--- title: 'R&D Specialist at Caribou' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/r-d-specialist-caribou-london-szbxhpv109e2' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-08' --- # R&D Specialist at Caribou - **Company:** Caribou - **Location:** London, United Kingdom - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-07-07 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/caribou/381536e5-d8fa-49c9-8c4e-bb07411cc846 ## Job description ## 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. ## 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. ## 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. ## About Caribou ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Caribou is a transfer pricing and tax compliance platform that helps global SaaS companies manage intragroup agreements, benchmarking, and documentation without relying on Big Four consultants. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; Y Combinator W19) - **Headquarters**: London, England, United Kingdom (also has an office in San Francisco, California, USA) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: Not publicly available ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Tax compliance software, transfer pricing, financial services for multi-entity SaaS companies - **Target customers**: B2B; finance teams at scaling SaaS businesses that operate internationally - **Mission or purpose statement**: To help SaaS companies scale globally without overpaying tax or relying on slow, expensive advisory firms (paraphrased from careers page) ## Products & Services For each major offering: - **Caribou Platform**: SaaS platform that designs transfer pricing policies, drafts intragroup agreements, performs benchmarking, handles accounting implementation, year-end journals, and local documentation – all in one engagement. Also covers VAT, permanent establishment (PE), and R&D eligibility. Includes ongoing monitoring and annual updates. - **Managed Compliance Services**: Expert-built support where Caribou takes over transfer pricing end-to-end, including direct communication with auditors during audits. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company) - **Key Metric**: Total funding – Seed round led by Y Combinator with 3 investors (amount not publicly specified) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (lead investor); other investors not named - **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew ~80% year-over-year to 17 employees (LinkedIn); named “Startup of the Year 2022” by SaaStock; currently has 3 active job postings including Engineering Lead and Senior Software Engineer ## Competitive Advantages - **All-in-one approach**: Unlike competitors who cover only transfer pricing and bill separately for adjacent areas, Caribou handles transfer pricing, VAT, permanent establishment, and R&D together, catching cross‑domain issues. - **Product‑driven**: Uses a software platform rather than a pure advisory model, enabling faster turnaround (e.g., 20 minutes per entity to share financials) and ongoing automation. - **AI‑enabled**: Leverages AI to operate in real-world financial systems (careers page mentions “AI that operates in real-world financial systems”). - **Replaces Big Four**: Directly competes with traditional Big Four advisory by offering a faster, more affordable, and integrated alternative. ## Strategic Focus - **Product‑led growth**: Building a platform that makes complex global tax problems solvable through software and AI, reducing dependency on manual advisory. - **Scaling with customers**: Automatically extending transfer pricing frameworks when companies open new entities or enter new markets. - **Talent and engineering**: Actively hiring for engineering and tax leadership roles to accelerate product development and market reach. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Described as autonomous, with ownership, high bar for quality, close proximity to customers, and a bias for action (“move fast and adapt”). Transparency and surfacing problems early are core values. - **Remote/Hybrid**: Hybrid working model – believes in in‑person meetings but not every day. London office is pet‑friendly. - **Compensation & Perks**: Competitive salary, equity (option grants), unlimited annual leave, Vitality health and dental insurance, custom equipment setup, learning support (tuition assistance, conferences), family benefits (adoption assistance, generous parental leave), performance bonuses, employee discounts, mobile phone discount, free snacks and drinks. - **Engineering culture**: Engineers, tax specialists, and product all engage directly with customer feedback. Problems are seen as opportunities, and autonomy is given from day one. ## Sources 1. [usecaribou.com/careers](https://www.usecaribou.com/careers) 2. [usecaribou.com](https://www.usecaribou.com/) 3. [uk.linkedin.com/company/usecaribou](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/usecaribou) 4. [builtin.com/company/caribou-0](https://builtin.com/company/caribou-0) 5. [builtinlondon.uk/company/caribou-0](https://builtinlondon.uk/company/caribou-0) ## Other roles at Caribou - [Product Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-caribou-london-t9nhknhvmqpp) — London, United Kingdom - [Senior Transfer Pricing Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-transfer-pricing-manager-caribou-london-h8h0fxpx0j5t) — London, United Kingdom