Japan Head of Tax - Dalian

The Apex Group was established in Bermuda in 2003 and is now one of the world’s largest fund administration and middle office solutions providers.

Our business is unique in its ability to reach globally, service locally and provide cross-jurisdictional services. With our clients at the heart of everything we do, our hard-working team has successfully delivered on an unprecedented growth and transformation journey, and we are now represented by over circa 13,000 employees across 112 offices worldwide.Your career with us should reflect your energy and passion.

That’s why, at Apex Group, we will do more than simply ‘empower’ you. We will work to supercharge your unique skills and experience.

Take the lead and we’ll give you the support you need to be at the top of your game. And we offer you the freedom to be a positive disrupter and turn big ideas into bold, industry-changing realities.

For our business, for clients, and for you

Job Title: Japan Head of Tax

Location: Dalian

Position Summary

The Head of Tax will be responsible for leading the Dalian Shared Service Centre (SSC) team dedicated to providing end-to-end support for Japanese Corporate Tax and Financial Accounting compliance. This role requires strong leadership to manage a bilingual team, deep familiarity with Japanese business practices, a solid understanding of Japanese tax and accounting principles (GAAP/IFRS), and expertise in process optimization for an offshore environment. The successful candidate will ensure service delivery meets the quality and timeliness standards required by the Japan Head Office and regulatory bodies.

Leadership & Management (50%)

• Team Leadership: Lead, manage, mentor, and develop a team of tax and accounting professionals in Dalian, ensuring high engagement, technical proficiency, and cultural alignment with the Japanese Head Office.
• Stakeholder Management: Act as the primary escalation point and interface between the Dalian service delivery team and the Japan Corporate Tax and Finance Departments. Conduct regular service review meetings and manage expectations.
• Talent Strategy: Oversee recruiting, training, and performance management for the Dalian team, focusing on developing Japanese language and technical tax/accounting skills.
• Operational Management: Manage the team's operations, ensuring efficient utilization of resources and meeting Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Service Delivery & Quality Control (35%)

• Japanese Corporate Tax Support: Supervise the team's preparation of tax packages, supporting documentation, and calculations required for the final filing of Japanese Corporate Tax and local taxes by the Japan Tax Department.
• Financial Accounting Support: Oversee the preparation and review of financial data, general ledger reconciliations, and reporting packages necessary for Japanese statutory accounting (J-GAAP) and group reporting (IFRS/US GAAP).
• Process Optimization: Drive efficiency and quality improvements by optimizing shared service processes, standardizing workflows, and leveraging technology (e.g local Japanese tax/ERP systems) to support the Japan operations.
• Internal Controls: Ensure the team's processes adhere to internal control requirements and manage documentation.

Technical Guidance & Language Support (15%)

• Provide technical guidance to the Dalian team on the fundamentals of Japanese Corporate Tax and Accounting (J-GAAP) requirements to ensure accurate data preparation.
• Bridge communication gaps, translating complex Japanese tax and accounting requests/regulations into clear deliverables for the Dalian team, and vice versa.

Skills Required:

Essential

• Education: Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting, Finance, Tax, or a related discipline.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in Corporate Tax or Financial Accounting, with at least 5 years in a managerial role leading a team in a Shared Service Centre (SSC) environment.
• Language Proficiency: Business-level fluency in Japanese (both written and spoken) is mandatory for communication with the Japan Head Office. Professional working proficiency in English is required.
• Technical Foundation: Solid understanding of core Japanese Corporate Tax principles and J-GAAP (or IFRS/US GAAP with clear exposure to J-GAAP reconciliation needs).

Highly Desirable

• Professional Certification: Japanese Certified Tax Accountant, Japanese CPA, or international CPA/ACCA/equivalent.
• Systems Expertise: Experience working with Japanese accounting and tax systems, or experience with systems supporting a Japan module.
• Prior Experience: Previous work experience in Japan or a Japanese-affiliated company is a significant advantage.

Key Competencies

• Bilingual & Cross-Cultural Communication: Exceptional ability to communicate technical subjects clearly across language (Japanese/Chinese/English) and cultural boundaries.
• Service & Quality Focus: Dedicated to providing a high-quality, customer-focused service that aligns with the stringent standards of the Japanese corporate environment.
• Process Excellence: Proven ability to analyze, document, and streamline complex transactional processes in a shared services model.
• People Leadership: Strong motivational and coaching skills to develop technical talent within the Dalian centre.
• Risk Awareness: Understanding of compliance risks inherent in tax and accounting support and ability to implement effective controls.

What You Will Get In Return:

• A genuinely unique opportunity to be part of an expanding large global business;
• Competitive remuneration commensurate with skills and experience;
• Training and development opportunities.

Additional information:

We are an equal opportunity employer and ensure that no applicant is subject to less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, gender identity, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic, responsibilities for dependants, physical or mental disability. Any hiring decision are made on the basis of skills, qualifications and experiences.

We measure our success as a business, not only by delivering great products and services and continually increasing our assets under administration and market share, but also by how we positively impact people, society and the planet.

For more information on our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) please visit https://theapexgroup.com/csr-policy/

Disclaimer: Unsolicited CVs sent to Apex (Talent Acquisition Team or Hiring Managers) by recruitment agencies will not be accepted for this position. Apex operates a direct sourcing model and where agency assistance is required, the Talent Acquisition team will engage directly with our exclusive recruitment partners.