Head of Tax

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.

If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us.

*Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco, San Jose, or Bellevue location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.

What You’ll Do

Enterprise tax leadership and executive partnership

- Own Lambda's global tax strategy, risk profile, operating model and multi year roadmap, aligned with the company's growth, capital structure and infrastructure deployment plans.

- Advise the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and other executives on material tax exposures, alternatives and recommended actions in concise business terms.

- Establish practical governance for when Tax must be involved in contracts, financings, entity formation, site selection, acquisitions, compensation decisions and other significant events.

- Maintain a current view of the company's highest tax risks, open decisions, cash tax opportunities, deadlines and resource constraints.

Tax reporting compliance and controversy

- Own ASC 740, including quarterly and annual provision processes, forecasts, effective tax rate analysis, deferred tax accounting, valuation allowances, uncertain tax positions, disclosures and management review controls.

- Direct outsourced federal, state and international income tax compliance and ensure that filing positions, provision conclusions and legal entity data remain consistent.

- Lead tax audits and controversy, including the current IRS examination, information document requests, position development, settlement authority and coordination with Legal and advisers.

- Oversee ownership change analyses under IRC Section 382 for significant equity financings and ensure that any resulting limitations are incorporated into tax attributes, compliance and financial reporting.

Transactions infrastructure and growth

- Lead tax analysis for project financings, special purpose entities, debt and equity structures, intercompany arrangements, major customer and vendor contracts and data center development projects.

- Provide timely technical guidance on unusual arrangements, including long term and escalating leases under IRC Section 467, asset acquisitions and purchase price allocations under IRC Section 1060, executive compensation and other material one time matters.

- Integrate tax into land acquisitions, leased data centers, construction, power arrangements, equipment procurement and deployment decisions before commercial terms or purchase commitments are locked.

- Partner with the indirect tax leader on sales and use tax, property tax, VAT, exemptions, incentives, audits and the operational controls needed to preserve benefits after approval.

International tax and legal entity expansion

- Lead the tax workstream for new foreign data centers and market launches, covering legal entity structure, permanent establishment, transfer pricing, withholding, VAT or GST, customs, financing, repatriation and local compliance.

- Establish scalable intercompany policies, agreements, invoicing and data flows in partnership with Accounting and the Head of Consolidations.

- Own international matters directly during the initial transition, then assess the timing, scope and level of an international tax deputy as the portfolio and team stabilize.

Systems controls advisers and team

Define tax requirements for finance transformation initiatives, including Coupa, fixed asset systems, ERP reporting, billing, tax engines and legal entity reporting.

- Build documented controls, data ownership and review evidence suitable for a fast growing company preparing for public company expectations. Prior IPO experience is helpful but not required.

- Set clear scopes, budgets, service levels and accountability for external advisers. Use specialists heavily where efficient while retaining management ownership of facts, judgments and decisions.

- Lead, coach and develop a lean team. Clarify roles across provision and income tax, indirect tax, international tax and operations; identify interim support and hiring needs before capacity becomes a control risk.

What hands on leadership means in this role

- Personally lead the highest risk or most ambiguous matters until the issue, workplan and ownership model are stable.

- Review and challenge calculations, workpapers, contracts, models, returns, memoranda and adviser conclusions at the level needed to make an informed management decision.

- Translate technical tax questions into clear business choices for the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Legal, Treasury, Infrastructure and other executives.

- Step into execution gaps during close cycles, audits, transactions, system implementations and international launches, while building repeatable processes that reduce reliance on heroics.

- Delegate work with clear decision rights, remain accountable for the result and develop the team rather than operating as either a pure reviewer or a permanent individual contributor.

You

- Approximately 12 or more years of progressively responsible corporate tax experience, including meaningful in house leadership experience in a complex, rapidly changing business.

- Deep command of ASC 740 and demonstrated ability to own a provision process, assess uncertain positions and communicate judgments to senior finance leadership and auditors.

- Strong federal corporate tax and international tax foundations with practical experience across transactions, tax attributes, controversy and multi state matters.

- Experience directing external advisers and outsourced compliance while maintaining internal control, documentation and decision ownership.

- Ability to move comfortably between strategy and execution, including reviewing detailed work, drafting or shaping technical positions and driving cross functional projects to completion.

- Executive presence without unnecessary formality. Able to explain complex issues clearly, make a recommendation and identify what requires escalation.

- Track record of building teams, prioritizing limited resources and creating durable processes in an environment where facts and timelines change quickly.

- Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, taxation or a related field. CPA, JD, MST or comparable advanced qualification is strongly preferred.

Nice to Have

- Technology, cloud infrastructure, data centers, energy intensive operations, equipment leasing or another capital intensive and internationally expanding business.

- International structuring, transfer pricing, withholding, VAT or GST, customs and foreign legal entity implementation.

- Project finance, special purpose entities, debt structures and large fixed asset investments.

- State and local tax incentives, property tax and sales and use tax issues associated with construction and equipment deployment.

- Pre IPO readiness, public company controls or SEC reporting environments. Direct IPO experience is not required.

- Tax technology, ERP reporting, procure to pay, billing or fixed asset system implementation.

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Lambda

- Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast

- Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove

- We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG

- Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers

- We offer generous cash & equity compensation

- Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

- Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles

- 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)

- Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.