Director of Tax

Kairos Power•Alameda, CA

4d•$209,400 - $261,700•Onsite

About The Position

Kairos Power is seeking a Director of Tax to lead the company’s tax strategy, compliance, reporting, and incentive monetization activities. The Director will serve as the senior tax advisor and partner with Finance, Accounting, Legal, Strategy, Business Development, Engineering, Operations, Procurement, and other teams to integrate tax considerations into business decisions, financial planning, new ventures, geographic expansion, transactions, and capital investment. The role is initially hands-on and will establish the processes, systems, controls, and team needed as Kairos grows from a development-stage company into a scaled industrial enterprise and prepares for public-company standards. The Director will lead the identification and realization of federal and state tax incentives—including clean energy, advanced nuclear, and R&D credits—while managing the company’s broader tax obligations and risks. The position is based onsite at Kairos Power’s Alameda, California headquarters. Some travel may be required, up to 5%.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive tax experience in public accounting and/or in-house tax leadership, including experience leading tax functions or significant tax engagements.
Hands-on experience identifying, securing, and realizing federal and state tax incentive benefits, including clean energy investment or production tax credits and R&D tax credits.
Strong working knowledge of Internal Revenue Code Sections 41 and 174.
Expert knowledge of U.S. federal and state tax regimes, including partnership, state and local, and tax-accounting matters.
Experience overseeing income, partnership, sales and use, property, and other operational tax compliance; tax provisions; financial statement disclosures; forecasting; audits; and tax-risk management.
Experience leading cross-functional tax projects involving technical, operational, financial, and legal teams.
Ability to balance strategic planning and executive-level advising with detailed, hands-on execution.
Ability to evaluate complex tax positions, identify documentation gaps, and use professional judgment to assess and communicate tax risk.
Ability to prioritize competing obligations and projects, manage deadlines, and adapt plans to changing business requirements.
Ability to develop practical solutions to complex tax issues and perform detailed work to implement them.
Ability to communicate complex tax concepts clearly to executives and non-tax stakeholders.
Ability to obtain and reconcile information from technical and business stakeholders and resolve tax issues collaboratively with internal teams, external advisors, and governmental agencies.
Ability to translate business needs into a scalable tax operating model covering staffing, external support, processes, controls, and technology.
Occasionally work weekends, adjust schedules, work non-standard hours, and work extended hours to support launches and critical project timelines.
Must be authorized by the Department of Energy to access Part 810-controlled information at the facility; applicable export-control licensing restrictions may apply.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, nuclear, or advanced-technology companies.
Experience with investment, refundable, and/or transferable tax credit programs.
Experience with partnership and owner reporting, transfer pricing, international tax matters, or tax-efficient transaction structuring.
Prior involvement in mergers and acquisitions, new ventures, geographic expansion, IPO preparation, or public-company environments.
Experience implementing tax technology or materially improving tax processes and reporting systems.
CPA, JD, or Master of Science in Taxation; a CPA license is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute an enterprise tax strategy that supports business objectives, optimizes tax outcomes, and manages tax risk while maintaining compliance.
Advise senior leadership on tax implications of capital investments, entity and ownership structures, financings, new ventures, geographic expansion, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings.
Work with Finance, Strategy, and Business Development to incorporate tax implications, incentive economics, and cash-tax impacts into financial models, budgets, forecasts, and investment decisions.
Monitor legislative, regulatory, and accounting developments and provide recommendations, implementation plans, and risk-management actions.
Identify, pursue, document, and monetize federal and state clean energy, advanced nuclear, R&D, manufacturing, energy, and technology tax incentives and credits.
Partner with engineering, operations, finance, and legal teams to identify qualifying activities, assets, and expenditures; establish defensible credit methodologies; and prepare audit-ready substantiation.
Manage external advisors supporting incentive studies, filings, credit transferability, monetization, and examinations.
Oversee credit utilization, carryforwards, refunds, transfer proceeds, cash-realization timing, and processes for tracking incentive benefits and potential recapture or repayment exposure.
Own U.S. federal, state, and local income tax compliance and reporting, and international filings and planning if required by company activities.
Oversee partnership and owner-reporting matters, including partnership returns, Schedule K-1s, allocations, distributions, owner inquiries, amended or restated returns, and administrative adjustment requests, as applicable.
Manage income tax provision calculations and financial statement disclosures with Accounting and external advisors.
Forecast tax liabilities and cash-tax requirements and incorporate appropriate assumptions into budgets, forecasts, and long-range plans.
Support tax planning for entity structure, state and local taxes, intercompany arrangements, transfer pricing documentation, and future growth.
Manage income-tax audits and inquiries and support material tax positions with analysis, documentation, and risk-management strategies.
Oversee sales and use tax compliance across jurisdictions; establish processes for nexus, exemptions, registrations, and filing requirements.
Coordinate with procurement, construction, operations, and finance on tax treatment of capital expenditures, construction activities, and operating purchases; manage indirect-tax audits and controversy matters.
Manage real and personal property tax filings, valuations, payments, and appeals; coordinate asset classification and reporting with facilities, construction, finance, and operations.
Oversee other operational tax filings, including gross receipts, franchise, excise, and similar taxes.
Establish scalable tax policies, procedures, documentation standards, and internal controls, including support for SOX-compliance frameworks.
Implement and enhance tax technology and data solutions to automate compliance, improve accuracy, and support growth.
Define performance measures for tax compliance, incentive realization, process quality, and team effectiveness.
Coordinate with auditors and advisors to maintain audit-ready tax processes and support quarterly and annual financial reporting and tax disclosures.
Support IPO readiness and preparation for public-company tax reporting and compliance requirements.
Lead the tax function hands-on while designing its long-term operating model; build, develop, and mentor an internal tax team as needs warrant.
Manage relationships with external tax advisors, service providers, auditors, and governmental agencies.
Lead special tax projects and continuous process-improvement initiatives across the organization.