Manager Direct Tax

Description To help save our customers green, we need an amazing team who knows all about it. Our National Finance & Administration Services department oversees the management of the critical resources and infrastructure that our people need to get the job done at every level. This service department is designed to make sure our retail divisions and executive leadership receive the support they need to run a successful operation. Within finance our teams include Accounting, Corporate Tax, Financial Reporting and Treasury and finance. Are you a strategic tax leader looking to make a meaningful impact in a dynamic and growing organization? Join ALDI as our Manager Direct Tax where your expertise will help shape the future of one of the nation's leading retailers. This role offers a unique opportunity to lead a talented team of tax professionals, oversee critical income tax compliance and reporting while partnering with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to navigate an evolving tax landscape. If you're looking for a position that combines technical excellence, leadership, and meaningful business impact, we invite you to bring your expertise and leadership to ALD Position Type : Full-Time Starting Salary: $186,250 Salary Increases: Year 2 - $196,750 | Year 3 - $207,000 Work Location: Batavia, IL This role is eligible to participate in ALDI’s Hybrid Work Program, which allows remote work up to 3 days per week (i.e., work remotely up to 3 days per week; work in-office at least 2 days per week). Duties and Responsibilities: Must be able to perform duties with or without reasonable accommodation. • Provides leadership, oversight, and accountability for the U.S. Direct Tax Function, including federal, state, city income tax compliance and income tax provision. • Heads the direct tax function overseeing compliance, tax provision, controversy, audit defense, and technology solutions. • Oversees the timely preparation, accurate filing, and submission of income tax returns, extensions, and estimated payments. • Develops and implements strategies to identify, manage, and mitigate tax risk across multiple jurisdictions. • Monitors changes in federal, state, and local tax legislation and updates policies and procedures accordingly. • Provides leadership and mentorship to team members to drive high performance, engagement, and professional development while also fostering an environment of learning, innovation and collaboration. • Manages relationships with outside advisors in connection with income tax compliance matters. • Leads the U.S. income tax compliance and provision functions and works to minimize the organization’s tax obligation in support of the company’s strategic initiatives. • Ensures the training, development, and performance of their team’s staff to retain a motivated, professional workforce that achieves their career objectives. • Recruits and recommends qualified employees for their team’s staff positions. • Establishes, communicates and evaluates job responsibilities and performance expectations to their team to ensure a mutual understanding of desired results. • Understands the overarching company strategy while communicating and modeling the core values of the organization to create a sense of teamwork and membership among employees. • Partners with cross-functional teams within ALDI to align tax compliance with strategic business initiatives, ensure appropriate tax treatment of transactions and systems, and manage compliance impacts from legislative developments. • Provides strategic guidance to leadership on planning initiatives and emerging legislative developments. • Provides recommendations for adapting company strategy based on regulatory trends, industry best practices, and evolving tax policy as well as serving as a subject matter expert to senior leadership on federal, state, and international tax legislation trends and compliance risks. • Collaborates with accounting teams to align tax provision reporting with internal financial statements. • Coordinates with financial planning and analysis on forecasting of cash taxes, providing input into financial planning cycles. • Liaises with International Finance and Administration Group Taxes to monitor global reporting changes and ensure appropriate U.S. data is provided. • Exercises leadership over tax professionals and partners with external advisors to deliver high-quality tax deliverables in line with ALDI’s internal policies and private company reporting needs. • Works collaboratively with other members of the department to provide internal directions to increase process efficiencies in line with strategy established by executive leadership. • Maintains strong internal controls over tax processes. • Consults with leadership on the development of their team's strategy. • Advises leadership to source external vendors for applicable services when appropriate. • Liaises with applicable areas of the business to ensure timely and efficient communication flow. • Consults with the business to effectively design and streamline applicable processes within the organization. • Keeps up-to-date on external best practices and relevant changes to their field/area; communicates updates to leadership. • Acts as a primary point of contact for external consultants, overseeing day-to-day engagement and performance. • Manages business partner relationships to ensure project milestones, deliverables, and timelines are met as part of managed services provided by the external third party, ensuring alignment with project goals and business strategy. • Ensures consultants deliver high-quality results that align with strategic objectives. • Leads and oversee corporate income tax compliance, including federal, state, city, and international form filings on a consolidated and separate entity basis. • Directs the strategic tax modeling, scenario analysis, and planning of direct tax implications to assist in informed decision-making. • Oversees annual US consolidated tax provision calculations, tax footnote disclosures, and documentation of uncertain tax positions (if applicable.) • Evaluates strategies to minimize ALDI tax liability and ensure tax account and tax reporting footnotes are accurately stated. • Advises executive leadership of current and future effective tax rate expectations. • Approves book to tax computations, effective tax rate, expense tie out, deferred roll forward, and journal entries. • Supports interactions with tax piece of annual financial statement audit, approve supporting documentation to be submitted, and ensure tax provision accuracy. • Oversees tax notices support, income tax audits, and coordinate timely responses and documentation. • Identifies, evaluates, and implements opportunities proactively to minimize federal and state tax burden. • Oversees tax compliance calendar for all income tax filings. • Implements legislative updates into return procedures, collaborating with relevant business units and advisors. • Approves and signs off on audit-ready documentation including journal entries, account reconciliations and return packages, and all major income tax compliance filings and provision entries. • Supports the continuous improvement efforts on automation, system enhancement, and process simplification. • Supports special projects including tax software upgrades, internal process assessments, and reporting improvements. • Manages audit responses and risk management related to audit and controversy matters. • Leads and implements strategic tax planning initiatives across federal, state, and international jurisdictions, ensuring alignment with ALDI’s business objectives. • Contributes to creating functional strategies and specific objectives for the tax function and develops budgets/policies/procedures to support the functional infrastructure. • Oversees the preparation, review, and timely filing of federal, state, local, and international income tax returns, extensions, and estimates, as well as oversees quarterly and annual income tax provision processes. • Ensures accurate reporting, maintains provision documentation, coordinates with finance and accounting teams, and supports tax audit activity. • Develops and implements strategies to identify, manage, and mitigate tax risk across multiple jurisdictions. • Interprets legislative changes and assesses their business impact; implements updates across processes, systems, and reporting. • Oversees responses to audit notices and controversy matters, including finalizing documentation and settlement strategies. • Facilitates audit preparedness for income tax matters and supports audit responses. • Prepares assumptions for tax planning deliverables and audit defense. • Contributes to and drives tax planning and business integration as well as partnering with other tax team members in technology adoption. • Advises on tax considerations related to new business activities, ERP/tax system changes, point-of-sale configurations and business expansion. • Advises on operational changes or system enhancements that affect tax compliance or provision calculations. • Represents the team in internal governance forums and contributes to enterprise risk and controls evaluations. • Manages their team by driving projects and tasks to completion through effective prioritization, work planning, resource allocation, and cross-functional collaboration. • Identifies cost-saving opportunities and potential process improvements. • Serves as the primary link between their team’s staff and leadership to ensure understanding of company goals, objectives, and opportunities for improvement. • Complies with ALDI privacy and security requirements and policies if job responsibilities include possible access to confidential and/or sensitive information. • Other duties as assigned. Job-specific Competencies: Knowledge/Skills/Abilities • Consistently demonstrates the ALDI Acts Competencies as outlined for the role. • Ability to recommend, interpret, and/or apply company policies and procedures. • Gives attention to detail and follows instruction. • Ability to develop rapport, trust, and open communication that enhances the growth and job performance of direct reports. • Understands the history, strategy, organizational authority, interdependence of job duties, products, systems, and services of the company. • Conflict management skills. • Possesses strategic thinking and analytical capability. • Strong understanding of global and U.S. tax systems. • Expertise in income tax compliance and provision processes. • Solid understanding of US tax compliance processes and tax accounting concepts. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate complex strategies to executive and cross-functional audiences. • Strong leadership and mentoring skills, fostering a collaborative and high-performance team environment. • Proficient in ERP and tax software including SAP and OneSource Tax Provision or equivalent. • Knowledge of tax engine systems and ERP integrations including SAP. • Ability to use and oversee tax planning and compliance software. • Ability to drive cross-functional alignment on tax policy, process, and system requirements. • Ability to lead audit defense, manage risk, manage deliverables, resolve issues with tax authorities, and interpret legislative changes with business impact. • Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to lead multiple workstreams and allocate resources effectively. • Ability to build innovation into planning functions with a continuous improvement mindset. • Proactive in seeking opportunities to assist with various tax projects. • Interact with all levels of management, internal and external stakeholders and service providers. • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills required, with the ability to plan and execute at strategic and tactical levels. • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with an ability to effectively relate tax issues to non-tax personnel. • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with excellent prioritization and organizational skills. Education and Experience: • Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required. • A minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in Accounting, Finance, or Tax and retail operations. • Experience with income tax compliance and/or provision required. • Experience with preparing and reviewing tax provision calculation and return-to-provision reconciliations required. • Certified Public Accountant designation preferred. • Master’s Degree in Taxation preferred. • Experience with private company tax operations and financial statement reporting preferred. • Experience managing or mentoring 3 or more tax professionals preferred. • Experience with strategic planning, forecasting and structuring preferred. • Experience with tax planning and regulatory change impact assessment preferred. • Experience with reviewing tax reconciliations and audit support packages preferred. • Or, a combination of education and experience providing equivalent knowledge. Physical Requirements: • Work may be performed in an office, remote office or a combination of both where a computer and office equipment may be used as needed to perform duties. • Regularly required to sit, reach, grasp, stand and move from one area to another. • Constantly and repeatedly use keyboard/mouse. • Occasionally required to push, pull, bend, lift and move up to 25 lbs. Travel: • International & Domestic travel required. • Up to 10%. Qualifications Skills Behaviors : Motivations : Education Experience Preferred ADMIN