Caribou
R&D Specialist
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About Caribou
International Tax is a rigged system. Tax rules get ever more complicated, compliance gets more expensive, and the Big Four controls the expertise. They charge fees that only giant companies can afford, while smaller businesses are left flying blind. Caribou is a tax platform designed to make international tax accessible to every global business. We're fixing Transfer Pricing first, where one million businesses are in need, but only ten thousand experts exist. R&D relief is our next product. Our backers include Y Combinator, Accel, Lakestar and angel investors who were founders or executives of leading companies in London and San Francisco.
About the Role
Caribou is building a new R&D tax offering at the intersection of transfer pricing and innovation funding — and we're looking for a Senior Manager to own it end-to-end. This isn't a pure advisory role. You'll be working alongside our engineering team to productize the service: systematising claim processes, building tooling, and turning what used to be manual consulting work into something scalable. The mix of hands-on R&D tax advisory with product instinct is what makes this different from a standard tax consultancy position. We're looking for someone who's been in the trenches with HMRC and/or the IRS on R&D claims, with a passion for building things that don't exist yet. You'll report directly to our Head of Tax, James Boreham, and have real ownership of the vertical from day one.
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In this role, you will
- Liaise directly with customers to assess R&D eligibility and understand their business.
- Own the end-to-end claim process, from notification of intent to claim through advance assurance, drafting, submission, and defending claims under enquiry.
- Translate your real-world claims experience into rules, checklists, and logic that can be built into an automated product.
- Identify what proof and documentation a claim actually needs to withstand scrutiny, and work with the team to design data capture that gets it right the first time.
- Explain R&D concepts to non-specialists, ranging from founders to operations leads, to accountants.
- Coordinate with a customer's other advisors, including bookkeepers, lawyers and other tax experts.
- Shape the R&D product itself - pricing, scope, and what should be automated versus handled by a specialist.
- Determine a customer's reporting obligations and build the workflows that generate the necessary documents.
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Requirements for the role
- Meaningful hands-on experience with HMRC and/or IRS R&D claims, including defending claims under enquiry
- Deep practical understanding of what proof and evidence a tax authority actually requires, beyond the written guidance
- You take ownership and enjoy driving multiple projects involving a wider range of stakeholders
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment with ambiguous and rapidly evolving priorities
Bonus points
- Experience across both UK and US R&D regimes
- Startup experience
Perks & Benefits (for UK-based full-time employees)
- Competitive salary
- Generous EMI options
- 100% book subsidy
- Pension
- Health Insurance
- Custom WFH equipment setup
- London-based, hybrid.
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