Global Tax Lead

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

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.

This is a hybrid role based in San Francisco with in-office requirements of 2 days per week. 

WHAT YOU'LL DO

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

Compliance across federal, state, and local

• 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

Tax accounting and audit support

• 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

M&A and strategic transactions

• 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

Cross-functional partnership and risk management

• 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

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 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

Particularly strong candidates will bring:

• 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

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is: 185000 - 200000 USD