Head of Tax Operations | AI-native accounting firm

Overview

This role is for a licensed CPA who will provide final professional sign-off on AI-prepared tax returns. The organization is a remote, cloud-based accounting firm providing bookkeeping, tax, and fractional CFO services, including tax planning and other advisory work.

Because the AI engine prepares multiple federal return types, each filing requires a licensed CPA’s signature before it reaches the IRS. This position owns the review rules and quality checks used to catch and prevent errors, and works directly with the founder and engineering team.

Responsibilities

• Return sign-off:
  • Review AI-prepared 1040, 1065, 1120S, and C corp returns.
  • Decide under your own license whether each return is signed, sent back, or held.
• Focus on common software failure points:
  • K-1 pass-throughs
  • Basis tracking
  • Multi-state allocations
• Figure tracing and verification:
  • Trace reported amounts back to the source documents the engine used.
• Review rules and QA:
  • With the founder and engineers, define edge-case rules, AI error checks, and QA steps.
  • Write each rule in clear, actionable steps and label each as either a hard stop or a judgment call.
  • Determine which returns can receive a lighter review versus those requiring a full read.
• Feedback loop to product/engineering:
  • Log each engine error by form, line, and cause, including an example an engineer can reproduce.
  • Help determine whether a wrong number originated from document scanning, a prompt, or schedule logic, then participate in testing the fix.
• Compliance and tax strategy:
  • Ensure work meets IRS regulations, state guidelines, and Circular 230.
  • Identify legal tax-optimization strategies and document the reasoning.
• Reviewer team support:
  • Help build and mentor a lean team of fractional or full-time reviewers who work from your playbook.

Requirements

• Active US CPA license
• Valid PTIN
• Clean disciplinary record
• 5+ years preparing and reviewing complex individual and small-business returns, including:
  • 1040 returns with multiple K-1s
  • S corps
  • partnerships
  • C corps
  • multi-state clients
• Final sign-off experience, including returns you signed under your own license or reviewed last with no partner behind you, with reasons for any returns held back
• Hands-on experience with professional tax software and the use of automation tools on real client work (including OCR or AI), and the ability to explain where outputs cannot be trusted
• Ability to create written instructions others can follow, such as checklists, review rules, or error reports junior reviewers or engineers can act on without additional prompting
• Evidence of something you built and ran yourself, such as:
  • a solo practice
  • an early role at a tech-enabled firm
  • a review process you ran through a full filing season at real volume

Preferred Qualifications

• Handling IRS or state notices for small-business clients
• Training or reviewing junior, offshore, or fractional preparers
• Setting up prompts or automations for tax or accounting work
• Reporting recurring errors to a product team at a tax software, fintech, or tech-enabled firm
• Writing tax-planning memos for S corp owners (including reasonable compensation and entity choice)

Compensation & Benefits

• Full-time role with founding equity
• No billable-hour tracking; work is measured on output, leverage, and accuracy
• Real authority to set the firm’s tax review standard and provide final sign-off

Location

• US-based, remote or hybrid

Recruitment Process

• Screening call with atomic✳HR (30 minutes): what you’ve built, working terms, and what you want next
• Profile review by the founder
• Interviews with the founder on the work in the role

Additional Notes

• This role requires a licensed CPA to provide final signature before returns are submitted to the IRS.