Investment Tax Accountant - Special Projects & Strategic Initiatives

Investment Tax Accountant - Special Projects & Strategic Initiatives

This is an individual contributor role.

The Opportunity

As an Investment Tax Accountant in the Investment Tax group, you will work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, primarily supporting securities tax operations, including system and process efficiency and enhancements, and you will support projects and strategic initiatives for other investment types, such as partnerships, real estate, and derivatives. The ideal candidate will have a convergent skillset of technical tax, accounting, and system proficiency, experience navigating large data sets, excellent communication skills, and the ability to partner effectively with tax colleagues, finance organization teams, and across the broader investment ecosystem. This position, in collaboration with cross-functional teams, will be responsible for analyzing securities transactions and processes to ensure accurate tax outcomes are achieved and a reliable control environment is maintained. Further, this position will participate in investment initiatives or project tracks to develop, enhance, and automate tax processes, and onboard significant transactions, new mandates, and tax legislation involving investments.

The Team

As an Investment Tax Accountant, you will be a member of the Investment Tax team within the Corporate Tax Department, part of MassMutual's Controllers Organization. The Corporate Tax Department is comprised of high-performing, collaborative, and agile tax professionals who are motivated by challenging work that delivers sustained value and a culture of accountability. Team members are focused on continuous improvement and transforming the department through innovative solutions that align with the finance organization's strategic goals and initiatives.

The Impact

The Investment Tax Accountant will help develop and execute Investment Tax goals and initiatives. Your responsibilities will include:

• Monitor and track tax data quality and performance of securities tax results tracked in the Eagle processing system and compare to general ledger results.
• Participate in daily, cross-functional Eagle operational governance meetings and other discussions that analyze and track system issues and changes in securities across the investment data ecosystem.
• Participate in testing of Eagle software upgrades to ensure changes are applied accurately and existing software continues to operate as intended.
• Ensure accurate tax basis is maintained for investments tracked in Eagle and accurate rules are applied as intended to exception situations.
• Understand and analyze differences between the tax basis and Statutory or GAAP basis of accounting for various investment types.
• Assist in reviewing new investment transactions for securities, partnerships, LLCs, and derivatives to determine correct tax treatment and how to efficiently operationalize.
• Assist in executing various tax internal controls for investments.
• Reconcile deferred tax balances for securities investments, collaborating with the securities tax operations team.
• Assist in preparing wash sales analysis.
• Assist in maintaining tax planning strategies involving investments.
• Assist in analyzing exchange transactions to determine if taxable or non-taxable.
• Assist in analyzing tax cash flows on structured securities to achieve correct processing of tax amortization in Eagle.
• Stay current with tax law changes in general and impacting investments.
• Proactively identify and implement process improvements, increase automation, and enhance digital analytics using existing and emerging technology solutions.

The Minimum Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Accounting/Finance or related field
• 6+ years of tax experience, preferably in public accounting or financial service environments.

The Ideal Qualifications

• Master's degree in Taxation and/or CPA a plus.
• 8+ years of tax experience, preferably in public accounting or large financial services environments.
• Experienced tax and accounting technical knowledge, including tax code and regulations and GAAP accounting under ASC 740. Experience with Statutory Accounting Principles a plus.
• Education and/or experience utilizing business intelligence applications, such as Alteryx, highly desirable.
• Comfortable working with investment systems platforms, a data-intensive environment, and data interfaces between ERP and tax systems.
• Understanding of tax treatments of various securities transaction types.
• Experience with tax transactions, accounting and reporting for investment types other than securities, including partnerships, LLCs, real estate debt and equity, derivatives.
• Proficient Excel skills and workpaper organizational ability, integrating systems and analytical results.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• General knowledge of corporate taxation to understand how investments fit into larger tax compliance, reporting and audit frameworks.
• Some experience with U.S. tax aspects of non-U.S. transactions, issues, and reporting (e.g. PFICs, CFCs, foreign partnerships, foreign disregarded entities, withholding taxes).
• Experience with large, multidisciplinary projects that impact tax (e.g., ERP implementations, tax co-sourcing engagements, finance transformations).
• Conversant in Financial and Accounting Systems, such as SAP.
• Ability to identify issues and recommend effective solutions.
• Extremely organized, detail-oriented, and demonstrated ability to effectively prioritize and multi-task in a continually evolving environment.
• Ability to utilize project management tools and best practices to organize and prioritize tasks.
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally and influence outcomes.
• Exhibits intellectual curiosity to seek and broaden knowledge and understanding beyond the core responsibilities of the position.

What to Expect as Part of MassMutual and the Team

• Regular meetings with the Corporate Tax Department
• Focused one-on-one meetings with your manager
• Networking opportunities including access to Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, African American, women, LGBTQIA+, veteran and disability-focused Business Resource Groups
• Access to learning content on Degreed and other informational platforms
• Your ethics and integrity will be valued by a company with a strong and stable ethical business with industry leading pay and benefits

MassMutual is an equal employment opportunity employer. We welcome all persons to apply.