U.S. Federal & State Income Tax Compliance Director na The Nielsen Company

Company Description

At Nielsen, we are passionate about our work to power a better media future for all people by providing powerful insights that drive client decisions and deliver extraordinary results. Our talented, global workforce is dedicated to capturing audience engagement with content - wherever and whenever it’s consumed. Together, we are proudly rooted in our deep legacy as we stand at the forefront of the media revolution. When you join Nielsen, you will join a dynamic team committed to excellence, perseverance, and the ambition to make an impact together. We champion you, because when you succeed, we do too. We enable your best to power our future.

Job Description

Nielsen is seeking a hands-on Federal and State Income Tax Compliance Leader to own the end-to-end U.S. income tax compliance lifecycle. This role is a critical pillar of our tax leadership team, responsible for the successful delivery of federal and state returns, quarterly estimated payments, and notice management.

A primary focus for 2025 will be serving as the Functional Owner for Corp Tax, leading the implementation and optimization of the software to modernize our compliance workflow. You will work in a highly collaborative ecosystem, partnering daily with our Tax FP&A, Tax Close & Reporting, and Tax Compliance teams to ensure a seamless "data-to-filing" pipeline.

• Compliance Management:

  • Lead the preparation and filing of the U.S. Federal consolidated return and all state/local income tax returns in partnership with our co-source provider.

  • Maintain US and state income tax filing tracker and proactively manage all deliverables to ensure on time filing and payment

  • Functional owner of US Federal and state provision to return

  • Manage the tracking and resolution of federal and state income tax notices, ensuring timely responses and mitigation of penalties

  • Incorporate automation and technology (including AI) to help eliminate manual efforts within the compliance process

  • Own process for executing tax payments through internal payments team or third party payment provider (AnyBill).

  • Ownership of Tax Master Data (including, entity type, account IDs, etc.) with respect to US compliance.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration:

  • With Tax FP&A: Provide accurate compliance data to support forecasting and cash flow modeling.  Partner on complex technical US tax concepts, including interest limitations.

  • With Tax Close & Reporting: Ensure the seamless transition of data from the tax provision (ASC 740) to the compliance software.  Coordinate to ensure return to provision is incorporation and current tax calculations are incorporated into provision.  Partner to ensure compliance application set up is conducive to tax provisioning and downstream processes (i.e., provision to return).

  • With State & Local Director: Coordinate on state-specific filing requirements, collaborate on state income tax audits, preparation and review of apportionment data.

  • With Compliance Director: Collaborate on standardization of data inputs and automation workstreams, where possible, to minimize manual efforts.

  • With International Tax Manager: Coordinate data collection and international inputs into the return.

• Software Ownership:

  • Serve as the functional lead for insourced tax compliance software (i.e., Corp Tax).

  • Direct the 2025 implementation, including data mapping, process design, and training to ensure the platform is the "single source of truth" for compliance.

• Cash Tax Management:

  • Own the process for calculating and executing quarterly state estimated tax payments and extensions, utilizing forecasts provided from Tax FP&A.

• Co-Source Management: Act as the primary point of contact for external tax compliance advisors, managing the project timeline, data requests, and technical review of work papers.

Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years of corporate tax experience, with a heavy focus on U.S. Federal and multi-state income tax compliance. Big 4 or large multinational corporate experience preferred.

• Technical Mastery: Deep functional expertise in Corp Tax (or similar Tier-1 compliance software like ONESOURCE). Proven experience leading a software implementation or major process overhaul is a significant plus.

• Education: CPA and/or Master’s in Taxation (MST) required.

• Collaborative Mindset: Ability to navigate a matrixed tax department where controversy and reporting are handled by separate functional leads.

• Analytical Rigor: Strong proficiency in Excel and experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, etc.) for data extraction and transformation.

Additional Information

Enabling your best to power a better media future. Our comprehensive benefits package (including health & wellness plans, 401(k) retirement coupled with a Nielsen match, a generous paid time off policy, company provided car for those who qualify, and if eligible, a discretionary incentive/bonus) is designed to be inclusive for all employees and families, and we take pride in ensuring that employees are rewarded holistically for the role they are doing and their performance.

A reasonable estimated salary range for a new employee has been provided. It would be adjusted based on each employee's geographic location. The position of each employee within a compensation range at Nielsen is dependent on several individual circumstances, such as experience, training, certifications and other business requirements/needs.

Nielsen makes hiring decisions without regard to disability status, protected veteran status, or membership in any other protected class.

Please be aware that job-seekers may be at risk of targeting by scammers seeking personal data or money. Nielsen recruiters will only contact you through official job boards, LinkedIn, or email with a nielsen.com domain. Be cautious of any outreach claiming to be from Nielsen via other messaging platforms or personal email addresses. Always verify that email communications come from an @nielsen.com address. If you're unsure about the authenticity of a job offer or communication, please contact Nielsen directly through our official website or verified social media channels.