Tax Research Analyst

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.

Symmetry has a physical office space in Scottsdale. 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).

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

Working at Symmetry

Being happy at a job goes beyond just doing the work. Where you choose to spend 40 hours a week should be a place that challenges you professionally and aligns with your personal goals and well-being. We truly love what we do, and our customers love what we produce. Our family-owned and -operated business is collaborative, fun, and friendly. We offer the opportunity to work with all kinds of positions across the company, from the CEO to support to sales and everything in between.

Recently, Symmetry became part of Gusto. More than 400,000 businesses use Gusto’s people platform to hire, pay, insure, and support their team–from modern payroll and benefits to distributed work services and international contractor support to expert HR. Together, Symmetry and Gusto are pushing the entire industry forward by helping growing businesses access tools and services that for so long have only been available to larger corporations.

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 with us.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Our company considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Our company is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. We want to see our candidates perform to the best of their ability. If you require a medical or religious accommodation at any time throughout your candidate journey, please fill out this form and a member of our team will get in touch with you.

We take security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer.

Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.

About our products

Our products make sure millions of paychecks are right, no matter where people live or work in the U.S. We simplify the payroll process with accurate and dependable payroll withholding tax solutions. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, like Walmart and Southwest Airlines, and leading payroll service providers, including ADP and Paychex. With a 95%+ customer retention rate, our products always have to be top-of-the-line, and so do our employees.

Symmetry is also the company behind the popular website PaycheckCity.com, which helps millions of Americans better understand their paychecks every month.