Assistant Director, Washington Individual Taxes Division (EMS4)

State of Washington•Thurston County – Tumwater, WA

24d•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Revenue (DOR) is seeking an Assistant Director to lead the newly established Washington Individual Taxes Division. This role is responsible for establishing and directing the operations of the new statewide individual income tax (Title 82A RCW) and other individual-based taxes administered by DOR. The position is a member of the agency’s Leadership Team and reports directly to a member of the executive team. DOR is described as a dynamic learning organization that offers a remarkable work-life balance, with strong leadership and talented co-workers. The agency values diverse perspectives and employs people of all backgrounds. Benefits include defined benefit retirement plans, health, dental, and vision coverage, deferred compensation plans, and potential eligibility for student loan forgiveness.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex operational programs and establish new organizational structures, shown through progressive experience directing multi-disciplinary teams, developing governance frameworks, defining workflows, and implementing new or large-scale public programs.
Proven ability to develop and implement tax administration policies and procedures, including experience interpreting statute, writing administrative policies, advising leadership on sensitive tax issues, and creating program guidelines that ensure legal compliance, consistency, and statewide standardization.
Demonstrated skill in strategic planning and organizational leadership, including setting division-wide goals, establishing performance measures, allocating resources, and driving organizational change to achieve enterprise-level outcomes.
Progressive experience managing senior-level staff and leading managers, including experience as an appointing authority or equivalent, hiring managers and professional staff, conducting performance management, implementing workforce development strategies, and promoting an inclusive, equitable, and high-performing environment.
Proven ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with high-level internal and external stakeholders, including demonstrated experience collaborating with executive leadership, federal agencies (e.g., IRS), legal and professional associations, advisory groups, and other state entities to support program design, implementation, and ongoing operations.
Demonstrated ability to oversee complex fiscal operations and manage significant budgets, including experience making financial decisions, developing or overseeing operating budgets, and ensuring appropriate internal controls related to public funds, program revenues, and vendor contracts.
Knowledge of tax administration systems, electronic filing requirements, and data governance standards, including demonstrated ability to direct the development of business requirements for technology systems, secure data exchanges, identity verification processes, exception handling, and taxpayer service platforms.
Demonstrated ability to lead large-scale projects with statewide or enterprise impact, shown through experience coordinating policy, operational, and technology components; delivering project outcomes under legislative or executive timelines; and implementing complex program frameworks.
Proven ability to communicate complex, sensitive, or technical information to diverse audiences, including experience briefing executive leadership, legislative staff, and stakeholders; preparing public-facing reports; and representing an agency in public discussions, advisory groups, or professional forums.
Demonstrated commitment to fairness, equity, and transparent public service, including experience designing processes that promote equitable taxpayer experiences, ensuring consistent application of rules, upholding confidentiality requirements, and modeling high standards of ethical conduct.
Ability to take action to learn and grow.
Ability to take action to meet the needs of others.
Uses an equitable and inclusive approach.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree in public administration, law, accounting, or related field.
CPA/JD.
Experience with pass-through entities and large-scale audit programs.
Mastery of allocation/apportionment principles and market/duty-day sourcing.
Strong rulemaking and stakeholder consultation skills.

Responsibilities

Serve as the state’s leader responsible for establishing, directing, and sustaining Washington’s new statewide individual income tax and other individual tax programs.
Create and implement the overarching strategy, operating model, governance structure, and performance measures for the Washington Individual Taxes Division.
Develop and oversee tax administration policies, education and outreach initiatives, and core operational processes, including tax return filing, tax account reconciling, tax account examination, taxpayer assistance and support, ensuring compliance and auditing elements, and risk management, to support voluntary compliance and statewide consistency.
Produce major statewide outcomes by ensuring accurate and equitable tax administration, safeguarding revenue integrity, fostering public trust, and driving innovations that advance the Department’s strategic goals.
Provide policy leadership and be consulted on legislative proposals that help influence statewide tax program decisions as a member of the agency’s Leadership Team.
Represent the Department before advisory groups and external stakeholders, coordinate with cross-program partners, and ensure the division’s work supports employee development, engagement, and well-being.
Manage a division of employees and an annual operating budget, with delegated authority for financial and personnel decisions.
Stand up the new Washington Individual Taxes Division, which will administer the new Individual Income Tax in addition to several existing tax programs.