Senior Director - Global Tax Planning

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About the Team

We are a team of dedicated tax professionals, driven by Workday’s core values and a commitment to operational excellence. We are focused on value creation through an AI-first mindset, leveraging automation and strategic, compliant tax planning to propel the business forever forward. As Workday continues its growth journey, we are enthusiastic about navigating the increasing complexity of the global tax landscape. We foster a collaborative culture that champions VIBE (Value Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity for All), where we work hard, have fun, and maintain a commitment to employee wellbeing and work-life balance.

About the Role

We are seeking a high-urgency, forward-thinking Senior Director of Global Tax Planning to lead, elevate, and operationalize our global tax planning and M&A functions. This leader will be directly responsible for both high-level global strategy and hands-on technical modeling. We are looking for a seasoned professional with a good mix of industry and professional services firm experience with the skills to jump right in and make a difference. The ideal candidate will champion a modern, technology-forward operating model that utilizes advanced AI and automation to scale the function efficiently. This role manages a specialized cross-border team and requires an individual with a strong delivery mindset to ensure complex tax strategies are executed seamlessly and aligned with the company’s broader commercial and financial objectives.

Responsibilities:

• Global Strategy & Structuring: Design, implement, and govern the overall global corporate income tax planning strategy, including cross-border transactions, legal entity rationalization, and capital structuring.

• M&A & Integration: Lead tax workstreams for domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures from inception through post-closing integration to maximize tax synergies and mitigate operational risks.

• Hands-on Technical Modeling: Lead the team in developing advanced tax modeling capabilities, as well as directly performing complex US International and cross-border tax modeling to project annual Effective Tax Rate (ETR) and cash tax impacts for corporate forecasting.

• Global Regulatory Monitoring & Readiness: Proactively monitor the global tax landscape and emerging tax issues, assess and quantify their potential impact, and ensure timely communication of upcoming rules to key tax leaders for collective strategic alignment and game plan development.

• Team Leadership & Development: Supervise and optimize the capacity of the planning team fostering a culture of technical excellence, clear operational boundaries, and proactive accountability.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with tax leaders, to ensure planning initiatives seamlessly integrate with global tax provisions, disclosures, and statutory filings. Assist in the comprehensive review of US international and foreign tax technical positions for tax provision and compliance cycles.

• Trusted Advisor: Play a leadership role engaging in business partnering within the company to understand the tax impact of business operations and ensure that tax needs are identified, communicated, and strategically addressed.

• AI & Workflow Automation: Champion an "AI-first" culture within the global tax team by driving continuous learning and upskilling initiatives. Partner closely with the Business Technology (BT) team to identify automation opportunities, translate tax complexities into technical requirements, and oversee the rollout of modern, AI-driven workflows.

• Executive Advisory: Synthesize shifting federal, state, international and OECD legislative changes into concise, actionable executive dashboards to guide the C-suite and VP of Tax on commercial risks and opportunities.

About You

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum of 15 years of progressive corporate multinational tax experience combined with public accounting (Big 4 preferred) experience, featuring deep expertise in foreign international tax, statutory financial experience and ASC 740 financial reporting.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required. CPA or JD required. 

• Comprehensive expertise in global corporate income tax planning, international structuring, M&A transactions, and post-merger integration.

Other Qualifications:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven track record of acting as a strategic partner to non-tax business leaders and translating complex technical tax concepts into commercial business insights.

• Strong leadership skills with a proven track record of managing, aligning, and elevating distributed, cross-border teams across multiple time zones and locations.

• An agile mindset with the organizational flexibility to pivot resources instantly when unexpected transactions occur, combined with a collaborative, team-player approach to breaking down departmental silos.

• Hands-on experience executing scenario modeling inside modern tax engines. 

• A strong passion for emerging technology and a proactive interest in self-learning AI capabilities. Proven ability to act as a bridge between tax and technology teams, with a track record of driving digital transformation or modernization within a tax function.

Workday Pay Transparency Statement

The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below.  Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here.

Primary Location: USA.CA.PleasantonPrimary Location Base Pay Range: $259,000 USD - $388,600 USDAdditional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $218,800 USD - $388,600 USD

Our Approach to Flexible Work
 

With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote "home office" roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.

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