Senior Manager, Tax (Head of Tax) (San Francisco)

Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this “outer loop,” helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform.

Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency.

With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we’re looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster.

Position Summary

This is Harness's first in-house tax hire. Reporting to the VP Corporate Controller, you will own the global tax function from day one — and you will own it operationally.

This is a hands‑on, execution‑heavy role. You will prepare and review tax provisions, manage VAT and sales tax filings, review local and municipal returns, coordinate external advisors, support M&A diligence, and maintain transfer pricing documentation — while simultaneously building the processes and controls that will carry Harness through its IPO.

We are looking for a tax professional who is genuinely energized by doing the work — someone equally comfortable preparing an ASC 740 provision, reviewing a VAT filing, or digging into a county tax obligation as they are advising the CFO on tax strategy. If you are looking for a role where others execute and you direct, this is not the right fit.

The ideal candidate is a high‑performing tax professional with strong Big 4 roots who is ready to step into full ownership of an in‑house function — or a current in‑house tax manager who wants broader scope, more complexity, and the opportunity to build something from scratch

About the role Tax Provision & Income Tax Compliance

• Prepare and review the consolidated global income tax provision (ASC 740) across all entities
• Own the US federal, state, local, and municipal tax compliance calendar; coordinate with external preparers as needed
• Coordinate international income tax compliance across India, Israel, Argentina, the UK, and the EU; review all externally prepared returns before filing
• Document and assess uncertain tax positions (ASC 740-10 / FIN 48) with supporting workpapers

Indirect Tax — VAT, Sales Tax & County/Municipal Tax

• Review and manage VAT filings across all international jurisdictions in coordination with local advisors
• Own US sales and use tax compliance — filings, nexus tracking, exemption certificates, and automation opportunities
• Maintain a complete indirect tax compliance calendar; proactively identify exposure and optimization opportunities

Transfer Pricing

• Maintain transfer pricing studies, contemporaneous documentation, and intercompany pricing policies across the global entity structure
• Manage external transfer pricing advisors; review deliverables and flag risks to the Controller
• Monitor inter‑company transactions for consistency with documented policies

M&A Tax Diligence & Integration

• Review tax diligence materials for M&A transactions; identify risks and prepare written findings for the Controller and CFO
• Support post‑acquisition integration including compliance catch‑up, entity rationalization, and intercompany alignment across Harness's 12+ completed acquisitions

External Tax Advisor Coordination

• Serve as the primary liaison for all external tax advisors across all jurisdictions — Big 4, regional firms, and local country advisors
• Direct, coordinate, and critically review all externally prepared work product; manage the advisory budget and hold advisors to timeline and quality standards

Tax Planning & IPO Readiness Support

• Identify domestic and international tax planning opportunities including R&D credits, nexus strategy, and treaty positions
• Support IPO tax workstreams: S-1 disclosures, ETR modeling, and audit coordination
• Build SOX‑ready tax controls and processes; monitor legislative changes and provide proactive impact analysis

About you

• 7–10 years of tax experience with a strong Big 4 foundation; in‑house corporate tax experience a plus but not required for the right candidate
• Genuinely hands‑on — you have personally prepared or directly reviewed tax provisions, filed or reviewed sales tax returns, managed VAT compliance, and worked through local tax obligations
• Solid technical grounding in ASC 740 income tax accounting; exposure to FIN 48 and uncertain tax positions
• Working knowledge of US federal, state, and local income tax; sales and use tax compliance; and international tax fundamentals
• Exposure to transfer pricing concepts — you do not need to have authored a full TP study, but you understand intercompany pricing principles and documentation requirements
• Experience reviewing tax due diligence materials or supporting M&A transactions from a tax perspective
• Comfortable managing external advisors and reviewing their work critically, not deferring to it
• A genuine builder mentality — motivated by the absence of existing processes, not deterred by it
• Strong communication skills across all levels — comfortable presenting to the CFO and working alongside payroll coordinators in the same week
• CPA required; MST or advanced tax degree a meaningful plus
• SaaS, technology, or high‑growth startup experience strongly preferred
• Familiarity with NetSuite, Anrok, or similar tools a plus

Work Location

• Hybrid from our office in San Francisco

What you will have at Harness

• Competitive salary
• Comprehensive healthcare benefits
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Flexible work schedule
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Flexible Time Off and Parental Leave
• Monthly, quarterly, and annual social and team building events
• Monthly internet reimbursement

Pay transparency

$161,000 — $200,000 USD

Harness in the news:

• Accelerating Our Mission to Bring AI to Everything After Code
• Goldman Sachs leads investment in software delivery startup Harness at $5.5 billion valuation
• How Harness runs 16 “startups within a startup” at scale | Jyoti Bansal
• Harness Research Shows AI Visibility Crisis Fueling Security Nightmare
• Harness has been named to the Inc. Power Partner list for software delivery success

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

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Please note, we do not ask for sensitive or financial information via chat, text, or social media, and any email communications will come from the domain @harness.io. Additionally, Harness will never ask for any payment, fee to be paid, or purchases to be made by a job applicant. All applicants are encouraged to apply directly to our open jobs via our website. Interviews are generally conducted via Zoom video conference unless the candidate requests other accommodations.

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