Global Tax Lead

Lightning AI•San Francisco, CA

8h•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Global Tax Lead to own and scale Lightning’s corporate tax compliance function as the company grows. You will be responsible for managing income tax compliance, tax accounting support, forecasting, risk mitigation, and tax process improvements across the business. This role will partner closely with Finance, Accounting, FP&A, Legal, and external advisors to ensure accurate filings, strong controls, and scalable tax operations. This is a high-impact role for someone who combines deep technical tax expertise with an operational mindset. You will help build the systems, processes, documentation, and controls needed to support a fast-growing AI infrastructure company operating in a complex and evolving tax environment. The tax scope is broad, leadership visibility is high, and the work directly supports financial accuracy, compliance, risk management, and long-term business scalability.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA or MST strongly preferred
8+ years of progressive corporate tax experience, with a mix of Big 4 public accounting and in-house experience
Strong technical command of U.S. federal and state corporate income tax compliance, including consolidated return rules
Working knowledge of California combined reporting and multi-state apportionment, including separate-filing state exposure and addback rules
Demonstrated experience with ASC 740, tax provisions, deferred tax accounting, and effective tax rate analysis
Hands-on experience with M&A tax — purchase accounting, opening balance sheet, carryforward analysis, and post-merger integration
Experience standing up or significantly rebuilding a tax function; start-up, post-merger integration, or carve-out experience strongly preferred
Comfort with the technical accounting demands of an infrastructure or cloud business — capex-heavy fixed assets, complex revenue arrangements, and leases under ASC 842
Track record of partnering effectively with Accounting, Finance, Legal, FP&A, auditors, and external advisors
Experience with tax provision and compliance tools such as OneSource, Corptax, or similar
Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to brief executives and translate tax for non-tax audiences
Bias toward building rather than maintaining; comfort operating in a fast-paced, foundation-building environment with evolving priorities

Nice To Haves

Prior experience at a high-growth AI, cloud, infrastructure, or other capex-intensive technology company
Exposure to GPU financing, vendor financing, or other complex capital structures
Experience supporting a first-year audit or significant compliance remediation
Multi-state intercompany pricing experience across a multi-entity U.S. group
Property tax experience in a capex-heavy environment, including data center, GPU, or equipment-intensive footprints

Responsibilities

Build and own the tax function
Stand up Lightning AI's corporate tax function across the multi-entity consolidated group
Establish tax policies, documentation, controls, and procedures from the ground up to support internal governance and audit readiness
Develop the multi-year tax operating roadmap, including process design, automation priorities, and the consultant-to-FTE transition plan
Lead U.S. federal and state corporate income tax compliance, including the first consolidated federal return
Manage California mandatory combined reporting and multi-state nexus exposure across the group, including separate-filing and addback jurisdictions
Oversee indirect tax compliance — sales and use, gross receipts — given the company's multi-jurisdictional data center and customer footprint
Oversee property tax compliance across the company's data center and equipment footprint, including assessment review, return preparation, appeals, and exemption or abatement opportunities tied to GPU and infrastructure investments
Own quarterly and annual income tax provision work under U.S. GAAP and ASC 740, including effective tax rate analyses, deferred tax positions, and uncertain tax position documentation
Partner with the external auditors and the Corporate Accounting team to deliver tax workstreams supporting the first-year audit
Build tax forecasts and reporting cadences that support Finance, FP&A, and leadership decision-making
Support technical accounting workstreams for recent acquisitions, including ASC 805 purchase accounting tax implications, opening balance sheet tax positions, and carryforward analysis
Lead the tax workstream on future M&A, financing, and restructuring transactions
Partner with Strategic Finance and Corporate Development on Deal Desk diligence and structuring
Identify, assess, and mitigate corporate tax risks, and monitor evolving tax laws and reporting requirements, including the changing landscape for AI infrastructure businesses
Manage relationships with external tax advisors, auditors, and other third-party partners
Communicate complex tax matters clearly to non-tax stakeholders across Finance, Accounting, FP&A, Legal, and Engineering

Benefits

Competitive base salaries and equity with a 25% one year cliff and monthly vesting thereafter
Equitable benefits across the globe for international employees
Medical, dental and vision
Life and AD&D insurance
Flexible paid time off including winter closure
Paid family leave benefits
$500 one time home office stipend
$1,000 annual learning & development stipend
100% Citibike membership (NYC only)
$45/month gym membership
Additional various medical and mental health services