As tax functions face growing complexity, constrained budgets and rising expectations, the role of the Head of Tax has evolved into a critical leadership position within the business. In this article from Josh Burns’ Future of Tax series, Jacqui Stewart, Head of Tax at Merlin Entertainments, shares practical insights on building and reshaping tax teams, navigating stakeholder expectations, humanising tax to build trust, and making smart resourcing and technology decisions. Drawing on her experience leading global teams, Jacqui highlights why collaboration, people leadership and commercial thinking are now central to creating a modern, value-adding tax function.
Today’s tax leaders must balance technical excellence with commercial insight, people leadership, and the ability to build trust well beyond their own teams.
In the latest article in our Future of Tax series, we spoke with Jacqui Stewart, Head of Tax at Merlin Entertainments, to explore what it really takes to lead and evolve a modern tax function. Jacqui shares candid insights on inheriting teams versus building from scratch, navigating complex stakeholder expectations, humanising tax to build trust, and making smart technology and resourcing decisions in a constrained budget environment. She also reflects on leading global teams, developing talent, and why collaboration is essential to raising tax’s profile within the business.
There’s something strangely appealing about the idea of starting with a blank sheet of paper. Although it might initially seem like it would be harder to build a team from scratch, in practice, it’s cleaner and simpler than changing an existing team. When you’re not constrained by legacy roles or long-standing habits, you can sketch out the structure you really want and then hire to fit that vision.
But most leaders don’t get that luxury.
More often, you inherit a team that has history, expectations, and its own way of doing things. In that situation, you still need to map out the ‘optimal’ structure as if nothing existed, and only then look at the team you’ve got to see how close you can realistically get and over what timescale. That’s where compromises begin: identifying gaps, deciding what to prioritise, and figuring out how to move the function forward without breaking what already works.
One of the trickiest parts of stepping into a new Head of Tax role is the sheer number of people who have a view on what ‘good’ looks like. CFOs often have their own mental picture of the ideal tax leader. The business may be crying out for more partnership or, in some cases, hoping never to hear from tax at all, and the existing team may be deeply attached to the status quo, even if it’s just because they haven’t had the opportunity to do things differently previously.
It’s impossible to make everyone happy, so the goal becomes understanding what each group values, what they fear, and what they’ve experienced before. That’s why the best leaders start gathering intelligence before they even join: talking to interviewers, advisors, business partners, anyone who can give a sense of how tax is perceived and what the organisation is really looking for.
A surprising number of people think their ideal world is one where they never have to speak to tax. That’s understandable as tax is a technical specialism, and sometimes they may not have worked with a tax team that feels approachable, commercial, or genuinely helpful.
Changing that perception takes time. It’s about building relationships, not lecturing people on rules. It’s about showing that tax can add value without making the business feel policed and helping people understand that they don’t need to know all the technicalities – they just need to know when to pick up the phone.
It can be difficult to secure a sufficient tax professional fee budget, because tax fees are often much higher than those in the rest of finance (outside the audit fee). In my opinion, the tax function should be compared to legal rather than finance. The instruction is often that: ‘Your budget needs to be smaller than last year.’ Meanwhile, compliance obligations keep multiplying – Pillar Two alone can add hundreds of returns. Technology is often presented as the magic solution, but it comes with challenges such as cost, difficulty proving ROI, integration with existing systems, etc.
Sometimes the only way to secure investment is to tie it to a broader initiative, like an ERP upgrade. Other times, you need a very tangible use case – for example, using automation tools to handle sales tax audits where the EBITDA / cash impact is immediate and visible. Once you’ve justified spending for one purpose, you can often extend the technology into other areas of tax.
There’s no universal answer to how big a tax team should be or how senior its members need to be. Two businesses with the same revenue can have completely different risk profiles, footprints and expectations. What does seem consistent is that hiring for potential tends to work better than hiring people who’ve ‘done it all before.’ People stepping down into smaller roles rarely stay happy for long. Attitude, curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to learn often matter more than technical experience, which can be taught more easily.
Indirect tax has also become far more prominent in recent years, driven by Brexit, global supply chains and tariffs. The sheer volume of transactions means that small errors can quickly multiply, and the impact is above the line, impacting profit margins. That shift has changed the skill mix many teams now look for.
Managing people across multiple countries sounds glamorous until you try to schedule a meeting that includes the UK, California and China. Sometimes it’s literally impossible, which is why leaders need creativity, such as: splitting team meetings with a mix of formal meetings and informal “coffee chats”, rotating times and making sure no one feels like an afterthought.
Regular one-to-ones and skip-level conversations are essential, as is transparency – shared work trackers, setting clear priorities, and creating a culture where everyone feels part of one global team, even if they never share a time zone.
One of the most rewarding parts of leading a tax function is helping people grow, but that only works if you understand what they really want to achieve. Not everyone dreams of becoming a Head of Tax – some want progression, others want interesting work without more responsibility, and for many, personal priorities shape their career choices. It is also important to understand that people’s priorities can flex during their career, and career growth doesn’t have to be in a straight line.
The key to team growth is honest, ongoing conversations and checking in on people’s needs both collectively and personally. Having stretch opportunities, for example, in a new tax area or a different geography, can be transformative, but only once someone is solid in their core role.
If tax wants to be seen as a value-adding partner, it must show up where the business is making decisions. That means getting involved in cross-functional projects, supporting finance shared services, and taking on work outside the traditional tax technical comfort zone.
These experiences not only raise the profile of the function but also help team members broaden their skills and understand the business more deeply.
It’s tempting to look for benchmarks – ‘a business of this size needs a team of ten’ – but the reality is far more nuanced. Industry, geography, systems, culture, and leadership expectations all shape what the tax function should look like. Advisors can offer frameworks, but ultimately each organisation needs a tailored approach.
The art of building and transforming a modern tax function lies in understanding the business well enough to design a function that fits its needs today and can evolve with it tomorrow.”
In summary, building and transforming a modern tax function isn’t just about compliance or technical expertise – it’s about people, culture, and making a real impact on the business. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach: you need to understand your organisation, navigate stakeholder expectations, build trust, and develop a team that can grow and adapt.
When you combine commercial insight with smart resourcing and collaboration, tax can move from being a support function to a true business partner, creating real value for the organisation as a whole.
If you would like to take part in the Future of Tax discussion series, get in touch and let’s explore a conversation from your perspective.
