Senior Director, Tax

The Senior Director, Tax is a senior role responsible for overseeing all tax functions at Fairstead. Reporting directly to the CFO, this individual will serve as Fairstead's senior-most tax authority, providing strategic direction and hands-on oversight of federal, state, and local tax matters across a complex multi-entity, multi-jurisdictional organizational structure. This individual will collaborate extensively with legal, accounting, finance, ventures and development teams to support Fairstead's operational and growth objectives.

Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of the company's tax function, including federal, state, and local income tax compliance, planning, and reporting across 28 states
• Develop and execute the company's overall tax strategy, with a focus on LIHTC, minimizing effective tax rate (at State and local levels), REITS (as they relate to some of our JV partners), and managing tax risk across a large real estate portfolio and ancillary business lines
• Oversee preparation and review of federal and multi-state partnership, personal, corporate tax returns, including consolidated and combined filings
• Champion the adoption of AI and automation tools within the tax function to streamline compliance workflows, improve data accuracy, and enhance efficiency in tax research, provision, and reporting processes
• Direct tax structuring for property acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, 1031 exchanges, development projects, and capital markets transactions
• Provide technical guidance on partnership taxation, including complex waterfall structures, promote interests, capital account maintenance, and Section 704(b) and 704(c) allocations
• Advise on entity structuring and legal entity rationalization to support business operations, investment activity, and estate or succession planning for ownership
• Manage state and local tax compliance obligations, including income, franchise, transfer, and property tax filings across all operating jurisdictions
• Lead and manage relationships with external tax advisors, accounting firms, and specialized tax counsel
• Monitor federal and state legislative and regulatory developments and assess their impact on the company's tax position and business strategy
• Serve as a key advisor to the CFO, CEO, and executive leadership team on all tax matters, including strategic transactions and capital structure decisions
• Manage federal and state income tax audits, and examinations
• Establish and maintain internal controls, policies, and procedures related to the tax function
• Coordinate investor tax reporting, including K-1 preparation and distribution for fund and joint venture investors

Requirements:

• Minimum of 15 years of tax experience, with significant time spent in real estate, with direct experience in multi-state partnership tax compliance and planning
• Prior experience as a Head of Tax, VP of Tax, Tax Director, or equivalent senior in-house tax leadership role at a real estate operating company, private equity real estate firm, or real estate development company
• Deep technical expertise in partnership taxation, including Section 704(b)/704(c), carried interests, and complex multi-tier partnership structures
• Proficiency in multi-state income, franchise, and property tax compliance across a large, geographically distributed portfolio
• Experience managing federal and state tax audits by taxing authorities
• CPA required; JD, LLM in Taxation, or MST strongly preferred
• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to translate complex tax matters for non-tax executives and ownership
• Experience at a public accounting firm in a real estate tax practice is highly preferred
• Experience with multi-state sales and use tax compliance and nexus analysis, including nexus studies and voluntary disclosure agreements