Remote Tax Director - CPA (DIM1050285) (Chicago)

Company Description

Our client is a firm in the middle of a deliberate transition—from high-volume tax compliance to premium, advisory-led practice and beyond. Clients are serious business owners, high-net-worth individuals, and multi-entity operators who expect more than a return. The firm is building the team and the systems to deliver exactly that.

Our client is a firm in the middle of a deliberate transition—from high-volume tax compliance to premium, advisory-led practice and beyond. Clients are serious business owners, high-net-worth individuals, and multi-entity operators who expect more than a return. The firm is building the team and the systems to deliver exactly that.

The firm serves:

• Strategic business groups and multi-entity clients
• Growth-stage entrepreneurs and owner-operators
• High-income individuals and families

The firm is hiring an experienced, client-focused, and passionate Tax Director , a licensed CPA to join the team and bring out the artistry in tax strategy and compliance. As the Tax Director you run both the compliance and advisory elements of the tax department. CPA Required.

Job Description

As Tax Director , your mission is to lead the firm's tax department with both hands - serving as the senior technical authority, the primary driver of Tax Advisory Services (TAS) growth, and the leader who develops the people and systems that make it all run. You will own the firm's most important business unit, sit on the firm's leadership team, and be responsible for delivering an exceptional client experience at every tier.

What Success Looks Like (Key Outcomes)

• Operational Excellence: The tax department runs with consistency, accountability, and quality - returns are accurate, deadlines are met, strategies are implemented, and the team doesn't need to be managed to the clock
• Team Health: Your advisors and preparers are developed, supported, and performing well. Turnover is low. Standards are high
• TAS Growth: The advisory practice expands and deepens across the client base. TAS clients receive proactive, high-value guidance, and they feel it
• Client Relationships: High-value clients are retained, well served, and growing with the firm. The senior-most clients trust you personally

Requirements

Core Competencies (A-Player Qualities)

• Technical Mastery: Deep expertise in tax planning, compliance, and complex return review - business and individual
• Leadership & Management: Skilled at coaching, motivating, and holding teammates accountable
• Advisory Mindset: You think proactively and creatively, communicate tax strategy clearly, and make clients feel like they're in good hands
• Problem Solver: You diagnose difficult tax and financial situations quickly and propose smart, defensible solutions
• Ownership & Accountability: You follow through. Full stop
• Strategic Thinker: You can zoom out from the work in front of you and contribute to where the firm is going

Minimum Qualifications

• CPA required; MS in Taxation strongly preferred
• 10+ years of public accounting experience with meaningful time in a leadership or review capacity
• Mastery of tax strategy development. Ability to quickly diagnose a client's situation and sketch out the tactics to mitigate their tax exposure
• Deep fluency in individual and business taxation - 1040s, 1120-S, 1065, multi-state, multi-entity structures
• Proven ability to build and maintain client relationships at the advisory level
• Experience managing or developing tax staff
• Comfortable in a growing firm - you bring structure, not just headcount

Benefits

Our client offers you competitive pay and benefits:

• Performance bonuses
• 401k + employer match of 100% of contribution up to 4% of salary
• Health insurance + optional dental and vision
• Additional workplace perks