Excise Tax Examiner (ETE3)

State of Washington • Thurston County – Olympia, WA

13h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Licensing’s Prorate and Fuel Tax Services team is recruiting an Excise Tax Examiner with expertise in tax review, customer service, and education. The team administers Washington’s fuel tax collection programs and the International Registration Plan (IRP) and International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), collecting revenue for the state’s transportation programs.

Working under general direction, the Excise Tax Examiner provides technical leadership, builds staff knowledge and skills, and helps resolve complex fuel tax reporting and refund issues. The role supports consistent decision-making, accurate and timely work, daily operations, and the protection of transportation revenue. It involves sharing expertise, improving processes, and supporting staff as laws, industry standards, and systems change. The position requires sound judgment, analytical skills, and the ability to explain technical information clearly in a collaborative environment.

The position requires a minimum in-office presence every Wednesday and Thursday at the Olympia, Washington office, with possible additional in-office days to meet training requirements. A pre-employment screening, including criminal record history, will be conducted.

Requirements

• Four years of experience with financial, accounting, audit, compliance, or tax administration, including at least 12 semester or 18 quarter hours of accounting education; or up to four years of qualifying education in business administration, public administration, law, public health, health administration, or a related field substituted year for year for experience, with the required accounting education.
• Alternatively, two years of experience as an Excise Tax Examiner 2, or one year as an Excise Tax Examiner 2 and one year of accounting or auditing experience.
• One year of intermediate to advanced experience using Microsoft Office products, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and SharePoint.
• One year of experience interpreting laws, rules, regulations, and policies and assessing their impacts.
• Ability to understand and follow agency values of respect, trust, diversity, equity, and inclusion through behaviors and decisions.
• Ability to promote and support a respectful, equitable, and inclusive workplace for employees and inclusive service delivery to customers.
• Ability to take action to learn and grow and to meet the needs of others.
• Must possess work authorization that does not require employer visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

• One year of experience in Prorate and Fuel Tax Services or another fuel- or tax-related program.
• One year of experience navigating vendor systems for research inquiries, registration, and processing duties.
• One year of experience facilitating a group or developing and presenting training.
• One year of experience acting in a lead capacity in a work environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the team’s technical lead, guiding staff through complex taxpayer accounts, returns, registrations, and financial transactions.
• Help develop and deliver staff training on taxation, industry standards, processes, and systems; provide individual or group training for customers.
• Research and resolve unusual tax issues, reconcile complex accounts, and help staff analyze customer information and apply laws, rules, and policies.
• Serve as a system specialist, troubleshoot issues, enter and test system requests, and help customers and developers resolve electronic and XML filing problems.
• Participate in system and process redesign, lead or support special projects, and prepare reports on workloads, benchmarking, and system information.
• Review and approve refunds and make decisions on penalty and interest waiver requests within delegated authority.
• Promote a respectful, equitable, and inclusive workplace and delivery of services, and take action to learn, grow, and meet others’ needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed