Director, Head of Tax

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Cercano Management LLC ("Cercano") is an SEC‑registered investment manager focused on ultra‑high net worth clients and the entities associated with those clients, such as a family foundation. Cercano is based in Bellevue, WA, with offices in Minneapolis, MN, and Singapore. Cercano invests globally for its clients, commonly operating as the family office Chief Investment Officer. The team has extensive experience in direct investing in all stages of venture capital, private equity, private credit, and public equities on a global basis.

Cercano offers services for all aspects of a client’s assets or family office. The team also has experience working with clients who have significant investments in non‑financial assets on a global scale, such as fine art, professional sports teams, entertainment properties, intellectual property, commercial real estate, farmland, and personal residential estates.

The Director of Tax provides firmwide tax leadership across the investment advisory and investment management platform, including advisory services for families, foundations, and related entities and investment management for alternative investment funds. This role owns tax strategy and technical governance; serves as the senior tax advisor on transaction review, structuring, and documentation across all strategies; and partners closely with Finance, Legal, Investments, Client Service, and external advisors.

The candidate must have strong written and oral communication skills and be able to interface with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. The candidate must be comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment and be willing to be very hands‑on. This position is based in either the Wayzata, MN or Bellevue, WA office.

• Lead tax review of investment transactions across all strategies, including private equity, private credit, venture capital, and family/foundation structures.
• Design and implement structuring, as needed, for US taxable investors, US tax‑exempt investors, and foreign investors to mitigate negative tax implications.
• Partner with Legal on review and negotiation of fund and investments documents (e.g., LPAs, LLC agreements, subscription agreements, side letters, credit agreements, and other transaction documents).
• Own the preparation and maintenance of written tax analyses, transaction memoranda, and internal guidance documenting tax positions, assumptions, and materiality thresholds.
• Independently identify tax risks, structuring opportunities, elections, and compliance considerations at the transaction stage.

• Oversee the entire federal, state, and international tax compliance process across all funds including preparation of estimates, review of tax returns, and managing tax distributions.
• Assist with tax planning and forecasting of each client’s taxable income position.
• Communicate relevant tax developments to clients, Investment team, Leadership, and the company as a whole.
• Assist with the defense of all tax positions taken on the tax returns, including establishing strategic and tactical positions on all tax audits, negotiating with IRS personnel and state and local tax personnel, and developing a strategy for responses to all requests for tax information from federal, foreign, state and local tax authorities.
• Provide exceptional client service to all clients including regular communication on estimated taxable income, timely providing annual tax reporting information and updates on relevant tax developments impacting investment entities.

• Serve as a trusted tax advisor to the Investment team, proactively communicating tax considerations related to acquisitions, restructurings, dispositions, and liquidity events.
• Monitor and interpret tax law developments and translate them into practical guidance for internal stakeholders.
• Support structuring and review of complex partnership allocations, waterfalls (American and European), and carried interest arrangements.
• Partner with the portfolio managers and external advisors to identify tax…