Guardant Health

Senior Director, Tax

Guardant Health$273K — $375K *
Legal & Accounting
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Taxation, or related field; CPA required.
  • 15+ years of progressive tax experience, including Big Four/public accounting and corporate tax leadership in a public multinational.
  • Strong technical expertise in ASC 740, U.S. federal and state taxation, international taxation, and transfer pricing.
  • Demonstrated leadership in tax accounting, reporting, and compliance for publicly traded multinational firms.
  • Experience in managing global compliance and navigating complex international tax regulations.

Responsibilities

  • Lead income tax accounting and reporting, including ASC 740 compliance and effective tax rate analysis.
  • Oversee all tax compliance activities at federal, state, and international levels.
  • Develop and execute initiatives to optimize tax strategies aligned with business growth.
  • Manage the company's global tax structure and ensure compliance with international regulations.
  • Serve as a primary subject matter expert in tax, guiding cross-functional teams on tax-related matters.

Benefits

  • Flexible hybrid work model to enhance work-life balance and team connectivity.
  • Opportunities for career advancement and professional development within a growing organization.
  • Collaboration with a leadership team focused on innovation in the life sciences industry.
  • Access to cutting-edge tax technology platforms to improve process efficiency.
  • Engagement in strategic initiatives that support the company's growth and transformation.
Full Job Description
Guardant Health is seeking a strategic and hands-on Senior Director, Tax to lead the Company's global tax function. As the most senior tax professional within the organization, this role will have overall responsibility for the Company's income tax accounting, compliance, reporting, planning, transfer pricing, indirect tax, tax controversy, and tax-related business initiatives. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, the Senior Director, Tax will serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and key business partners across Finance, Legal, Treasury, Human Resources, FP&A, Procurement, and Operations. This role will be responsible for developing and executing the Company's global tax strategy, ensuring compliance with applicable tax laws and regulations, managing relationships with external tax advisors and service providers, and supporting strategic growth initiatives, international expansion, and business transformation efforts. The Senior Director, Tax will serve as the primary owner of the Company's tax function, providing strategic leadership, technical guidance, and oversight of all tax-related activities. The ideal candidate combines deep technical tax expertise with strong business acumen and leadership capabilities and thrives in a dynamic, high-growth public company environment with international operations. Primary Responsibilities: Tax Accounting & Reporting • Lead quarterly and annual income tax accounting under ASC 740, including preparation and review of tax provisions, effective tax rate analysis, deferred tax calculations, uncertain tax positions, and related disclosures. • Ensure accurate tax reporting for SEC filings, financial statements, and management reporting. • Partner closely with Corporate Accounting and Financial Reporting teams during monthly, quarterly, and annual close cycles. • Review and improve tax-related controls and SOX compliance activities. Global Tax Compliance • Oversee all federal, state, local, and international tax compliance activities. • Manage external tax service providers responsible for preparation and filing of tax returns. • Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and assess impacts to the Company. • Ensure timely completion of tax filings, estimated payments, extensions, and reporting requirements. Tax Planning & Strategy • Develop and execute tax planning initiatives aligned with business objectives. • Identify and implement opportunities to optimize the Company's effective tax rate, cash tax position, and utilization of tax attributes. • Provide tax guidance and recommendations to executive leadership. • Lead tax analysis and execution support for acquisitions, restructurings, financing arrangements, international expansion, and other strategic transactions. • Support tax due diligence, integration planning, and structuring for acquisitions, investments, licensing arrangements, and other strategic transactions. • Evaluate and develop strategies related to tax attributes, including net operating losses, tax credits, and ownership change considerations. • Navigate optimal utilization of net operating losses. • Periodic evaluation of valuation allowance on net deferred tax assets. International Tax & Transfer Pricing • Oversee global tax structures and international tax compliance requirements. • Manage transfer pricing policies, documentation, and intercompany arrangements. • Partner with international finance teams to ensure tax-efficient operational structures. • Monitor emerging global tax legislation and regulatory developments, including international tax reform initiatives, and assess impacts to the Company. • Optimize global tax planning to achieve a balance between tax efficient structures and our ability to repatriate cash as needed, including regular evaluations of whether the company is permanently reinvested as applicable in international jurisdictions. Indirect Tax • Oversee sales and use tax, VAT/GST, property tax, and other indirect tax obligations. • Manage nexus assessments and compliance processes. • Support implementation and enhancement of indirect tax automation solutions. • Optimize utilization of available R&D tax credits. Tax Risk Management • Lead tax audits, inquiries, and examinations. • Manage relationships with tax authorities and external advisors. • Assess tax risks and develop mitigation strategies. • Maintain strong internal controls over tax processes. • Resolve tax audits, notices, examinations, and inquiries across domestic and international jurisdictions. Business Partnership & Leadership • Serve as the Company's primary tax subject matter expert. • Provide guidance to Accounting, Treasury, Legal, HR, Procurement, and FP&A on tax matters. • Support strategic initiatives, system implementations, process improvements, and finance transformation efforts. • Manage external tax consultants and future internal tax team resources. • Build scalable tax processes, documentation, and governance frameworks. • Partner with FP&A on forecasting and modeling of effective tax rate, cash taxes, and tax-related business impacts. • Identify and implement opportunities to improve tax processes, controls, automation, and use of technology. • Evaluate staffing needs and build the tax organization as the company continues to scale. Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Taxation, or related field; CPA required. • Master's in Taxation (MST) or other advanced tax credential preferred. • 15+ years of progressive tax experience, including a combination of Big Four/public accounting and corporate tax leadership experience within a publicly traded multinational organization. • Strong technical expertise in ASC 740, U.S. federal and state taxation, international taxation, transfer pricing, and tax planning. • Experience serving in a leadership role responsible for tax accounting, reporting, and compliance within a publicly traded multinational company. • Demonstrated experience managing global tax compliance, tax provision, audits, and tax controversy matters. • Experience supporting multinational operations and navigating complex international tax regulations and emerging global tax reform initiatives, including transition to positive tax income and utilization of NOLs. • Proven ability to develop and implement tax strategies that support business growth while minimizing tax risk. • Demonstrated ability to communicate complex tax matters to executive leadership, auditors, and non-tax stakeholders. • Experience managing external tax advisors, consultants, and service providers. • Strong knowledge of internal controls, SOX compliance, and tax governance frameworks. • Experience with ERP and tax technology platforms such as Oracle Fusion, Vertex, or similar systems. • Strong business acumen with the ability to partner effectively across Finance, Legal, Treasury, HR, FP&A, Procurement, and executive leadership teams. • Demonstrated leadership capabilities, including the ability to influence stakeholders, lead cross-functional initiatives, and build scalable processes in a growing organization. • Experience in life sciences, healthcare, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical device, or other highly regulated industries is preferred. AI & Digital Fluency • Demonstrate curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to critically evaluate and responsibly leverage AI-enabled tools in accordance with company policies, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of work. Hybrid Work Model:This section is applicable to onsite employees who are eligible for hybrid work location as specified by management and related policies.  Guardant has defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients. The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. This range does not include benefits or, if applicable, bonus, commission, or equity. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, education, job-related skills, job duties, and business need. Primary Location: Palo Alto, CA Primary Location Base Pay Range: $273,200 - $375,650 Other US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $232,220 - $319,303 If the role is performed in Colorado, the pay range for this job is: $245,880 - $338,085 Employee may be required to lift routine office supplies and use office equipment. Majority of the work is performed in a desk/office environment; however, there may be exposure to high noise levels, fumes, and biohazard material in the laboratory environment. Ability to sit for extended periods of time.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc. is a precision oncology company that develops and commercializes blood tests for early cancer detection and treatment. The company's flagship product, Guardant360, is a liquid biopsy test that analyzes cancer-related genes in the blood to help doctors make more informed treatment decisions. Guardant Health was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. The company has partnerships with several pharmaceutical companies and has received FDA approval for several of its products.
Learn more about Guardant Health
Size
1,373 employees
Market Cap
$2.8 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$253.7 million
Founded
2012
5 Year Trend
+71.4%
Revenue
$286.7 million
NASDAQ

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