Tax Lead, Controversy Remote - Americas
Shopify · Remote
- Back
- Tax Lead, Controversy
- Remote - Americas
- Finance
- About the role
Your role as Tax Lead - Controversy will include managing the full lifecycle of tax audits, examinations, and disputes across corporate income tax. You will be the connective tissue between tax authorities, outside advisors, and Shopify's internal teams — protecting the company's positions while providing leadership with visibility and advice during audits. You’ll leverage AI and automation to streamline audit workflows, synthesize large volumes of financial data/systems, tax documentation and optimize the speed and quality of audit responses.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Manage global income tax audits from initial notice through resolution, including information document requests, drafting responses, and managing timelines and deadlines.
Build audit-ready documentation and defense files for tax positions.
Develop and manage relationships with tax authorities (CRA, IRS, and international revenue agencies) and external advisors, serving as a primary point of contact during examinations.
Advise on settlement strategy, appeals, competent authority / MAP proceedings, and voluntary disclosures where appropriate.
Own the global controversy process that gives leadership real-time visibility into audit status, exposure, and reserve movements.
Partner with transfer pricing, tax planning, compliance and legal teams to achieve best outcome from audits from taxing authorities
WHAT YOU'LL BRING
7+ years of relevant tax experience in a Big 4 firm, law firm, and/or a multinational in-house tax department, with high exposure to tax controversy and audit defense.
Hands-on experience managing audits with the CRA, IRS, or comparable international tax authorities.
Excellent written and verbal communication — ability to make persuasive technical arguments to an auditor and a clear risk summary to leadership.
Strong project management instincts and comfort operating with limited processes in a fast-moving, high-growth environment.
A data-forward mindset — ability to interpret tax calculations and models, and enable the evidence to drive the position.
Ability to independently work with financial systems eg: Netsuite, Oracle, SAP
Professional designation preferred: CPA, CA, JD/LLM (Tax), or equivalent.
BONUS POINTS
Experience in technology, SaaS, payments, or high-growth commerce.
Exposure to international tax matters: MAP / competent authority, transfer pricing, permanent establishment, and cross-border transactions.
Familiarity with tax provision and analytics tooling and a habit of automating the tedious parts.
About Shopify
Opportunity is not evenly distributed. Shopify puts independence within reach for anyone with a dream to start a business. We propel entrepreneurs and enterprises to scale the heights of their potential. Since 2006, we’ve grown to over 8,300 employees and generated over $1 trillion in sales for millions of merchants in 175 countries.
This is life-defining work that directly impacts people’s lives as much as it transforms your own. This is putting the power of the few in the hands of the many, is a future with more voices rather than fewer, and is creating more choices instead of an elite option.
About you
Moving at our pace brings a lot of change, complexity, and ambiguity—and a little bit of chaos. Shopifolk thrive on that and are comfortable being uncomfortable. That means Shopify is not the right place for everyone.
- Before you apply, consider if you can:
- Care deeply about what you do and about making commerce better for everyone
- Excel by seeking professional and personal hypergrowth
- Keep up with an unrelenting pace (the week, not the quarter)
- Be resilient and resourceful in face of ambiguity and thrive on (rather than endure) change
- Bring critical thought and opinion
- Put AI agents and tools to work on the tasks they're built for, and focus on the work only humans can do
- Embrace differences and disagreement to get shit done and move forward
- Work digital-first for your daily work
- We may use AI-enabled tools to screen, select, and assess applications. All AI outputs are reviewed and validated by our recruitment team.
- We hire people, not resumes. If you think you’re right for the role, apply now.
- Work with us in your early career
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