Policy & Legislation Senior Advisor📣 Job Ad

About the Role

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) is seeking a Policy & Legislation Senior Advisor to join our team in Riyadh. This full-time role involves leading work activities autonomously, providing expert guidance, and acting as an internal consultant to achieve long-term objectives. The Senior Advisor will be instrumental in monitoring legislative frameworks, proposing improvements, and initiating the development of new policies based on market studies and best practices.

Key Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for a range of critical duties, ensuring the effective development, assessment, and implementation of tax policies and legislation. This includes:

• Leading work activities and operating autonomously with minimal direction towards predetermined long-term objectives.
• Acting as an internal consultant and facilitator, providing guidance for operational activities.
• Monitoring legislative framework updates and providing recommendations for improvement.
• Initiating the development of new policies based on market studies and best practice benchmarks.
• Conducting workshops for relevant employees and ensuring all related activities adhere to set guidelines and policies.

Legislative Framework Assessment and Development

This role involves comprehensive engagement with ZATCA's legislative framework, from initial assessment to development and approval processes. Specific tasks include:

• Conducting research and identifying best practices in tax treaties, laws, and guidelines to pinpoint improvement areas within ZATCA’s legislative framework.
• Supporting the preparation and implementation of action plans based on top management feedback for improving the tax legislative framework.
• Communicating with taxpayers, as needed, through discussion groups to gather input for legislative document development.
• Developing and updating tax legislative documents, ensuring alignment with ZATCA guidelines, standards, research input, and internal feedback.
• Preparing documents requiring Governor approval and integrating all feedback prior to submission.
• Analyzing implications on ZATCA’s legislative framework resulting from changes in related tax treaties, laws, and guidelines, and developing amendment lists.
• Preparing proposals and recommendations for implementation, including issue overviews, objectives, and analysis results, ensuring ZATCA strategic objectives are met.
• Reviewing and updating frameworks, identifying involved parties, and ensuring proper communication of changes.
• Defining policies, regulations, and guidelines for development or amendment based on research and expert feedback.
• Developing scope of work, methodology, work schedule, and team members for legislative issue studies, clarifying communication imperatives.
• Conducting workshops with legal, policy, and subject matter experts for input on legislative documents and providing clarification.
• Updating guidelines and policy documents based on research findings and reviewing ZATCA business requirement documents for compliance.

Legislative Framework Implementation and Communication

The Senior Advisor will also oversee the communication and implementation aspects of legislative changes, ensuring broad awareness and effective application:

• Publishing approved legislative documents in the official journal and communicating changes to concerned stakeholders through publications and press releases.
• Ensuring newly updated or developed tax-related legislative documents are adequately conveyed to relevant stakeholders and evaluated.
• Preparing guidelines for the implementation of tax laws, including tax rulings and interpretation bulletins.
• Setting coordination standards for tax law query resolution in coordination with related stakeholders.
• Managing the development of periodical reports highlighting the impact of new legislative documents, implementation issues, lessons learned, and improvement actions.
• Preparing tax technical presentations and training material.

Operational Support and Compliance

Beyond policy development, the role includes contributing to the operational efficiency and compliance within the department:

• Following all relevant policies, processes, and standard operating procedures to ensure controlled and consistent work execution.
• Assisting in solving escalated problems and providing necessary support for junior team members to ensure efficient work.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for a professional with 5-10 years of relevant experience in policy and legislation, preferably within a tax or customs authority. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership capabilities, the ability to work autonomously, and a proven track record in developing and implementing legislative frameworks. A commitment to accuracy, compliance, and effective stakeholder communication is essential for this full-time position in Riyadh.