Senior Client Manager / Tax Technical Lead — CPA or EA

Privity CPA Partners | Thousand Oaks, CA
In-Person | Approximately 28 Hours Per Week | Year-Round
$55/hour + Benefits + Uncapped Sales Commission 

Privity CPA Partners is looking for an experienced CPA or Enrolled Agent who wants more than a traditional tax position.

We are seeking a Senior Client Manager and Tax Technical Lead who can take ownership of client relationships, guide our production team, solve difficult problems, identify opportunities, and help grow the firm.

This is not a role for someone who simply waits for assignments, identifies problems, and passes them up the chain.

We are looking for the person who hears, We have a problem, and immediately starts thinking:

What happened? What are our options? Who needs to be involved? How do we solve this?

The right person is decisive, organized, commercially minded, technically strong, excellent with clients, and comfortable leading others.

What Makes This Role Different

You will sit at the center of communication between our clients, tax professionals, accounting team, and partners.

You will not be expected to personally complete every piece of work.

You will be expected to make sure the work gets done.

That means understanding what needs to happen, setting priorities, delegating effectively, removing obstacles, following up, communicating with clients, answering technical questions, and keeping engagements moving toward completion.

You will also play an important role in the growth of the firm.

We want someone who enjoys talking with clients, recognizes opportunities to provide additional services, confidently explains the value of those services, and is comfortable asking for the business.

Your Core Responsibilities

Own the Client Relationship

You will serve as a primary point of contact for a portfolio of Privity CPA clients.

You will:

• Conduct client meetings by video conference, telephone, and in person

• Respond to client questions and concerns

• Explain tax concepts in language clients can understand

• Proactively communicate about deadlines, missing information, issues, and opportunities

• Build strong long-term client relationships

• Handle difficult client situations calmly and professionally

• Take responsibility for the client experience from beginning to end

• Help drive strong client retention and satisfaction

Lead the Work — Without Having to Do All of It

You will help direct and guide our production team.

You will:

• Monitor the pipeline of tax and accounting work

• Help prioritize assignments and deadlines

• Delegate work appropriately

• Follow up with team members and keep projects moving

• Identify bottlenecks before they become emergencies

• Remove obstacles that prevent the team from completing work

• Coordinate between clients and production staff

• Make sure commitments made to clients are actually completed

• Hold people accountable without needing formal hiring or firing authority

You should be comfortable asking:

Who owns this? What is the next step? When will it be finished? What is preventing us from completing it?

And then helping the team solve the problem.

Be a Technical Resource

We want this person to become one of the strongest tax resources inside Privity.

You will:

• Assist with tax return review

• Help resolve complex tax questions

• Provide tax advice to clients

• Support preparers when they encounter difficult issues

• Research tax issues when necessary

• Apply professional judgment rather than simply looking for a checklist

• Know when an issue can be solved internally and when partner involvement is truly necessary

Our ideal candidate enjoys being the person others come to when they are stuck.

You do not necessarily need to walk in knowing everything.

You do need the critical-thinking skills to figure things out.

Sell Every Day

Business development is an important part of this position.

We are not looking for a stereotypical salesperson.

We are looking for an experienced professional who can listen to a client, recognize what they need, explain how Privity can help, and confidently recommend additional services.

You will identify and sell services including:

• Individual and business tax preparation

• Trust and estate income tax return preparation

• Trust accounting

• Corporate accounting and related accounting services

• Additional compliance and advisory services offered through Privity CPA Partners

Our strongest performer in this role would regularly generate approximately $3,000–$5,000 per week in additional engagements.

You will earn commission based on sales, meaning your earning potential is not capped by your hourly compensation.

Who We Are Looking For

You may be a great fit if you are someone who:

• Takes ownership

• Thinks critically

• Finds solutions

• Makes decisions

• Communicates confidently

• Builds trust quickly with clients

• Is highly organized

• Delegates well

• Keeps people moving

• Doesn't avoid difficult conversations

• Stays composed when things get complicated

• Enjoys helping clients

• Enjoys identifying and closing new business

• Doesn't need constant direction

• Understands when to escalate something — and when not to

• Can move between tax technical issues, client communication, team leadership, and sales throughout the same day

Most importantly, when something goes wrong, your instinct should be to solve it rather than simply report it.

Qualifications

We are looking for:

• CPA or Enrolled Agent

• 5+ years of tax experience

• Strong individual and business tax knowledge

• Experience working directly with clients

• Experience reviewing tax returns or assisting with tax return review

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Strong organizational and project-management abilities

• Confidence discussing tax matters with clients

• Ability to guide and direct other professionals

• Strong judgment and problem-solving skills

• Comfort working in a technology-driven accounting firm

Experience with ProConnect Tax Online is strongly preferred.

What We Value More Than a Perfect Résumé

We care deeply about technical competence, but technical knowledge alone will not make someone successful in this role.

If we had to choose between:

A technically perfect tax professional who struggles with leadership, communication, initiative, and sales

and

A strong tax professional who is exceptional at leadership, critical thinking, communication, ownership, and business development

we would hire the second person.

We can teach systems.

We can expand technical knowledge.

It is much harder to teach someone to think like an owner.

Schedule

This is an in-person position in our Thousand Oaks office.

The role is designed for approximately 28 hours per week, year-round.

We believe experienced professionals should be able to perform meaningful, challenging work without necessarily committing to the traditional public-accounting lifestyle.

This position may be particularly attractive to an experienced CPA or EA who wants to remain at a senior professional level while maintaining greater control over their schedule.

Compensation

$55 per hour

PLUS

Commission based on sales generated

There is no predetermined ceiling on total compensation. A strong performer who consistently develops new engagements can meaningfully increase their earnings through commissions.

Benefits

Benefits include:

• Health insurance

• Paid time off

• Paid holidays

• Continuing professional education budget

• Ongoing professional development

• Direct access to firm partners

• Opportunity to become a key leader within a growing CPA firm

How We Measure Success

Success in this position will be measured primarily through:

Client Retention

Clients trust you, stay with the firm, and view you as an important advisor.

Client Satisfaction

Clients receive timely communication, strong service, thoughtful advice, and confidence that someone is taking responsibility for their work.

Sales

You consistently recognize opportunities and convert conversations into new engagements.

Leadership

Work moves forward because you are involved. Problems get solved. Team members receive direction. Clients receive answers. Partners are not unnecessarily pulled into issues that you are capable of resolving.

The Person We Want

We want someone who wants responsibility.

Someone who enjoys being relied upon.

Someone who can walk into a complicated situation, organize the moving pieces, make decisions, communicate clearly, and get everyone moving in the right direction.

Someone who is equally comfortable discussing a tax return, leading a client meeting, directing a production team, and closing a new engagement.

And someone who understands that excellent client service does not mean simply being friendly.

It means taking ownership and delivering results.

If that sounds like how you already operate, we would like to meet you.