OpenAI is seeking a Tax Technology Lead to build and own a modern tax technology stack. You will lead the design, configuration, and evolution of our Vertex-based architecture to enable accurate, real-time tax determination across our global business, integrating deeply into our product infrastructure.
What You'll Do
- Lead the end-to-end configuration and lifecycle management of the Vertex platform, including Vertex O Series, Vertex Edge, and future modules.
- Design and maintain tax determination logic across real-time checkout flows, invoicing systems, and downstream financial reporting.
- Ensure consistent tax engine behavior across environments aligned with product and billing architectures.
- Design and implement custom taxability drivers, material group logic, and Pre/Post-Tax Assist rules for complex business scenarios.
- Create and customize new taxpayers within the system for new business projects and acquisitions.
- Work with Financial Engineering, Product Engineering, and Business Systems teams to define tax engine requirements, APIs, data contracts, and integration patterns.
- Support checkout flows, including e-commerce scenarios, ensuring correct tax sourcing and liability determination.
- Integrate Vertex outputs into billing and ERP environments, including GL mapping, jurisdictional reporting, reconciliation logic, and e-invoicing requirements.
- Manage tax engine configuration updates including taxability rules, product mappings, jurisdiction logic, and exemptions.
- Develop and execute robust testing frameworks to validate tax outcomes prior to deployment.
- Participate in projects from early design through production deployment with a focus on accuracy, observability, and system reliability.
- Design and maintain internal controls over tax systems to ensure data integrity and regulatory compliance.
- Support tax audits by providing traceable tax data, reconciliations to ERP, and transaction-level documentation.
- Monitor tax engine performance, identify anomalies, and proactively remediate system issues.
- Build documentation and operational playbooks to make tax systems understandable, maintainable, and scalable.
- Serve as OpenAI’s internal subject-matter expert on tax technology architecture and systems behavior.
What We're Looking For
- 8+ years of relevant experience, including tax engine implementation or enterprise tax systems architecture.
- Strong experience implementing or managing enterprise tax engines such as Vertex or OneSource.
- Deep familiarity with billing and ERP systems such as Oracle/ASP or NetSuite, and how tax data flows into financial reporting.
- Comfort working directly with tax engine request and response data (XML / JSON).
- Experience diagnosing tax engine errors, interpreting logs, and validating system data mappings across platforms.
- Experience partnering with SaaS vendors to triage issues, manage releases, and resolve system defects.
- Ability to operate within SDLC and change management frameworks with strong documentation and testing discipline.
- Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to diagnose complex systems issues and implement scalable solutions.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with engineers, tax professionals, finance leaders, and auditors.
Nice to Have
- Experience working with different payment platforms, including checkout flows and marketplace models.
Technical Stack
- Vertex O Series, Vertex Edge, Oracle/ASP, NetSuite
Team & Environment
This role sits at the intersection of Tax, Financial Engineering, Product Engineering, and Finance Systems.
Work Mode
This role is hybrid and based in San Francisco, CA.
OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
