Avalara

License Managed Services Director

Avalara$120K — $150K *
Business Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • B.S. in a technical or regulatory discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Tax, Finance, Accounting)
  • 10+ years of experience in business licensing or regulatory compliance
  • Expertise in interpreting complex, multi-jurisdictional licensing requirements
  • Experience influencing service design and product direction
  • Strong executive presence with the ability to operate as a senior individual contributor
  • Proven application of AI with measurable business impact in compliance or risk management

Responsibilities

  • Interpret multi-jurisdictional licensing requirements and define compliance standards
  • Serve as compliance authority to increase win rates in License Managed Services
  • Identify automation opportunities to improve operational efficiencies
  • Influence product roadmap and automation strategy using regulatory expertise
  • Raise performance standards through disciplined decision-making frameworks

Benefits

  • Great compensation package with potential bonuses
  • Paid time off and parental leave
  • Health benefits, including private medical, life, and disability insurance
  • Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace
  • Support from multiple employee-run resource groups with executive sponsorship
Full Job Description
What You'll Do

Avalara's License Managed Services business is scaling in complexity, volume of license and registration filing, and customer experience expectations. This role exists to ensure License Managed Services grows with filing requirement discipline and AI-enabled workflows, rather than linear headcount expansion.

The License Managed Services Director serves as the executive-level subject matter authority on business license compliance, advising on clear service boundaries, influencing automation strategy, and strengthening regulatory decision quality. This role enables durable revenue, risk reduction, improved unit economics, and scalable service design aligned to Avalara's AI-first direction.

What Your Responsibilities Will Be

How This Role Elevates Avalara

Raises decision quality across Sales, Product, and Operations by providing authoritative regulatory judgment and simplifying complex licensing environments into defensible, scalable models.

Builds customer trust and retention by ensuring consistent, expert-backed compliance guidance, reducing surprises, and aligning service expectations with operational reality. This role increases talent density by improving clarity, accountability, and execution rigor in how license compliance is defined and delivered.

Responsibilities
  • Own interpretation of multi-jurisdictional licensing requirements and define clear compliance standards within Avalara's service model.
  • Increase win rates and deal confidence in complex License Managed Services engagements by serving as executive-level compliance authority.
  • Improve operation efficiencies by identifying automation opportunities, standardizing high-volume scenarios, and eliminating work that should not require human judgment.
  • Influence product roadmap and automation investments using regulatory expertise and data-backed risk analysis.
  • Raise cross-functional performance standards through disciplined decision frameworks and simplification of regulatory complexity.

12-Month Success Signals

Within 12 months, this role will have:
  • Increased conversion rates or deal velocity in complex License Managed Services opportunities.
  • Reduced exception-driven operational effort through clearly defined automation or rule-based standardization initiatives.
  • Improved clarity of service scope, reducing churn and customer escalations.
  • Contributed to measurable operational efficiency improvements through scalable service design recommendations.
  • Established themselves as the recognized internal and external authority on license compliance.
  • Demonstrated measurable AI-enabled improvements in sales support, accurate compliance scoping and service delivery.


What You'll Need to be Successful

  • B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, Tax, Finance, Accounting, or a related technical or regulatory discipline.
  • 10+ years of relevant experience in business licensing, regulatory compliance, managed services, or advisory roles aligned to enterprise-scale environments.
  • Deep, hands-on expertise interpreting complex multi-jurisdictional licensing requirements.
  • Demonstrated experience influencing service design, product direction, or go-to-market strategy through subject matter expertise.
  • Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor with strong executive presence, ownership, and judgment.
  • Demonstrated applied AI experience with measurable business impact tied to efficiency, revenue, customer experience, or risk reduction.

Bar Raiser Expectations:

We are hiring a Bar Raiser - someone who elevates the performance, standards, and decision quality of the teams they work with. This role is expected to strengthen how regulatory compliance, service design, and cross-functional execution operate across Avalara.

A successful candidate will:

  • Raise decision quality across Sales, Product, and Operations through clear, defensible regulatory frameworks
  • Improve service design and execution by simplifying complexity and introducing scalable, repeatable approaches
  • Increase team capability by setting high standards for judgment, accountability, and clarity in compliance decisions
  • Reduce ambiguity and inconsistency in how licensing requirements are interpreted and operationalized
  • Influence cross-functional outcomes by bringing structured thinking and strong regulatory expertise into key decisions
  • Leave systems, processes, and teams stronger by improving how compliance is defined, delivered, and scaled

AI Expectations

As an AI Bar Raiser, this role must embed AI into regulatory interpretation, service design, and scalability decisions.

This includes:
  • Using AI to analyze regulatory changes, detect compliance risk patterns, and accelerate jurisdictional research.
  • Applying AI-assisted data analysis to identify exception drivers and automation opportunities that reduce manual effort.
  • Leveraging AI to improve speed and consistency in complex pre-sales due diligence and compliance scenario modeling.
  • Quantifying measurable impact such as time saved, reduction in manual reviews, improved risk detection, or enhanced decision accuracy.
  • Applying responsible AI governance standards when influencing regulatory interpretations or customer compliance outcomes.

AI usage must materially improve speed, quality, scale, or risk management - not serve as convenience tooling

How We'll Take Care of You

Total Rewards

In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.

Health & Wellness
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Inclusive culture and diversity
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.

About Avalara

Avalara is a software company that provides cloud-based tax compliance solutions. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Avalara's software helps businesses manage sales tax, VAT, and other tax requirements. The company has over 20,000 customers and operates in over 100 countries. Avalara went public in 2018 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AVLR.
Learn more about Avalara
Size
4,465 employees
Market Cap
$8.2 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$49.1 million
Founded
2004
5 Year Trend
+33.1%
Revenue
$500.5 million
NASDAQ

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