What are the responsibilities and job description for the Indirect Tax Manager position at Heritage Distribution?
The Indirect Tax Manager leads the day-to-day execution of HDH’s multi-state indirect tax function, with primary ownership of sales & use tax, real estate tax, business personal property tax, and business license compliance across all jurisdictions where HDH operates. Working closely with the Tax Director, the role ensures accurate and defensible compliance, optimizes the company’s use of Avalara Tax and Avalara Business License Tools, manages state and local audits, and supports M&A integration. Because HDH reports under IFRS, reserves and provisions for indirect tax matters must align with IFRS principles (notably IAS 37). This is currently an individual-contributor role with no direct reports; additional team members may be added over time as the function grows.
Key Responsibilities/Tasks
Sales & Use Tax
- Own multi-state sales and use tax compliance through Avalara - return approval, filing, remittance, economic/physical nexus monitoring, state registrations/de-registration, and product taxability.
- Reconcile sales/use tax GL accounts and advise the business on tax treatment of new products, customers, channels, and M&A activity.
Real Estate & Business Personal Property Tax
- Manage annual real estate tax and business personal property tax compliance across all locations, including renditions, assessment review, payment, and assessment appeals.
Business Licenses & Audit Defense
- Oversee business licenses, permits, and annual reports through the Avalara Business License Tool, coordinating with Legal on entity reporting and corporate governance filings.
- Manage state and local audits (sales/use, property, and license) from notice through settlement, maintaining audit-ready documentation and IFRS-aligned (IAS 37) reserves analysis, with Tax Director review and approval.
M&A Support
- Support indirect tax due diligence and post-close integration of acquired entities, including registration cleanup, implementation to Avalara and transition of all other indirect tax filings.
Technology & Process
Serve as subject-matter expert and administrator for Avalara; lead onboarding of additional HDH Group entities as budget and capacity allow; and drive process, controls, and data-quality improvements.
Certifications: CPA, CMI – Sales Tax (Institute for Professionals in Taxation), or Master’s in Taxation strongly preferred; not required.
Educational Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Tax, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
Years of Experience: 5–7 years of progressive indirect tax experience, including multi-state sales/use tax, business personal property tax, and audit defense; Prior experience in wholesale distribution or another multi-location, multi-state business strongly preferred; public accounting / Big 4 indirect tax experience a plus.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
- Hands-on experience implementing, configuring, and optimizing Avalara Tax and Avalara Business License Tool (or comparable engines such as Vertex or Sovos) - required.
- Deep knowledge of multi-state sales & use tax (nexus, product taxability, marketplace facilitator rules), plus real estate and business personal property tax and business license administration.
- Experience leading state and local tax audits; M&A due diligence and post-close integration experience a plus.
- Working knowledge of IFRS (particularly IAS 37 as applied to indirect tax) a plus, however, willingness and ability to learn IFRS-based accounting required.
- Clear communicator who can translate technical tax matters for non-tax stakeholders and external auditors.