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Alpaca

Director, Tax Reporting and Cost Basis

Alpaca · remote · senior · full-time · $135000–$225000 USD
cryptofintech brokerage tax reportingcost basisU.S. expertisefinancial calculation system1099-COMP1042-S5498contribution reportingretirement accountsglobal clientswithholdingtreaty rates
8.3
AI Score
The vacancy is well-structured and informative, with minor areas for improvement in compensation and company visibility.
Job description
Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, fixed income, 24/5 trading, and more. Our recent Series D funding round brought our total investment to over $320 million, fueling our ambitious vision. Amongst our subsidiaries, Alpaca is a licensed financial services company, serving hundreds of financial institutions across 40 countries with our institutional-grade APIs. This includes broker-dealers, investment advisors, wealth managers, hedge funds, and crypto exchanges, totaling over 9 million brokerage accounts. Our global team is a diverse group of experienced engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals who are working to achieve our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. We're deeply committed to open-source contributions and fostering a vibrant community, continuously enhancing our award-winning, developer-friendly API and the robust infrastructure behind it.
Responsibilities
### Your Role As Director, Tax Reporting & Cost Basis, you will define and lead Alpaca’s global tax reporting strategy, with a U.S.-first foundation and expanding international complexity. You will own the end-to-end design, build, and execution of a proprietary cost basis engine and scalable tax reporting infrastructure. This includes ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant reporting across regimes such as 1099, 1042-S, 5498, and contribution-related reporting, while building frameworks to support global clients. ### Things You Get to Do - Define and execute Alpaca’s global tax reporting strategy, balancing U.S. requirements with international client needs - Architect and lead the build of a proprietary cost basis engine from the ground up, in close partnership with Engineering - Design and implement a global tax matrix (country of residence vs. security domicile) to determine treaty rates and withholding logic - Oversee all reporting obligations including 1099, 1042-S (non-U.S. persons), 5498 (retirement accounts), and contribution-related reporting - Establish a year-round tax readiness program, including multiple test cycles, reconciliations, and “dry runs” to validate systems and data pipelines - Own delivery of a flawless January tax season, with clear guidelines, SLAs, and operational rubrics for execution - Build and scale a high-performing team, setting standards for accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement - Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Compliance, and Operations to embed tax logic into core systems - Act as the primary point of contact for audits, regulators, and external stakeholders on tax reporting matters
Requirements
### Who You Are (Must Haves) - 10+ years of experience in brokerage tax reporting and cost basis, with deep U.S. expertise - Hands-on experience building or leading the development of a cost basis engine or similar financial calculation system - Strong knowledge of 1099-COMP, 1042-S, 5498, and contribution reporting, including retirement account considerations - Experience supporting global clients, including understanding of withholding, treaty rates, and cross-border tax implications - Proven ability to design scalable systems, controls, and processes from scratch - Track record of leading teams and delivering accurate, on-time tax reporting cycles - Ability to operate at both strategic and deeply operational levels, especially under time-sensitive conditions ### Who You Might Be (Nice-to-Haves) - Experience building a residence vs. security domicile matrix for treaty rate application - Background in API-first brokerages, clearing firms, or multi-asset platforms - Familiarity with international tax regimes and reporting beyond the U.S. - Experience running mock tax seasons, parallel runs, or large-scale system validation cycles - CPA or equivalent certification - Experience working directly with regulators or leading large-scale audits
Conditions
### How We Take Care of You: - Competitive Salary & Stock Options - Health Benefits - New Hire Home-Office Setup: One-time USD $500 - Monthly Stipend: USD $150 per month via a Brex Card Alpaca is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce.
About Alpaca
Alpaca is a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto, along with embeddable finance solutions like tokenization and securities lending. It serves retail traders, institutional investors, app developers, and fintech companies worldwide through its API-first platform. The company, originally started in 2015 as a database and machine learning firm, is headquartered in San Mateo, California.
FinTech · 200-1000 · San Mateo, United States · Founded 2015 · https://alpaca.markets
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