Your Role

Tax advisory for medium-sized businesses is relationship work. Clients stay for decades – not because of prices, but because they are understood. Several thousand medium-sized companies trust us – we are now developing the model into a Germany-wide consulting platform. Tax advisory is not just one of many business areas, but the core.

At Vogel, the path to the top leads via two equally valued paths: Mastery for technical depth and Pioneer for disciplinary leadership. You will take the Mastery path. You are a tax advisor with one to three years of experience after your exam – Big4 (KPMG, EY, PwC, Deloitte), Next 6, or a focused medium-sized firm. You are changing because the Big4 pyramid suffocates your direct client contact or because the routine operations of a medium-sized firm do not allow for technical deepening. But above all, because you are truly skilled in tax advisory and want this to be your career anchor – you want to be an expert, not a manager.

From day one, you will take over a demanding client base and develop it technically. You will be the technical point of contact for the associates in your line – sparring, reviewing, escalation endpoint – without disciplinary leadership responsibility. You will report to the Senior Manager Tax and work closely with management on strategic client topics. The natural progression leads to a Senior Expert role with your own industry or topic specialization within 24 to 36 months.

Your Responsibility

Client Management

• Take over an existing client base and manage it independently – annual financial statements, tax returns, ongoing advisory with technical depth.

• Be the direct contact person for owners and managing directors of medium-sized companies. A conversation at eye level is the standard, not the exception.

• Accompany demanding special topics – tax audits, appeal proceedings, consulting, international structures.

Technical Depth

• Develop your client base technically – industry expertise (e.g., Healthcare, Family Office, Construction Industry) or specialized tax area (succession, international structures, M&A Tax). You will build the depth that carries Vogel as a consulting brand.

• Independently follow case law and legislative changes for your area of specialization – and make the consequences tangible for our clients.

• Contribute to Vogel's knowledge base – internal training, client newsletters, consulting templates.

Sparring & Review

• Be the technical point of contact for the associates in the Tax line – escalation endpoint for complex cases, sparring on contentious valuations, review of client work.

• Actively participate in hiring at the associate level – interviews, technical assessment, conviction recommendation.

• Onboarding of technical topics for new Tax colleagues.

Your Perspectives

What you will have delivered after 6 months:

• You manage your assigned client base with full technical responsibility.

• You have conducted your first ten closing meetings without senior support.

• You are the first technical contact person for three to four associates on complex client topics.

What you will have delivered after 12 months:

• You have tangibly deepened your client base technically – identified new advisory topics, initiated and handed over at least three cross-selling opportunities to other Vogel areas (structuring, M&A preparation, FP&A).

• Initial signs of industry or topic specialization are visible – built internal visibility, initial clients seek precisely this depth.

• Contribution to the internal knowledge base: at least one technical training or client publication in your area of specialization.

What you will have delivered after 24 months:

• Your client portfolio demonstrably carries additional sub-segment depth – a clearly recognizable specialization that external multipliers know by name.

• You are the escalation endpoint for your technical line in all standard cases and a large proportion of special topics.

• You are a candidate for the next Senior Expert position.

Where the position is developing:

The next step is Senior Expert Tax – technical lead function in your area of specialization, without disciplinary leadership, compensation equivalent to Senior Manager. Through the Senior Expert level, the Lead/Director path opens up along our career framework.

What you bring with you

Experience & Track Record

• You have passed the Tax Advisor exam – or are about to take the exam and will take on the Expert Tax role immediately afterwards. Passing the exam is a prerequisite for the Expert Tax title.

• Ideally, you have one to three years of experience after your exam – Big4 (KPMG, EY, PwC, Deloitte), Next 6, or a focused medium-sized firm.

• You have already had client responsibility – and realize that your real fascination is with technical depth, not disciplinary leadership.

• Profiles that do not fit the above criteria but have substantial client responsibility and a clear specialization goal are expressly invited – we evaluate by contribution, not by label. Specifically: Tax advisors with M&A or TAS background who want to return to operational client work with specialization; tax advisors from top regional firms with a clearly recognizable focus; tax advisors with a doctoral degree and a desire for practical experience.

Skills & Working Method

• You have tax depth in at least one specialization – partnerships, succession, international structures, reorganizations, or another clearly recognizable specialization.

• You communicate clearly and reliably – in writing and in client discussions. You are not afraid of difficult topics with managing directors.

• You use AI as a matter-of-fact tool – research, drafting, analysis, client communication. Repetitive tasks are a stimulus for you to automate, not a fate.

Mindset & Personality

• You think entrepreneurially – you take responsibility for your portfolio and your area of specialization, not for your hours.

• You understand Mastery as an equally valued career path, not as a fallback for those who cannot become managers. Your technical profile is your differentiator.

• You strive to set the highest standard in everything you deliver – not because someone is checking, but because mediocrity personally bothers you.

• Vogel is hierarchical in decision-making, flat in communication, autonomous in execution. Performance is celebrated, not hidden – those who want to advance technically because they are good will find space here, without political disguise and without consensus theater.

What you won't find with us

• No specialist track that is secretly second-tier. Expert and Senior Expert are equivalent to Manager and Senior Manager – same compensation, same influence on strategic client topics, same visibility. The technical career path is not a consolation prize here.

• No routine medium-sized business tax advisor job without specialization. We build industry and topic depth. Those who want to manage client portfolios without going deeper technically are not in the right place here.

• No corporate tax mandate without client contact. The work is client work with technical depth. Those who have exclusively sat on corporate compliance and wish to continue doing so are at the wrong desk here.

• No partnership with competing self-interests. We are a company with a one-firm logic – one brand, one culture, one hiring bar.

• No corporate corset where you wait for promotions. Growth here comes from contribution, not from years of service.

FAQ

1. What is Vogel – and where do you work?

Vogel is one of Germany's leading consultancies for medium-sized businesses – a family business since 1959, from Aalen – and is developing it into the leading consulting platform for the mid-market. We are growing at several locations: in Aalen/Ostwürttemberg as the established headquarters and in Munich as a new hub. At both locations, we are looking for people across all functions – from tax advisory and consulting to the strategic teams building the platform.

2. How are the salary bands to be understood?

Intentionally broad – and clearly stated at every point. We differentiate based on track record and market value, not on degree: scarce, highly sought-after profiles at the upper end, less scarce ones at the lower end. We calibrate exclusively on the market – two people with similar experience can earn differently with us.

3. How much – and how – do you work at Vogel?

What counts is what you achieve, not hours. But it's also true: those looking for 9-to-5 are not our primary target. We seek people who work intensively out of their own drive because the tasks are worthwhile. How you manage your time is largely up to you. What we share: We work together in person – culture, sparring, and the best ideas emerge from daily proximity. We are not a remote company and do not have extensive home office policies; occasional remote days are not a problem.

4. How does the application process work?

Lean, fast, transparent – and tiered by profile. For entry-level roles (internships, working student positions, career entry), typically two interviews and a short work sample are sufficient; experienced roles are a bit more extensive. For selected senior roles, we are considering incorporating a joint workday in the future so that both sides can get to know each other better. Always applies: scheduled appointments, swift decision, substantial feedback – regardless of the outcome.

5. How does variable compensation work?

Tied to performance quarterly, qualitatively assessed. The scale increases with the level: up to 20% Associate, 27.5% Manager, 35% Senior Manager, 42.5% Director, 50% VP. The expected value with good performance – you meet the requirements, set your own accents, pass the keeper test – is around 50% of the maximum; the maximum bonus is not the norm. The focus is on a holistic assessment by your manager: ownership, quality, learning curve, collaboration, impact.

6. How do I develop – what career paths are there?

Two active paths: Mastery (technical depth, expert career) and Pioneer (leadership, management). You choose the direction after onboarding, usually in years 1-3. Career entry is not a special path, but the early part of the same journey – from working student or intern to Associate, for the best without a new application process.

7. Team, Culture, Vacation?

A shared lunch is an open daily offer – not mandatory; whoever wants to join, anyone can eat at any time. In addition, dinners, social events, and offsites at regular intervals – not as a mandatory program, but because a good team also shares time outside of work. Benefits: well-thought-out and substantial, not symbolic. Vacation: 28 days.

8. I know someone – is there a referral bonus?

Yes – €2,500 for every successfully filled position (no internships). A brief context is enough: who you have in mind, for which role, why. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it must be substantial.

Compensation: €98,175 – €127,500 • Fixed: €77k - €100k · Bonus: €21,175k - €27,5k · EV: €90,09k - €117k

• • OTE €98,175 – €127,500 • Fixed: €77k - €100k · Bonus: €21,175k - €27,5k · EV: €90,09k - €117k

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