Tax Director

Distinct | North America; Barrington (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO and comp time around extra hours

Generous retirement package

Job summary

Established, independent CPA firm in Deer Park seeking a senior tax professional to take ownership of complex reviews. You’ll be the go‑to person for difficult issues, with strong focus on high net worth clients and corporate returns, including S Corp and C Corp.

You may also touch international and transactional work depending on background. You’ll need CPA credentials and solid review experience; Big 4 name on resume is not required, just technical strength and reliable research ability.

Qualifications

• CPA certification and strong tax knowledge.
• Experience reviewing complex tax work and guiding junior staff.
• Ability to research unusual tax scenarios and provide clear answers.
• Experience with high net worth individuals and corporate returns (S Corp, C Corp).

Responsibilities

• Primarily a review role for complex tax work.
• Lead and mentor the team through intricate tax issues.
• Handle high‑net‑worth and corporate returns with accuracy and speed.
• Collaborate on international and transactional tax projects when needed.

Skills

CPA

Review experience

Research skills

Tax knowledge

Education

CPA certification

Job description

There’s an assumption in public accounting that if you want the really interesting, sophisticated work, you have to work for one of the biggest firms.

This is an established, independent CPA firm in Deer Park with a client base and level of work you might not expect from a firm of their size.

They work with complex privately held businesses alongside public companies, and there’s a strong transactional side to the practice too. Think M&A, due diligence, tax structuring and businesses going through genuinely interesting periods of change.

Now they’re looking for someone senior on the tax side.

This is primarily a review role. They already have good people who can prepare the work, so they need someone who enjoys being the person the team can turn to when things get more complicated.

There’s a lot of partnership, S Corp and C Corp work, alongside complex individual returns for high net worth clients and corporate officers. There’s also scope to get involved with international and transactional work depending on your background.

You might already be a Tax Director or Partner.

Or perhaps you’re at a larger firm, you’ve built a strong technical background and you’ve reached the point where you’d quite like to keep the interesting work without everything else that comes with a huge firm.

They’re open minded about where you’ve gained your experience, too.

You’ll need your CPA and strong review experience, but you don’t necessarily need a Big 4 name on your resume. If you’ve worked with sophisticated clients, you’re technically strong and you’re comfortable researching the answer when something unusual lands on your desk, they’ll be interested.

It’s a fully onsite firm, which is worth knowing upfront. A lot of their work is collaborative and time sensitive, so they’ve deliberately kept everyone together rather than moving towards a remote model.

The trade off is a genuinely team focused environment, where you’ll know the people you’re working with rather than disappearing into a huge department.

Busy season on the tax side tends to start later than at many traditional tax firms and runs through April 15.

• They offer PTO and comp time around the additional hours, alongside a particularly generous retirement package.

They’ve been patient about this hire because they’re looking for the right person rather than simply another person.

Someone technically good. Someone they can rely on. And ideally someone who wants to stick around and become an important part of the firm.