Director, Tax

Crux AI

Palo Alto (CA)

On-site

USD 220,000 - 360,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work schedule

Health coverage

401(k) with company match

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Job summary

Crux AI, headquartered in Palo Alto, seeks a senior tax leader to design, build, and scale an AI-first tax function. Reporting to the CFO, you will oversee tax strategy, operations, and transaction structuring, driving automation and robust governance across income, transaction, and property tax.

You will guide complex projects, manage partnerships tax reporting, and collaborate with Finance, HR, IT and Legal to implement scalable tax processes.

Qualifications

10+ years of progressive corporate and transaction tax experience.
Experience with enterprise tax engines and ERP integrations to automate workflows.
Experience in private-equity ownership structures and M&A tax diligence.
Strong knowledge of ASC 740 and SOX internal controls.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and lead Crux's tax department across strategy, operations, and transaction structuring.
Deploy AI-driven tax workflows and automate reporting across income, transaction, and property tax.
Lead complex projects to drive tax savings and participate in large transaction planning.
Collaborate with Finance, HR, IT and Legal to ensure tax readiness and governance.

Skills

Tax strategy

Tax operations

Transaction tax

SOX controls

ERP integrations

M&A tax diligence

Education

CPA license

Tools

Vertex

Avalara

OneSource

ERP systems

Job description

Built to set the gold standard for integrated AI infrastructure

Crux AI is a newly formed, U.S.-based integrated AI infrastructure company created to remove the physical and operational constraints on consequential AI ambitions. Crux brings together power, high-density data centers, TPU silicon, networking, orchestration software, and ongoing operations as one integrated system.

Crux is being capitalized to plan every layer together, develop each one to demanding standards, and operate the whole system with efficiency and reliability. That gives hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, sovereign customers, enterprises, and AI-native companies greater freedom to pursue the AI they are here to create.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

In this role, you will:

Design, build, and lead our tax department across tax strategy, tax operations, and transaction structuring, grounded in an AI-first model and designed to scale quickly to support a high growth organization. Reporting to the CFO, you will partner with our sponsor and operational teams to manage partnership income tax reporting. You will deploy modern tax automation and AI-driven workflows to drive planning and reporting for income, transaction, and property tax. You will lead complex projects to drive tax savings and have significant involvement in larger transaction planning. You’ll contribute broadly and partner across Finance, HR, IT, and Legal.

SIGNALS OF SUCCESS

After 60 days in this role:

Complete a full assessment and gaps analysis of our current state. Prioritize key projects based on collaboration with the CFO and other business leaders

Adapt to a fast paced environment

After 6 months:

Demonstrate an AI-forward and automated approach to this role.

Use appropriate strategies to assist the organization in diverse tax activities, which could include such items as:
- Modeling income tax allocations and debt service tax shields to support our sponsors
- Tax planning projects including cost segregation studies and repair vs. capitalization standards
- Negotiation of state and local tax incentives
- Implementation and maintenance of tax calculation engines (e.g., Vertex, Avalara, or OneSource) integrated with our ERP, procurement, and billing systems
- Building a SOX-compliant tax environment and audit-defensible diligence repository

After 1 year:

Recruit, mentor, and lead a lean, high-performing tax team spanning transaction planning, transaction tax, property tax, income tax, and tax accounting

Demonstrate consistent operational excellence and impeccable attention to detail

Implement innovative approaches to accounting programs and team

EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH

Experiences

10+ years of progressive progressive corporate and transaction tax experience, combining a Big 4 accounting foundation with in-house leadership at an infrastructure, cloud, data center, telecom, or energy platform

Proven track record working with enterprise tax engines and modern ERP integrations to automate manual tax compliance workflows

Strong experience operating within private-equity ownership structures (flow-through entities, blocker corporations, leveraged balance sheets) and managing M&A tax diligence

Direct experience with ASC 740 tax provisions, PCAOB-grade financial statement audits, and SOX internal control frameworks

Attributes

You are outcome drivenand hands on. Comfortable rolling up your sleeves to review cash tax models and negotiate tax incentives on day one, while maintaining the strategic vision to lead a scaled machine by year two. This is a builder's seat, not a supervisory one

Mindset

You have a high tolerance for ambiguity. Youabsorb ambiguity and navigate complexity rather than passing it along

Nice to have (Preferred, not required):

Active CPA license or J.D. / LL.M. in Taxation

Experience in both start up and scaled enterprises

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been estimated based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Crux