ABOUT US 🚀

Hostelworld is the world's leading Social Travel platform - a social network-powered OTA on a mission to help travellers find their people and create unforgettable moments together. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Ireland, we're a team of around 270 people serving hostel partners across more than 180 countries.

Since launching our social network in 2022, we've welcomed over 3.4 million social members who aren't just booking trips, they're messaging, finding events, meeting up and becoming powerful brand advocates. This community generates a rich proprietary dataset of 16 million+ chat messages and 17 million bookings, powering AI-driven personalisation and network effects that no generalist OTA can replicate.

We are not just another OTA - we created an entirely new category – Social Travel. If you want to shape the future of travel by putting people and shared experiences at the heart of it, you'll fit right in here - Learn more about our Team!

Our Culture

At Hostelworld, our culture is a direct reflection of our customers: adventurous, curious, and social. We have a shared love of travel that fuels our work and connects us on a deeper level. It’s a fast-paced environment that blends the agility and "scrappy" resourcefulness of a start-up with the experience and ambition of a global, publicly listed company.

We are a team of pragmatic optimists who are data-obsessed and results-driven. We value a ‘test and learn’ mindset, encouraging experimentation and empowering our teams to take calculated risks. We believe in doing the right thing—for our customers, our partners, and each other. We foster a supportive and collaborative atmosphere where diverse perspectives are celebrated, and where every team member has the opportunity to make a significant impact on our journey. We embrace the journey, not just the destination, and we seek leaders who will thrive in a dynamic environment and inspire their teams to do the same.

THE ROLE📰

You will own the day-to-day indirect tax compliance and reporting for the Hostelworld group globally.

It is a great time to join Hostelworld, and this role has come about because of growth. We work with hostel partners across 180 countries and support over 3.4 million social members on our app, with a vision to be the world's leading social travel platform. We have an exciting pipeline of new products coming to market.

A wave of new platform reporting regimes and a steady stream of new ideas from our Product teams means indirect tax at Hostelworld is expanding. This role is guaranteed variety, and you would be joining at a point where you can help decide the shape of the function.

LOCATION🌍

This role is based in Ireland. We have an office hub in Dublin available for those who prefer a hybrid model where you can spend time with colleagues in-person. You will need to be able to commute to our office hub as required from time to time.

WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH 👨🏽‍🤝‍👨🏼

You’ll report to the International Tax and Compliance Manager, sitting within a high-performing finance team and working closely with Financial Control.

We operate a hybrid working model, with the team typically coming together in the office one day per week. Our success with flexible working is built on a close-knit team and a strong sense of shared ownership.

We’re looking for someone who is genuine and friendly, takes pride in their work, and is willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved.

WHAT YOU'LL DO 👩‍💻

Compliance

Own VAT, VIES and similar indirect tax filings across multiple jurisdictions, working to the group's tax compliance calendar.
Prepare and submit platform reporting obligations, including DAC7, MRDP and SERR, ensuring accuracy and on-time filing.
Work with teams across the business through the year to make sure the data we collect from hostel partners is complete and fit to file.
Support indirect tax audits and queries from tax authorities, preparing documentation and analysis, working alongside external advisors.
Make the recurring work smaller. Use AI and automation tools to bring efficiency, from data preparation and reconciliations to reviewing legislative updates, and contribute what works to the Finance Team's AI skills library.
Support month-end, year-end close and the group audit, including reconciliation of indirect tax balance sheet accounts and preparation of supporting workings for tax provisions.
Liaise with external tax advisors on routine matters.

Horizon Scanning & Advisory:

Track new and emerging indirect tax regimes coming into scope for the group and help assess their likely impact on Hostelworld, including developments such as the EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reforms and Electronically Supplied Services (ESS) rules.
Work alongside the Finance Project Partner to operationalise new indirect tax regimes and registrations, from scoping the requirement and completing the registration through to embedding the ongoing filing, data and systems changes needed to stay compliant.
Assess the indirect tax impact of new Hostelworld projects or revenue streams, working confidently with Product, Tech and Global Markets teams from an early stage.
Keep up to date with relevant indirect tax law and rate changes globally and help translate technical developments into practical guidance for the wider business.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR 👀

Experience & Qualifications:

Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) or equivalent professional tax qualification. An additional accounting qualification or accounting experience is an advantage.
2–4 years’ relevant indirect tax experience, including 1–2 years’ PQE, gained in-house and/or with a Big 4 or mid-tier professional services firm.
Prior experience in online travel, e-commerce, hospitality or another two-sided marketplace business is an advantage.

Knowledge & Skills:

Good working knowledge of EU VAT principles, including cross-border supplies of services, place-of-supply rules, and OSS.
Exposure to, or strong interest in building expertise in, digital platform reporting (e.g. DAC7) and marketplace VAT rules.
Confident and comfortable working cross-functionally with multiple teams, including Product, Tech and Global Markets.
Strong ability to interpret and work with data drawn from multiple systems and teams; familiarity with Tableau or similar data visualisation/BI tools is an advantage.
Keen interest in AI and a curiosity for using it to create efficiency in tax and compliance work, with a willingness to test new tools and share what you learn with the team.
Good communicator, able to explain indirect tax requirements to stakeholders who are not tax specialists.
Organised and detail-oriented, able to manage a busy, recurring compliance calendar with reliable accuracy.
Familiarity with GST and similar indirect tax regimes outside the EU (e.g. Australia, Canada, or other jurisdictions relevant to Hostelworld's footprint) is an advantage.

WHAT WE OFFER 💯

Competitive salary & benefits
Enhanced annual leave plus 3 Wellbeing Days per year
Paid family leave (maternity, paternity, surrogacy & adoption)
Agile working (plus a Working from Abroad Policy!)
Support for your ongoing growth & development
Inclusive people policies (sickness, menopause, compassionate and fertility leave)
A chance to give back to your local community with 5 paid volunteering days

OUR BEHAVIOURS 🏆

Grow others - We fundamentally believe that investing in growing others benefits everyone, whether it's helping them develop hard or soft skills. We want learning and growing to be part of our DNA to help makes us a better team, together.
Master it - We are obsessed with our area of expertise and enjoy developing our skills. We rarely take things at face value; we investigate, interrogate, and always look for ‘the why,’ and wherever possible, we use data to find the best solution.
Collaborate - We are in it together, for the tough stuff and the celebrations too. To achieve the best results, we need expertise from all areas of the organisation, and we wholeheartedly welcome diverse thinking.
Adapt - We work fluidly, adapting to new information and the evolving environment while staying committed to our goals. Innovation and experimentation fuel our projects and we’re never afraid to pivot.
Deliver - Our focus is always on the end result; we value outcomes over activity. We collaborate to deliver work at speed without dropping any of our other behaviours.

We believe in talented and diverse teams that reflect the diversity of our customers and the communities in which we operate. Everyone brings different perspectives and experiences. We lay out the above requirements to guide applicants to the experiences that we believe will allow you to be successful in the role. If you don’t meet them all, please consider applying if you think you can still perform the role as described.

Indirect Tax Specialist

Benefits

Job Description