation of similar size and complexity, (ii) prior experience as a “number one” in tax, with full ownership and expertise across all tax disciplines, (iii) a proven track record of developing and enhancing a tax function, and (iv) demonstrated experience collaborating with executive leadership.

Focus

Our efforts focused on researching group tax teams in the Netherlands to identify current tax leads within companies of similar size and complexity. Alongside targeting group tax leads, we also considered candidates in supporting tax roles, placing emphasis on their potential to transition into a lead position. The scope was further expanded to include inbound tax teams, and those with prior private equity experience.

We identified and engaged high-potential candidates through a comprehensive mapping process and additional research. Following detailed interviews to assess their suitability, a final shortlist was prepared and presented to the Group CFO and the fund to support the completion of their interview process.