Head of Tax Ops & Technology

AEX Chemicals & Coatings | Amsterdam, Netherlands

Company Background

Our client is a global leader in the coatings and paints industry, specialising in decorative paints, performance coatings, and industrial coatings. The company provides innovative solutions across various sectors, including automotive, aerospace, construction, and marine. With annual revenues surpassing €10 billion, the group operates in over 80 countries and employs around 35,000 people worldwide. Publicly traded on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the company holds a strong market position and a well-established reputation in the global coatings industry.

Brief

We were retained to identify a Head of Tax Operations & Technology, a newly created role aimed at continuously improving global tax processes in a structured way to ensure industry-leading quality and cost-effectiveness.

This position was responsible for overseeing the global tax processes and technology infrastructure, supporting critical business functions such as tax compliance (both direct and indirect), transfer pricing, and tax accounting and reporting. In addition to its operational focus, the role was strategic. The roadmap for tax processes and technology served as both an enabler and a limiting factor for the ambitions of the Tax team, making it closely aligned with the team’s objectives. This alignment was achieved through collaboration with internal and external partners, including Global Process Owners, IT, and other Finance subfunctions.

Focus

Our search strategy focused on identifying specialised tax technology talent with a deep understanding of international taxation, covering areas such as direct and indirect tax compliance, transfer pricing, and tax accounting and reporting. We sought candidates with proven experience in tax technology and/or tax operations and a demonstrated ability to drive continuous improvement in tax processes—from design to implementation—particularly in automating and standardising tax processes and controls. Given the relatively small talent pool, we considered candidates within leading in-house multinationals and those operating within the specialised Tax Technology Big 4 teams.

After completing our research, we conducted a thorough interview process, assessing each candidate against a detailed interview matrix encompassing critical technical and leadership skills. We then presented our recommendations to the Head of Tax and supported the team throughout the interview.