Manager, Tax Controversy

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At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.

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Overview

About the Role

It's an exciting time to join our dynamic Tax team. We are seeking a manager to join and lead the tax controversy team for the indirect tax team. The ideal candidate will be a highly collaborative individual with a keen eye for detail, playing a central role in defending indirect (sales/use/VAT) tax audits and leading special projects across various levels of the organization. This candidate should expect to work cross-functionally and collaboratively, manage multiple deliverables in a fast-paced environment, and build processes for scalability.

About the Team

The Tax Team at Instacart is instrumental in optimizing the company's tax strategy by reducing overall tax expenses through effective planning, while ensuring compliance with all Corporate Income Tax and Sales and Use Tax regulations. The team includes specialized units: Tax Technology, Indirect Tax, and Direct Tax. Together, the team collaborates extensively with departments within Finance, Legal, Policy, Product, Engineering, and Business Development to ensure a robust and comprehensive approach to tax planning and compliance.

About the Job

• Lead the indirect tax audit program, including project managing the entire audit process, working with outside tax advisors on technical issues, and collaborating with internal teams to respond timely to document requests.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with taxing authorities to effectively resolve outstanding audit issues.
• Conduct thorough global indirect tax research to support audit, compliance, and operational activities.
• Collaborate with teams to communicate exam results and support the indirect tax compliance team to ensure audit results are accurately reflected and accounted for on returns.
• Manage existing ASC 450 reserves and analyze whether the Company is required to establish new reserves based upon the impact of current and proposed law changes to tax reserves and disclosure requirements.
• Partner with the Policy and Government Affairs team to support tax-related legislation.
• Work with various teams, such as Business Development, Product, Engineering, Finance, and Legal to communicate technical tax requirements to non-technical stakeholders.
• Analyze and monitor global VAT tax and reporting requirements to help prepare the company for expansion including but not limited:
• Building VAT taxability matrices;
• Marketplace deemed-supplier and place-of-supply rules;
• E-invoicing requirements;
• Digital Service Taxes;
• OSS;
• B2B and B2C Invoicing requirements; and
• Registration requirements.
• Train, mentor and develop team members.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 4+ years of US indirect tax.
• 4+ years of global VAT experience.
• Experience with managing the audit process in the US and international jurisdictions.
• Experience interacting effectively with external service providers and auditors.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (Advanced degree preferred).
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant professional certifications (e.g., CPA, CMA, JD).
• Proficiency in data analysis tools, with preferred experience in Alteryx and AI applications.
• Proficiency with Oracle, Atlassian Confluence/Jira or other project management tool experience.
• A Master's degree in Taxation, Finance, or a related field to deepen technical expertise and strategic insight into global taxation.