Sales Tax Lead

ABOUT SPHERE

Every breakthrough in trade infrastructure has followed the same pattern: reduce a transaction cost, expand the market. Containerization for goods. SWIFT for money. Stripe for payments. Compliance is one of the last and largest — and the hardest, because trade rules aren't data to be looked up. They're a complex adaptive system with 190+ sovereign jurisdictions, in different languages, changing constantly, reacting to each other.

Sphere built the system that solves it. Our AI (TRAM) ingests global trade law, interprets it, resolves conflicts across jurisdictions, and produces compliance determinations more reliable than human experts. We handle the entire lifecycle — calculation, registration, filing, remittance — at millisecond latency with zero downtime.

• Backed by a16z and YC. $21M Series A, 30%+ month-over-month growth, customers include ElevenLabs, Replit, Deel, Runway, and Lovable.
• Small team, global surface area. Everyone owns a domain that would be a full team at a larger company. San Francisco, five days in office.
• The problem keeps compounding. Expanding into input tax, withholding, e-invoicing, tariffs — each multiplies the complexity. Tens of millions of transactions today, billions ahead.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a Sales Tax Lead to serve as a key member of our Tax team and the primary subject matter expert on U.S. sales and use tax matters. Reporting directly to the Head of Tax, this role will help shape how tax is reflected across our products, operations, and customer experience by translating complex tax requirements into scalable business solutions.

You will partner closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Compliance, and Customer Success teams to evaluate the tax implications of new products, features, and business initiatives. You will lead tax research, support product taxability decisions, provide guidance on customer and internal tax questions, and monitor regulatory developments that impact our platform and customers.

As a foundational member of the tax organization, you will help build and scale the processes, knowledge resources, and automation that enable the company to deliver accurate, reliable, and compliant tax solutions at scale.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Within days:

• Conduct research on U.S. sales tax regulations, legislative developments, and emerging compliance requirements.
• Assist with tax registration, licensing, and compliance-related research across multiple jurisdictions.
• Provide technical tax support and respond to inquiries from cross-functional internal teams
• Partner with customer-facing teams to deliver tax guidance and support customer needs
• Assist with customer onboarding, activation, and tax-related implementation questions

Within months:

• Manage apportionment, nexus, and sourcing methodologies across multiple entities and jurisdictions
• Contribute to the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of internal knowledge resources and documentation
• Partner with Engineering and Business Operations teams to design, implement, and scale automated processes that improve efficiency and support business growth

REQUIREMENTS

• Strong communication skills - we work at an extremely fast pace and so clear, concise communication is essential
• Deep knowledge of U.S. sales and use tax, including compliance, nexus analysis, audits, and exemption management
• Knowledge of at least one data-focused technology tool, such as Python, SQL, Alteryx, or similar
• Knowledge of accounting principles and processes
• Experience researching indirect tax issues including taxability of products and services
• Multi tasking capabilities - a lot will be thrown at you and you’ll need to manage your time wisely

WHO YOU ARE

You'll thrive here if:

• You're a Dog. You've been underestimated, gone through struggle, and never stopped running. You have a chip on your shoulder and enormous drive. You look at Stripe, Deel, and Flexport all punting on compliance and think: good, that means the opportunity is ours. Hunger beats pedigree.
• Early stage is in your bones. You've built things where there's no playbook and nobody handing you the answer. You define the problem instead of waiting for instructions.
• You own it end to end. Give you a goal and you figure out your own path. Small team, global surface area — everyone owns a domain that would be a full team at a larger company. No one tells you how.
• You believe speed and accuracy are both possible. We're building a complex product that requires robustness and 100% uptime, and we have to build at our customers' pace. Move fast. Don't break things. Both.

This won't be a fit if:

• You need structure handed to you or ambiguity feels draining rather than motivating
• You want to manage people more than own hard problems (we're a flat, experienced team — everyone builds)
• You're used to "good enough" shipping (small errors have outsized impact here)