VAT Manager

Skills this role screens for

The company

About us

At Trainline, our purpose is to empower greener travel choices, connecting people and places. https://www.thetrainline.com/terms/sustainability-faqs Trainline enables millions of travellers to find and book the best value tickets across carriers, fares, and journey options through our highly rated mobile app, website, and B2B partner channels.

Great journeys start with Trainline 🚄

We’re Europe’s leading independent rail platform, helping millions of travellers find and book the best-value rail and coach journeys across our app, website and partner channels.

Our job is to make the green travel choice the best choice. By building a better train travel experience, we help more people choose rail - creating a positive impact for customers, our business and the planet.

We’re a team of more than 1,000 Trainliners from over 50 nationalities, working across London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Edinburgh and Madrid. Now is a brilliant time to join us and help shape the future of travel.

Introducing the Trainline Finance Team 👋

Trainline’s Finance team sits at the heart of a FTSE 250-listed, high-growth European tech business, keeping the financial engine running accurately and efficiently as we scale. Our tax function is on an exciting journey - moving from a fully outsourced model to a genuinely value-adding, in-house advisory and compliance capability. This is a rare opportunity to join at a pivotal moment and help shape what that function looks and feels like.

As VAT Manager, you will own Trainline’s indirect tax position from end to end, reporting to the Group Head of Tax and working alongside a Senior Tax Analyst. You will collaborate closely with colleagues across Finance, Product, Legal, and HR - embedding VAT considerations into new products and commercial arrangements, and acting as the go-to indirect tax adviser for the wider business.

In this role as the VAT Manager, you will... 🚄

• Own the full VAT compliance cycle for the UK, from data gathering and return preparation through to submission, payment, and post-filing review, including management of VAT return submissions via Making Tax Digital software.
• Manage VAT compliance across EU jurisdictions, coordinating with third-party advisers to ensure consistent, accurate, and on-time filing across all territories.
• Lead a structured end-to-end review of the UK VAT process, identifying simplification opportunities and implementing agreed improvements to drive accuracy and efficiency.
• Monitor evolving VAT legislation across relevant territories, proactively assessing risks and opportunities, and translating changes into clear guidance for the business.
• Support the Head of Tax in serving as the primary indirect tax adviser for new product launches, commercial arrangements, and business model changes, ensuring VAT implications are identified and addressed early.
• Communicate complex indirect tax matters clearly and accessibly to non-tax stakeholders, acting as a trusted partner across Finance, Product, and Legal.
• Drive automation and process improvement across the tax function, embedding best practices through clear documentation and knowledge-sharing with the wider business.

Who they want

We’d love to hear from you if you have

• Deep, practical VAT expertise, including hands-on experience managing multi-jurisdiction indirect tax compliance and a strong grasp of UK and EU VAT rules.
• A professional qualification such as ACA, CTA, ACCA, or equivalent, backed by meaningful experience in a tax-focused role in practice, industry, or both.
• Strong analytical skills and confidence working with data, including the ability to review return workings and identify issues before they escalate, with solid Excel capability.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to make indirect tax accessible and relevant to colleagues across Finance, Product, and Legal.
• A proactive, solutions-oriented approach - comfortable operating with autonomy,