Shield AI is seeking an International Tax Manager to join its growing Tax team. This role is ideal for a tax professional who wants to go beyond recurring compliance execution and take meaningful ownership of international direct tax, planning support, special projects, and cross-functional business partnership.
In a lean, fast-moving environment, you will help the company navigate the tax implications of global operations, new legal-entity structures, product and market expansion, and other strategic initiatives. You will also provide hands-on support for U.S. indirect tax matters, including sales and use tax compliance, controversy, process improvement, and automation opportunities.
You will work closely with Tax, Accounting, FP&A, Legal, operational teams, and external advisors to translate complex tax issues into practical business guidance. This is a high-impact opportunity to help strengthen and scale a global tax function as the company grows.
What you'll do:
Lead and support international direct-tax workstreams related to global operations, including U.S. international tax compliance, foreign tax reporting, and coordination with local-country advisors.
Evaluate tax considerations associated with international expansion, new legal-entity structures, intercompany arrangements, evolving products, and other strategic business initiatives.
Support tax planning, modeling, research, and implementation activities, including identifying risks, documenting technical positions, and assisting with execution of approved strategies.
Partner with Accounting, FP&A, Legal, Treasury, operational teams, and external tax advisors to deliver timely, practical, and business-oriented tax guidance.
Support the tax provision process and related financial-reporting requirements, including documentation and analysis under ASC 740, as applicable.
Monitor changes in U.S. and international tax laws, regulations, and administrative guidance; assess potential impacts and communicate actionable recommendations to relevant stakeholders.
Manage priority tax projects while balancing recurring operational responsibilities, deadlines, and evolving business needs.
Help design, document, and improve tax processes, controls, data flows, and reporting capabilities as the company scales globally.
Serve as a key internal resource for U.S. indirect tax matters, including sales and use tax, property tax, and other state and local indirect-tax obligations, as needed.
Oversee or coordinate the preparation, review, and timely filing of applicable U.S. indirect-tax returns, working with internal stakeholders and external service providers.
Support indirect-tax registrations, nexus assessments, exemption-certificate processes, taxability analyses, and related compliance requirements.
Identify opportunities to improve indirect-tax compliance through automation, process standardization, data quality improvements, and stronger documentation.
Assist with responses to state and local tax notices, audits, inquiries, and other tax controversy matters; coordinate with advisors and internal stakeholders to support favorable and timely resolution.
Build strong cross-functional relationships and help the Tax team respond quickly, thoughtfully, and accurately to complex and high-priority matters.
What you'll bring (Qualifications):
5-8+ years of relevant corporate tax experience, including meaningful experience in international direct tax.
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Tax, or a related field; CPA is preferred.
Strong knowledge of U.S. international tax concepts and compliance requirements
Experience working with multinational organizations, international legal entities, foreign affiliates, or cross-border business arrangements.
Working knowledge of U.S. state and local indirect tax, including sales and use tax; experience with property tax, excise tax, or other indirect-tax areas is a plus.
Experience supporting tax provision, financial-reporting, and ASC 740 matters is preferred.
Demonstrated ability to manage tax research, planning support, special projects, process improvements, or strategic initiatives in addition to recurring tax compliance.
Experience partnering effectively with external tax advisors and managing deliverables, timelines, and technical workstreams.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex tax matters clearly and pragmatically to non-tax stakeholders.
A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset and comfort operating in a lean, evolving, high-growth environment.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Taxation, Business, or a related field
- Five or more years of indirect tax experience in public accounting, industry, or a combination of both
- Strong technical knowledge of U.S. multistate sales and use tax, including compliance, taxability research, exemptions, audits, and controversy
- Experience with business personal property tax compliance and assessments
- Ability to research complex tax issues and develop well-supported, practical conclusions
- Experience managing external advisors and outsourced compliance providers
- Strong project-management skills and ability to independently manage multiple priorities and deadlines
- Strong analytical, written, and verbal communication skills
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-growth, and evolving environment
- CPA, CMI, JD, MST, or other relevant professional certification
- Experience with international VAT/GST matters
- Experience implementing or managing indirect tax technology such as Vertex, Avalara, or ONESOURCE
- Experience with tax automation, data analytics, system implementations, or process transformation
- Experience in aerospace, defense technology, manufacturing, software, or another business involving both products and services
- Experience supporting acquisitions, international expansion, and public-company readiness
- Combination of public accounting and in-house corporate tax experience
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials highlight comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with mental-health support and an EAP. Third-party benefits summaries also portray health coverage as a strong component of the package.
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Retirement Support — Offerings include a 401(k) with employer matching, cited on the careers page and independent benefits directories. Multiple sources indicate a match exists, though exact formulas have varied over time and warrant confirmation.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Company communications describe equity for all full-time hires and stock benefits as part of total rewards. Independent listings also note company equity/RSUs as a standard element.
Shield AI Insights
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
