Senior Tax Director - Strategy, Compliance & Reporting

Ascend Learning; Burlington (MA); Hybrid; USD 144,600 - 206,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Company-paid life insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and parental leave

Employee assistance program

Headspace and Airvet wellness programs

Charitable matching program

Job summary

Ascend Learning seeks a seasoned Tax Director to lead our in-house tax operations across federal and multi-state compliance, tax provision, and sponsor reporting. You will partner with the VP of Tax to drive accurate provisions, internal processes, and strategic tax initiatives.

You will manage external providers, coordinate with Finance, Legal, and HR, and oversee tax technology and planning efforts across ongoing business initiatives. Hybrid work from MA/KS offices.

Qualifications

• CPA license required; MST or LLM in taxation preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive tax experience in public accounting or corporate tax.
• Deep knowledge of US federal and multi-state income tax including ASC 740.
• Experience with pass-through and corporate taxation and data from ERP systems.
• Ability to manage external providers and cross-functional partners.
• Experience with M&A, transfer pricing, and tax attributes reporting.
• Proficiency with tax research tools and Excel (Pivot, XLOOKUP).

Responsibilities

• Lead quarterly and annual income tax provision per ASC 740 and related calculations.
• Coordinate federal and multi-state filings with external advisors and internal teams.
• Research complex tax issues and identify planning opportunities to reduce effective tax rate.
• Prepare tax forecasts for FP&A and support earnings cycles.
• Manage relationships with outside tax advisors, consultants, and vendors.
• Lead tax projects, acquisitions, restructurings, and tax technology optimization.
• Oversee annual studies for R&D credit and IRC 174 capitalization.

Skills

ASC 740 tax provision

Multi-state taxation

External tax advisor mgmt

M&A taxation

Transfer pricing

ERP systems knowledge

Advanced Excel

Tax planning strategy

Tax research tools

Project management

Education

CPA license

MST or LLM in taxation

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance

Tools

OneSource Tax Provision

Checkpoint

CCH

ERP familiarity

Job description

Ascend Learning seeks a seasoned Tax Director to lead our in-house tax operations across federal and multi-state compliance, tax provision, and sponsor reporting. You will partner with the VP of Tax to drive accurate provisions, internal processes, and strategic tax initiatives.

You will manage external providers, coordinate with Finance, Legal, and HR, and oversee tax technology and planning efforts across ongoing business initiatives. Hybrid work from MA/KS offices.