Tax Research Analyst, Symmetry

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Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 400,000 businesses nationwide.

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Symmetry Software is part of Gusto. Symmetry is the payroll infrastructure for software & payroll platforms powering the paychecks of over 64 million workers each year. Our fully integrated suite of payroll tax APIs and software tools allows companies to solve tax compliance issues and build applications across the entirety of the payroll process.

About the Role:

Are you a visionary Payroll Tax expert ready to shape the future of compliance technology?

We're on a mission to revolutionize how businesses manage payroll, ensuring seamless compliance and powering over 60 million payroll calculations annually. We believe in dynamic, adaptable tax solutions, and we're seeking a Tax Research Analyst who shares our passion for precision and innovation.

Not only will you dive deep into payroll tax, you will have a unique career opportunity to leverage your payroll tax expertise and collaborate with our Product, Engineering, and Client Experience teams to enhance and build out payroll compliance technology solutions. You'll be at the forefront, building the intelligent tax logic and rules engines that form the bedrock of our cutting-edge payroll platform.

About the Team:

Our team is made up of five Tax Research professionals, each bringing a unique set of skills and experiences. Tax Research is the cornerstone of Symmetry’s products, relied upon by every team across the company. Because Symmetry isn't a top-heavy organization, you'll work directly with staff and management at all levels.

You'll get to perform compliance research that impacts all of Symmetry's current products and helps shape new ones. Our company motto, 'The right taxes, the first time,' especially guides our work. We're a close-knit team that thrives on mutual respect and highly developed communication. We're dedicated to delivering the most timely and accurate compliance products in the market, providing world-class service to our stakeholders, and upholding our reputation as the compliance leader. We embrace change and are always looking for ways to streamline and automate our processes and research. This is a high-impact role in an extremely collaborative environment that will help shape Symmetry’s future.

Here’s what you’ll be doing:

• Lead the charge in payroll tax intelligence: Proactively research, interpret, and analyze complex federal, state, and local payroll tax regulations and calculations, anticipating future changes and their impact on our software.
• Translate complexities into actionable logic: Collaborate with our software development team to design, program, and test tax calculations that power our high-volume payroll platform.
• Drive compliance innovation: Be the subject matter expert who ensures our software remains flawlessly compliant with payroll tax mandates, identifying opportunities for automation and continuous improvement.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships: Establish and nurture strong relationships with tax agencies to gain insights, clarify interpretations, and address emerging requirements.
• Shape the employee lifecycle experience: Research payroll tax implications related to the entire employee lifecycle (onboarding, compensation changes, benefits, offboarding), contributing to the development of software solutions that automate and simplify these processes.
• Champion data integrity and accuracy: Implement robust methodologies for validating tax calculation accuracy, performing reconciliations, and troubleshooting complex payroll tax scenarios to ensure utmost data integrity.
• Influence product evolution: Provide guidance and recommendations to product management and engineering teams on new features, enhancements, and strategic direction for our payroll tax offerings.
• Empower internal teams: Develop and deliver clear, concise documentation, training, and support to internal stakeholders (e.g., Client Experience, Product, and Engineering teams) on payroll tax complexities and our software's capabilities.
• Thrive in an agile, dynamic environment: Embrace ambiguity and proactively identify solutions to complex, uncharted payroll tax challenges, contributing to a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Bachelor’s Degree (or in process, or equivalent experience) in Tax, Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Technology, or similar fields
• 5-7 years of experience in payroll tax, compliance, accounting, or related fields
• Payroll Org CPP or FPC certification, or CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license
• If remote, travel to the Scottsdale, Arizona office up to once/quarter

Preferred experience:

• US Multistate, and local tax experience in KY, OH, or PA. Minimum wage experience
• Prior experience with tax laws, regulations, and third-party research databases
• Payroll service provider, agency, or tax filing and reporting experience
• Prior experience with tools like Google Workspace, Jira, NetSuite, or Airtable
• Prior technical experience developing compliance requirements for software developers
• Experience using AI tools and technologies in personal or professional contexts.
• Familiarity with AI agents and automated workflows is a plus.

Required skills and mindsets:

• Experience in Payroll Tax. Experience in payroll withholding tax calculations and requirements, including tables, formulas, and employee elections.
• Self-Motivated. Experience working independently to deliver long-term research projects and hit milestones. Critical and strategic thinker. Ability to work through a problem with multiple steps, utilizing logic. Ability to think long-term about Symmetry’s products and client perspective. Enthusiastic learner.
• Highly-Skilled Communicator. Exhibit persistence, confidence, and poise when calling and emailing agencies, clients, and internal partners. Calm and professional, yet persistent, with the ability to break down complex regulations into understandable pieces. Extreme attention to detail in write-ups of compliance information and communication.
• Collaboration and Relationship Skills. Flexible, adaptable, and open to change. Able to build strong networks inside the company and with industry professionals.
• Flexibility + Agility. Ability to prioritize and rapidly re-prioritize in an ever-changing environment. Comfortable with ambiguity and making informed decisions backed by data, sources, and critical thinking.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $84,000/yr - $106,000/yr in Scottsdale, Arizona. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.

Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.

When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required.

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto.

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