KP
Director - Tax
Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Remote · United States, United Kingdom
Experience
Lead / principal · Not stated
Level inferred from job title
Job description
Director, Tax at Kickstarter, leading the global tax function with a focus on indirect tax (VAT, GST, sales tax) strategy for the marketplace, with direct tax also in scope. The role sets strategic direction, builds the tax team and technology, and advises executive leadership on tax implications of new markets and products.
At a glance
- Employment
- Full-time · Employee (employment agreement)
- Work mode
- Remote · United States, United Kingdom
- Pay
- USD 185,000 – 225,000 / year
What you'll do
- Own the company's global indirect tax strategy globally, setting priorities and risk tolerance in partnership with Finance and Legal leadership.
- Build, manage, and develop a tax team, establishing standards, workflows, and career development paths as the function scales.
- Set the roadmap for the Company's tax technology stack (including Avalara and adjacent tools), leading automation and process initiatives that reduce manual operations and support global expansion.
- Design and implement indirect tax processes and controls purpose-built for a marketplace model, drawing on prior experience standing up this kind of process at another marketplace or online platform.
- Serve as the primary relationship owner for the Company's external tax advisors across jurisdictions, directing engagement priorities and ensuring advice and assumed risk are clearly communicated to executive stakeholders.
- Act as the primary resource when assessing tax impact and explaining Kickstarter's tax policy with strategic new and existing creators and high value partners.
- Ultimately own the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of VAT, sales tax, and corporate filings across all applicable jurisdictions, overseeing the team and advisors who execute them.
- Partner directly with Legal, Product, and executive leadership to evaluate and structure the tax implications of new offerings, markets, and business models, including entity structuring and cross-border considerations.
- Own transfer pricing policy and documentation across subsidiaries, in partnership with external advisors.
- Lead the Company's response to tax notices and audits, including managing outside counsel and advisors on higher-stakes or multi-jurisdiction matters.
- Partner with the Insights team to establish reconciliation standards between internal data and filed returns, and resolve discrepancies at a structural level.
- Direct product testing standards for tax calculation accuracy as the Company launches new features or expands into new jurisdictions.
- Own the tax input into the Company's audited financial statements, partnering with Accounting leadership on technical positions, disclosures, and month-end close for all tax-related entries.
- Act as the executive-level point of contact for tax matters in board and audit committee materials, as needed.
- Set the strategy and standards for the Company's tax help center and customer-facing indirect tax content, ensuring accuracy and consistency as the product evolves.
What we're looking for
- Extensive experience in indirect tax leadership, ideally including time at a two-sided marketplace or platform business, with an understanding of how those models complicate tax treatment.
- Hands-on technical proficiency with Avalara and comparable tax engines, not just oversight, but the ability to work inside the tooling to configure, troubleshoot, and improve it.
- Big 4 accounting experience at the Senior Manager level or above, or equivalent experience at a top law firm, with a track record built in fast-paced, high-precision environments.
- Experience working at companies both big and small, and understanding how tax function needs change as a company scales.
- Experience building training and enablement for internal, non-tax-expert audiences in partnership with Finance and Legal, helping teams outside of tax make sound day-to-day decisions.
- Deep technical grounding in how tax code actually works, and pragmatic in approach to tax; able to quickly discern what's real and actionable risk versus theoretical risk.
- Strong instincts for audit preparedness, with experience building the documentation and processes that make audits smoother rather than scrambling when one arrives.
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and determined to find the right path forward; sound judgment where the "right answer" isn't written down anywhere yet.
- A builder: someone who wants to construct the tax function's team, technology, and processes from the ground up, not just maintain what exists.
- Collaborative, with experience partnering closely with Product, Legal, and other departments to build solutions together rather than issuing top-down rulings.
Apply
About Kickstarter PBC
The leading crowdfunding platform for creative projects
Kickstarter is the leading crowdfunding platform for creative projects across film, games, music, art, design, and technology. Since our founding in 2009, our mission to help bring creative projects to life has been powered by the people behind the work. Together, we've helped creators around the world launch creative projects that have generated billions of dollars in pledges.
Mission
To help bring creative projects to life.
Key facts
- 2009
- Crowdfunding
- Has helped creators around the world launch creative projects that have generated billions of dollars in pledges
- Fully virtual team supporting employees in select US states and the United Kingdom
What they value
- Invests in the growth and success of its team
- Treats employees as whole people
- Empowers employees with autonomy and space to participate in decisions that shape their work and the company
- Celebrates diversity and is committed to an inclusive work environment