Director of Tax

Kairos Power•Albuquerque, NM

3d•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 role focuses on maximizing the value of federal and state tax incentives—including R&D credits and clean electricity and advanced nuclear investment and production tax credits—while managing broader tax obligations. The Director will serve as the company’s 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 will initially be highly 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. This is a strategic, value-creation role as well as a compliance leadership position, converting innovation and investment into cash benefits and integrating tax considerations into major decisions. The position is located onsite at Kairos Power’s Alameda, California headquarters. Some travel may be required, up to 5%. The stated salary range is $209,400 to $261,700 for employees working onsite at the Alameda headquarters.

Requirements

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.
Deep 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, as well as tax provisions, financial statement disclosures, forecasting, audits, and tax-risk management.
Experience leading cross-functional tax projects with technical, operational, financial, and legal teams.
Ability to combine strategic planning and executive-level advising with detailed, hands-on execution.
Expert knowledge of U.S. federal and state tax regimes, including partnership, state and local, and tax-accounting matters.
Ability to evaluate complex tax positions, identify documentation gaps, and use professional judgment to assess and communicate tax risk.
Ability to prioritize competing tax obligations and projects, manage deadlines, and adjust plans as business requirements change.
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.
CPA license is strongly preferred.

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.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Juris Doctor (JD), or Master of Science in Taxation (MST).

Responsibilities

Develop and execute an enterprise tax strategy that supports business objectives, optimizes tax outcomes, and manages tax risk while ensuring compliance.
Advise senior leadership on tax implications of capital investments, entity and ownership structures, financings, new ventures, geographic expansion, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings.
Partner with Finance, Strategy, and Business Development to integrate tax implications, incentive economics, and cash-tax impacts into financial models, budgets, forecasts, and investment decisions.
Monitor legislative, regulatory, and accounting developments and translate changes into recommendations, implementation plans, and risk-management actions.
Identify, pursue, document, and monetize federal and state tax incentives, including clean energy and advanced nuclear incentives, R&D credits, and manufacturing, energy, and technology-related credits.
Work with engineering, operations, finance, and legal teams to identify qualifying activities, assets, and expenditures; establish defensible credit methodologies; prepare workpapers and audit-ready documentation; and manage external incentive advisors.
Oversee credit utilization, carryforwards, refunds, transfer proceeds, cash-realization timing, incentive-condition monitoring, and potential recapture or repayment exposure.
Own U.S. federal, state, and local income tax compliance and reporting, as well as international filings and planning if required by company activities.
Oversee partnership and owner reporting for entities taxed as partnerships, including returns, Schedule K-1s, allocations, distributions, and owner inquiries, as applicable.
Manage amended or restated returns, administrative adjustment requests, and related owner reporting when required.
Manage income tax provision calculations and financial statement disclosures in coordination with Accounting and external advisors.
Forecast tax liabilities and cash-tax requirements and ensure assumptions are reflected in budgets, forecasts, and long-range plans.
Support tax planning involving 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 appropriate analysis, documentation, and risk-management strategies.
Oversee sales and use tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions and establish processes for nexus, exemptions, registrations, and filing requirements.
Partner with procurement, construction, operations, and finance teams 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, coordinating asset classification and reporting with relevant teams.
Oversee other operational tax filings as required, including gross receipts, franchise, and excise taxes.
Establish scalable tax policies, procedures, documentation standards, and internal controls; support tax-related controls in preparation for SOX compliance frameworks.
Implement and enhance tax technology and data solutions to automate compliance, improve accuracy, and support growth.
Define performance measures for compliance, incentive realization, process quality, and team effectiveness; coordinate with auditors and advisors on audit-ready processes and quarterly and annual reporting.
Support IPO readiness and 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 external tax advisors, service providers, auditors, and governmental agency relationships; lead special tax projects and process-improvement initiatives.