Senior Client Manager · Capalaba, Brisbane · office-based

 We are not backfilling a departure. We are replacing someone who got promoted.

Magnus is a twenty-one person public practice in Capalaba, on Brisbane’s bayside, with a second office in Toowoomba and team members across the Sunshine Coast, Sydney and the Philippines. We have been going since 2011, we have grown better than 15% a year for seven years, and our clients rate us 4.9 out of 5 across 46 Google reviews. 

One of our senior client managers is moving into a newly created leadership role. That opens this seat — and it means you would inherit a functioning production team and an established client portfolio from day one, rather than spending your first year building one. 

Why the role exists, honestly. Our client managers are oversubscribed. There is more work in front of them than they can physically take, and there are opportunities inside our existing client base we simply never get to — not because the work is not there, but because the hours are not. That is our real constraint, and it is the reason this position is open. 

What you would do. Own a portfolio of client relationships directly, including the difficult conversations. Business structuring, asset protection, tax planning done in advance rather than explained in arrears, succession and estate work for owners heading toward an exit. Run strategic annual client meetings. Lead the production team beneath you — an assistant client manager, a senior production manager, and the accountants and bookkeepers who make your portfolio deliverable, here and in the Philippines. Take a seat in the senior management group and help decide how the firm itself is run. 

What we need. Around ten years in tax and business advisory, including at least three at manager level. IPA, CPA or CA is a strong plus, not a strict requirement. You need to be able to finalise complex work yourself, not only delegate it — trust, company, partnership and SMSF returns and financial statements, Division 7A, CGT including the small business concessions, FBT, depreciation, franking accounts, family trust elections. We run on Xero, Xero Practice Manager and NowInfinity. We test technically at the final stage, because we would rather find a gap now than in month two. 

And one thing we are specific about: we want someone who wants to build with AI, not just tolerate it. We think it will compress compliance fees across the profession and we are not going to argue with it — the part of the job it takes away was never the valuable part. Every person here is getting a digital assistant built around their role, with dashboards and our own firm data behind it, and a Chief Technical Officer role built inside the firm to own it. You would get yours from day one, ahead of the rest of the rollout, and a real seat in how the programme develops. Every hour it gives back goes into advisory work, not into a headcount calculation.

There will be equity. Magnus is a single-owned firm today that is changing. A staff equity scheme is committed to be designed and in place by 30 June 2027 – a shareholding, not a phantom bonus wearing the word. It is aimed at our senior people, which is exactly where this role sits. Participation is by invitation and the terms will be set by the firm; we would rather say that now than let you infer something warmer.  

What we will not pretend. This role is office-based in Capalaba – many roles here are remote, this one is not, and if you want to run it from home indefinitely we will both save time by saying so now. There is no partnership track; we are offering equity instead, and they are not the same thing. We are small, so there is nowhere to be invisible. And growing at 15% a year means that the role you are hired into is unlikely to be the role you hold in two years – most people here regard that as the best part.

What you get. A competitive salary depending on experience, with a performance bonus and benefits on top, and salary sacrifice into super available. Twenty days leave including a two-week Christmas shutdown, plus flexible public holidays and paid exception leave when life happens. An annual professional development budget, Xerocon, IPA/CPA/CA/NTAA workshops. A ten-year career plan with measurable milestones, reviewed annually. Workstations with the equivalent of five 27-inch screens. All expenses-paid firm conference each year. 

How to apply. Send a CV and a short note about what you would want from the role. We read applications properly and we reply either way. Five steps: application, a call to fill in the gaps, an interview with the people you would actually work alongside and lead, technical testing for finalists, then an offer conversation that includes where the role goes next. 

Ask us for “A profile for Senior Client Manager candidates” – a longer, franker document about the firm, including the parts that might put you off. We would rather you read it before you apply than after you start.

Resume: Please forward your resume to [email protected]