Senior Director, Indirect Tax

The Tax Team at OpenAI is part of the broader Finance organization and plays a critical role in ensuring compliance with evolving global tax obligations. Our mission is to develop scalable, automated, and accurate tax infrastructure that supports OpenAI's operational speed, transparency, and global growth. We are transforming tax operations from a traditional, manual process into a forward-looking capability that leverages intelligent systems and integrated workflows.

The Senior Director, Indirect Tax will be a critical leader within the tax function of OpenAI, responsible for all aspects of domestic and international indirect taxes. This role requires a strategic thinker with deep tax expertise, strong leadership skills, and the ability to navigate a dynamic and complex regulatory landscape.

This role is based in San Francisco. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In this role you'll:

• Strategy and Planning:

  • Develop and implement indirect tax strategies to optimize tax efficiency and minimize risk across all lines of business, including new products and services.

  • Advise on tax implications of strategic initiatives like mergers, acquisitions, and new legal entity structures.

  • Stay abreast of changes in global tax laws and regulations, anticipating impacts and adapting strategies proactively.

• Compliance and Reporting:

  • Oversee the accuracy and timely filing of all indirect tax returns (sales and use tax, VAT, GST, excise taxes, property taxes, etc.) across multiple jurisdictions.

  • Ensure compliance with tax regulations, collaborating with internal teams (finance, accounting, legal, product, engineering) to embed tax compliance into business systems and processes.

  • Manage tax audit defense strategies and represent the company during examinations by tax authorities. Must have extensive global audit experience with a fine sense of the types of arguments, legal strategies and inquiry and critical factual developments that can lead to optimal outcome.

  • Complete understanding of audit procedures for indirect tax matters.

• Tax Technology and Automation:

  • Drive the adoption and optimization of tax technology solutions, including tax engines (like Vertex or OneSource), ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, familiarity with Netsuite would be a bonus), data tools (Alteryx, Power BI), and automation technologies (RPA).

  • Familiarity with GPTs and other AI tools as means to enhance efficiencies and productivity.

  • Lead initiatives to improve data quality, enhance tax processes, and leverage technology for efficient tax compliance and reporting.

• Team Leadership and Development:

  • Mentor, develop, and manage a team of tax professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.

  • Provide ongoing feedback, identify opportunities for growth, and guide team members in navigating complex tax issues.

• Stakeholder Management:

  • Build and maintain strong relationships with internal partners (executive management, financial reporting, accounting, treasury, legal, HR, and business operations) and external advisors (tax consultants, auditors).

  • Effectively communicate tax implications and strategies to various audiences, including senior leadership.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Extensive experience in SaaS, PaaS, B2C indirect tax.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; a Master's degree in Taxation, Accounting, or a related field is a plus.

• CPA certification or equivalent.

• Law Degree is a bonus or an alternative to a CPA certification.

• 20+ years of progressive experience in indirect tax, with a focus on a tech or e-commerce environment.

• Proven expertise in US and international indirect tax regulations (sales and use tax, VAT, GST, excise taxes).

• Experience with tax technology platforms (Vertex, OneSource, etc.) and ERP systems (SAP, Oracle).

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and project management skills.

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills, with a track record of building and developing teams.

• Excellent people development skills.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

For additional information, please see OpenAI's Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

Compensation Range: $380K