Senior Tax Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Pay: $180,000.00 - $225,000.00 per year

Job description:

Senior Tax Manager (8+ Yrs Exp, Public Accounting) | Top 400 CPA Firm

Chawla & Chawla PC | Gaithersburg, MD | Full-Time | In-Office

$180,000 - $225,000 base plus an annual performance bonus up to 20%.

About Us

Chawla & Chawla PC is a Top 400 CPA firm and a 35+ year, family run public accounting firm based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with a growing international support presence in India. With 80+ professionals, we serve clients across government contracting, medical services, real estate, nonprofits, and professional services.

We are in a phase of intentional growth and modernization, investing in better systems, automation, and AI-assisted workflows while preserving the mentorship, collaboration, and accountability that define a strong family firm.

At C&C, Senior Managers anchor the practice. You will own client relationships, run the review process, develop our Managers and Seniors, and help shape how a modern tax practice operates.

Why This Role Exists

We are scaling our tax practice, and the constraint is reviewing capacity.

This role is ideal for someone who:

• Has the technical depth to be the final technical reviewer on complex returns.
• Wants to own client relationships: the planning, conversations, the scope discussions, and the calls nobody enjoys making.
• Leads and develops Managers and staff without waiting to be asked.
• Cares about engagement, scope, and efficiency.
• Is energized by rebuilding workflows with automation and AI.
• Sees this as a step toward Tax Director and, over time, Tax Partner.

We are five days in office. You sit down the hall from the partners who sign the returns, your seniors learn by watching you work rather than by reading your review notes, and decisions get made in the room instead of in a thread. If you want a remote seat where expectations are low and change is slow, this will not be the right fit.

We are also rebuilding how tax work moves through this firm: AI-assisted review, automation of the compliance steps that should not require a person, and better technology across the practice. This is not performative. The Senior Manager in this seat gets a vote on what changes and gets measured on whether it worked.

What You Will Do

• Own a portfolio of clients as the primary day-to-day relationship manager.
• Serve as technical reviewer and final sign-off on federal and state individual and business returns across multiple entity types: 1040, 1120, 1120-S, 1065, 1041, and 990 for our nonprofit clients.
• Supervise, review, and develop a team of Managers, Seniors, and staff, including written feedback, workpaper standards, and telling someone directly when the work is not there yet.
• Lead IRS and state controversy matters, including notices, audits, and complex client inquiries from first letter to resolution.
• Identify tax planning opportunities and deliver proactive advisory work: entity structuring, compensation planning, multi-state nexus, and international considerations where relevant.
• Research and form defensible positions on complex tax issues, including the impact of new and proposed legislation, and write memos that support the position when it needs support.
• Partner with Directors and Partners on compilation and review engagements and cross-service-line work.
• Drive process improvements, automation, and AI-assisted initiatives within your engagements and across the practice.
• Support business development by deepening existing client relationships, scoping new work, and participating in proposals.
• Stay current on tax law, accounting standards, and best practices, and translate that into practical guidance for clients and staff.

What We Are Looking For

This is a Senior Manager role. We need someone who has already led Managers and staff, not someone ready to learn how to lead.

Required:

• 8+ years of tax experience earned in public accounting.
• Bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field.
• At least three years in a review or supervisory capacity, meaning you have signed off on work you did not prepare.
• Hands-on experience across individual and business tax, including pass-throughs and multi-state. Name which entity types you have reviewed rather than prepared when you apply.
• Strong foundation in U.S. tax compliance and GAAP, with the ability to form and defend a technical position under pressure.
• Proven ability to develop staff: giving feedback, delegating effectively, and raising the bar around you.
• Ability to manage multiple engagements and deadlines simultaneously.
• Clear, direct communication with clients, staff, and partners.
• US work authorization is required. H-1B sponsorship is considered for the right long-term fit.

Strongly Preferred:

• CPA license, or active pursuit of the CPA with exams underway.
• Experience in one or more of our focus industries: government contracting, medical and professional services, real estate, or nonprofits.
• Experience with international tax matters inbound and outbound, Forms 5471, 5472, 8865, 8938, and FBAR.
• Estate and gift work, Forms 706 and 709, and fiduciary planning for family groups.
• Multi-state compliance for clients operating across several jurisdictions, including nexus and apportionment analysis.
• Demonstrated interest in automation, AI, and accounting technology, with a track record of acting on it. Tell us what you built or adopted, what it saved, and where it fell short. This carries real weight with us.
• Desire to grow into Tax Director and, over time, Tax Partner.

If you are uncomfortable owning outcomes, giving hard feedback, or rethinking how work gets done, this role will not be a fit.

Hours and Busy Season

Outside of peak, this is a 40-hour job. During tax season, expect 50 to 60 hours per week, including weekend work in the stretch before the April and October deadlines. Meals are provided during extended hours, and we close each season properly rather than pretending it did not happen.

Two peak windows: February 1 through April 15 and August 1 through October 15.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary: $180,000 – $225,000, based on experience.
• Annual performance bonus up to 20% of base.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees, with an HSA option.
• 100% company-paid short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance.
• 401(k) with employer match and profit sharing.
• 15 days PTO, increasing to 20 days after three years, plus eight paid firm holidays.
• Meals provided during tax season, and a real celebration when each season closes.
• Professional development and continuing education support.
• CPA exam fee reimbursement.
• Relocation assistance.
• $2,000 employee referral bonus.

We value curiosity, accountability, and effort. Managers at C&C are trusted to run their engagements, speak up with ideas, and build the practice around them. We are serious about quality and are flexible in how we get there. The best ideas do not come from titles. They come from people who care.

Location and Work Style

This is a full-time, in-office role in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Monday through Friday. We are an in-office firm, and we would rather say that plainly than surprise you after you start. There is no standing work-from-home schedule and this is not a hybrid role.

That said, we are not rigid about it. Things come up in people’s lives, and when they do we work it out case by case with your manager instead of making you burn a PTO day.

Candidates should be able to commute to the Gaithersburg office reliably.

How to Stand Out

Strong candidates typically:

• Have carried their own book of business or been on the path to one.
• Can articulate why a tax position was taken, and how they would defend it.
• Have visibly developed the people under them.
• Have pushed a prior firm to adopt better tools or workflows.
• Want to build something.

Chawla & Chawla P.C. is an equal opportunity employer.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Profit sharing
• AD&D insurance
• Bereavement leave
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• Public accounting: 8 years (Required)
• Tax compliance: 8 years (Required)

License/Certification:

• CPA (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Gaithersburg, MD 20877 (Required)

Work Location: In person