Deferred Tax Reporting Recovery Authority — Research Pharmaceuticals

The mandate

Clinical programme reprioritisation, intellectual-property migrations and uneven commercial performance have changed where taxable profits are expected, but deferred-tax schedules still inherit forecasts and tax bases through disconnected country workbooks. Loss-recognition evidence varies by jurisdiction, uncertain positions are mixed with temporary differences, and rate changes reach consolidation late. The tax-accounting leader departed before year-end recoverability review.

The interim begins within three weeks for nine months, covering opening-position validation, annual reporting, two subsequent closes and permanent-leader transition. Trigger events include programme termination, licensing income, enacted tax-rate change, entity restructuring, audit settlement and forecast revision; each must enter a controlled recognition and measurement route. Five weeks are protected for handover, with no renewal for tax-planning projects.

Exit requires reconciled book and tax bases, roll-forwarded temporary differences, governed rates, supported loss recognition, separately evidenced uncertain positions, controlled consolidation and currency treatment, transparent effective-tax-rate bridges and three closes within tolerance. The successor must assess an unseen failed trial plus licensing gain and defend recognition consequences to an internal review panel.

The leader may reject unsupported country packs, freeze deferred-tax journals, require forecast-owner certification, establish evidence thresholds, assign remediation owners and approve DKK 70 million within the recovery budget. The Head of Tax retains tax positions and authority engagement; the Controller owns accounting policy, materiality and statements; the CFO controls strategic forecasts; external auditors reach independent conclusions.

Tax structuring, transfer-pricing redesign, legal reorganisation, return preparation and negotiation with revenue authorities are outside scope. The interim will use approved tax advice but will not create it. Commercial forecasts remain management’s estimates. Unsupported assets will not be preserved through optimistic overlays, and tax risks will not be netted against unrelated temporary differences for presentation convenience.

Why this seat is open

Changes in research economics exposed a reporting process built around stable country assumptions, then the accountable specialist left during year-end preparation. The group needs temporary authority that can challenge forecast evidence, separate accounting from tax advice and leave permanent leadership with a reproducible multi-jurisdictional close.

What you will own

• Reconcile carrying amounts and tax bases for research assets, licences, provisions, inventory, financing and intragroup arrangements.
• Roll forward temporary differences by entity, jurisdiction, reversal pattern, tax category, currency and originating event.
• Challenge loss and credit recognition against approved taxable-profit forecasts, expiry, restrictions and feasible tax strategies.
• Separate uncertain tax positions, current-tax accruals, withholding effects and temporary differences within controlled reporting.
• Govern enacted rates, consolidation adjustments, currency translation, effective-tax-rate bridges, disclosures and journal evidence.
• Exercise a trial failure, licence payment, rate enactment, audit settlement, entity change and forecast deterioration.
• Transfer the recovered process after three closes and successor defence of an unfamiliar recoverability fact pattern.

Candidate qualifications

• Held senior tax-accounting authority across a research-intensive pharmaceutical, biotechnology or similarly international group.
• Reconciled tax bases and temporary differences across intangible assets, losses, provisions, inventory and intragroup arrangements.
• Challenged deferred-tax asset recognition using jurisdictional forecasts, expiry restrictions and documented reversal evidence.
• Distinguished tax advice, uncertain positions, current tax and deferred-tax accounting under demanding year-end audit review.
• Worked with country tax teams and forecast owners while preserving Controller, CFO, adviser and auditor decision boundaries.
• Handed recovered multi-country tax reporting to permanent leadership through live closes and adverse forecast scenarios.

Non-negotiables

• Available within three weeks for Copenhagen leadership across year end and two subsequent reporting cycles.
• Direct pharmaceutical or research-intensive deferred-tax recovery experience is required; tax-return expertise alone is insufficient.
• No undisclosed relationship may involve material tax advisers, intellectual-property counterparties or the appointed external auditor.
• Will derecognise unsupported tax assets even when the resulting charge affects stated performance expectations.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a forecast change that caused you to reverse a deferred-tax asset in a research business.
2. 49 words maximum. How did you separate a temporary difference from an uncertain tax position in practice?
3. 49 words maximum. Which failed-programme scenario would you use to test the incoming reporting leader?