Tax Manager

MacKai West; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

MacKai West in Center City Philadelphia is seeking a Tax Manager to lead client engagements, develop relationships with high-net-worth individuals and business owners, and mentor junior staff. You will engage with Partners and participate in advising on strategic tax matters.

The role emphasizes moving from pure tax preparation to leadership, business development, and client advisory while building a cohesive, collaborative team in a growing Center City office.

Qualifications

• Strong public accounting tax experience.
• Broad mix of 1040s, partnerships, privately held businesses, and trusts.
• Experience reviewing returns and managing engagements.
• Interest in mentoring junior professionals.
• Strong communication skills and client relationship mindset.
• CPA completed or actively progressing toward completion.
• Ambition to grow beyond the Manager level.

Responsibilities

• Manage tax engagements from planning through delivery and review complex returns.
• Work directly with HNW individuals, business owners, and local clients.
• Identify tax planning opportunities.
• Mentor associates and seniors.
• Collaborate with Partners on complex matters and client meetings.
• Develop experience in business development.

Skills

Public accounting tax experience

1040s/partnerships/ trust & estate

Reviewing returns

Mentoring junior professionals

Communication skills

CPA progress

Career growth ambition

Job description

Tax Manager | Client-Facing Role + Clear Leadership Track

Center City Philadelphia, PA | Public Accounting

You’ve Learned How to Do the Work. Now Find a Firm That Will Teach You How to Build a Career.

There’s a point in public accounting where being technically good at tax isn’t enough.

You want your own client relationships. You want Partners to bring you into the room instead of keeping you behind the scenes. You want exposure to business development, leadership, and the commercial side of a CPA firm.

And ideally, you’d like to do all of that around people you actually enjoy working with.

MacKai West is partnered with an excellent CPA firm that has recently expanded into Center City Philadelphia and is looking for an ambitious Tax Manager to become an important part of the growing office.

This is a genuinely good place to work: younger culture, down-to-earth people, strong compensation, real career progression, and colleagues you’d actually want to grab a beer with after work.

They’re looking for someone who doesn’t just want their next Tax Manager job.

They’re looking for someone who wants to build toward the next several stages of their career.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

Get out from behind the return.

You’ll obviously remain technically involved, but this role is designed to become increasingly client-facing. You’ll develop your own relationships, participate in planning conversations, and learn how great Partners become trusted advisors to their clients.

Learn the business side of public accounting.

If you eventually want to become a Director or Partner, technical ability is only part of the equation. You’ll receive exposure to business development, relationship management, leadership, and practice growth rather than waiting until you’re already a Director to figure those things out.

Actual mentorship from Partners.

The Partners want to develop the next generation of leadership. You’ll work closely with experienced professionals who will invest in helping you make the jump from strong tax practitioner to well-rounded advisor and leader.

Stay a generalist.

You won’t be put into a tiny technical box. The firm’s local client base gives you broad exposure across individuals, pass-through entities, privately held businesses, and fiduciary work.

A younger, genuinely social culture.

This isn’t an office where everyone disappears the second the workday ends. The team is collaborative, approachable, and young enough that you’re likely to make actual friends among your peers—not just have coworkers.

Join a growing Center City office.

Rather than joining a huge established hierarchy, you’ll have an opportunity to become an important part of an office that’s being built and expanded in Philadelphia.

The Work

You’ll manage a diverse portfolio of primarily local clients while overseeing engagements, reviewing returns, developing junior staff, and becoming increasingly involved in advisory and planning work.

The client base includes significant exposure to:

• High-Net-Worth Individuals / complex 1040s
• Partnerships and pass-through entities
• Privately held and small-to-midsize businesses
• Tax planning and advisory work

The firm values well-rounded tax professionals. They’re less interested in someone who has spent their entire career doing one narrow type of return and more interested in someone who understands how the different pieces of a client’s tax picture fit together.

What You’ll Do

You’ll manage tax engagements from planning through delivery; review complex individual, partnership, business, trust and estate returns; work directly with HNW individuals, business owners, and other local clients; identify tax planning opportunities; manage and mentor associates and seniors; collaborate directly with Partners on complex matters; participate in client meetings; and gradually develop experience in business development and bringing new relationships into the firm.

The goal isn’t simply to make you a better Tax Manager.

It's to develop you into someone capable of becoming a future leader of the practice.

Who We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate has:

• Strong public accounting tax experience
• Experience across a broad mix of 1040s, partnerships/pass-through entities, privately held businesses, and Trust & Estate
• Experience reviewing returns and managing engagements
• An interest in developing and mentoring junior professionals
• Strong communication skills and the personality to build genuine client relationships
• CPA completed or actively progressing toward completion
• An ambition to continue growing beyond the Manager level

You could already be a Tax Manager, or you might be a standout Tax Senior / Supervisor who’s ready for someone to give you the opportunity to step up.

The Bigger Picture

If your goal is to spend the next five years becoming exceptionally good at reviewing tax returns, there are plenty of firms that can offer you that.

This opportunity is bigger than that.

Become technically excellent.

Build your own client relationships.

Learn how to lead people.

Get mentorship directly from Partners.

Help grow a Center City office.

And do it alongside people you actually enjoy working with.

• If your long-term goal is to eventually have a seat at the leadership table, this is the kind of opportunity that can teach you how to get there.