Senior Accountant CPA

About the Opportunity

An established Southern California CPA firm is conducting a confidential search for an experienced Director of Tax & Practice Operations to join its leadership team.

This senior-level position is designed for an accomplished CPA with strong technical tax expertise and proven experience managing complex tax engagements, client relationships, professional staff, and practice operations.

The successful candidate will work closely with firm leadership and take significant responsibility for the quality, timeliness, profitability, and delivery of the firm’s tax services.

This opportunity is ideal for someone ready to move beyond a traditional Tax Manager role and take greater ownership of client service, staff development, engagement performance, workflow, and the continued growth of an established accounting practice.

What We’re Looking For

We are looking for more than an experienced tax preparer or reviewer. The ideal candidate can review, manage, lead, communicate, and make sound professional decisions independently.

This individual should be comfortable taking ownership of engagements, identifying and resolving issues, directing professional staff, communicating with sophisticated clients, and following matters through completion.

An ownership mentality toward client service, quality, deadlines, staff performance, engagement profitability, and the overall success of the practice is essential.

Work Arrangement

This is a primarily remote position based in Southern California. Regular daily office attendance is not required; however, this is not a location-independent position.

The successful candidate must live within reasonable traveling distance of West Los Angeles / West Hollywood and be available for occasional in-person client meetings, leadership meetings, tax planning discussions, and other business needs.

Profit Sharing & Long-Term Opportunity

In addition to base compensation, the firm offers an opportunity to participate in a profit-sharing bonus program.

Employees become eligible for profit sharing after successfully completing six months of employment and meeting established performance expectations and goals. Profit-sharing payments are based on individual performance, applicable goals, firm performance, and the terms of the firm’s program and are not guaranteed solely based on eligibility.

This position is expected to become an important part of the firm’s leadership structure, with the opportunity to assume increasing responsibility for client relationships, tax operations, professional staff, workflow, engagement profitability, and overall practice performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare and review complex federal and California tax returns, including Forms 1040, 1065, 1120, 1120S, and 1041
• Perform senior-level technical reviews of tax returns, workpapers, schedules, and calculations
• Research and resolve complex federal, California, and multistate tax matters
• Identify tax planning opportunities and provide practical client recommendations
• Manage tax engagements from planning through final review and delivery
• Monitor deadlines, budgets, billing, realization, and engagement profitability
• Serve as a senior point of contact for sophisticated individual and business clients
• Communicate complex tax and accounting matters clearly and professionally
• Manage sensitive or escalated client matters independently
• Supervise, mentor, and provide technical guidance to tax and accounting professionals
• Review staff work and provide constructive technical feedback
• Assist with workload planning, resource allocation, workflow, and deadline management
• Develop and improve standardized workflows, review procedures, and quality-control processes
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity through technology and automation
• Work closely with firm leadership on the operational and financial performance of the tax practice

Required Qualifications

• Active CPA license
• 8–10+ years of recent public accounting experience
• Strong knowledge of federal and California taxation
• Significant experience preparing and reviewing individual and business tax returns
• Strong experience with Forms 1040, 1065, 1120, and 1120S
• Experience reviewing complex tax returns prepared by other professionals
• Ability to independently identify and resolve complex tax issues
• Experience managing tax engagements from planning through completion
• Experience supervising, mentoring, and developing professional staff
• Strong client relationship and communication experience
• Strong tax research, analytical, organizational, and time-management skills
• Ability to manage multiple engagements and competing deadlines
• Ability to exercise independent professional judgment
• Professional fluency in Russian and English
• Must reside in Southern California within reasonable traveling distance of West Los Angeles and West Hollywood
• Must be available for in-person client and firm meetings when required

Preferred Qualifications:

• California-based public accounting firms
• High-net-worth individuals
• Closely held and family-owned businesses
• Partnerships and S corporations
• Trusts and estates
• Multistate taxation
• Tax planning and projections
• IRS and California tax notices
• Engagement budgeting and realization
• Billing and collections
• Practice management
• Remote or distributed professional teams
• Process improvement, tax technology, and automation

Pay: From $170,000.00 per year

Work Location: Hybrid remote in West Los Angeles, CA 90025