Tax Analyst

Tax Analyst

Category: Finance & Accounting

Req : 1257

Date: Jul 20, 2026

Location: Burlington, MA, US, 01803 Leawood, KS, US, 66211

We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture
Ascend Learning, a leading healthcare and learning technology company, is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data-driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning. From testing to certification, Ascend Learning products are used by physicians, emergency medical professionals, nurses, allied health professionals, certified personal trainers, financial advisors, skilled trades professionals and insurance brokers.

Headquartered in Burlington, MA, with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant‑A Insights Group as one of America’s 2025 Greatest Workplaces as well as America’s Best Places to work for Mental Well‑Being for 2025.

We’re always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you’d thrive, read on to learn more.

The Tax Analyst will oversee Ascend's in-house indirect tax operations, partnering with the VP of Tax to execute the transition of business and compliance support functions and stand up sustainable internal processes. This role serves as the day‑to‑day owner of the relationship with the external tax preparer, ensuring quality, timeliness, and cost discipline across retained indirect tax compliance. Additional responsibilities include supporting the process for abandoned and unclaimed property, preparation of property tax returns, business license renewals, and other non‑income based taxes.

This position will work hybrid from our Leawood, KS or Burlington, MA office location.

• Research the taxability of the company's products, services, and digital offerings across states where it has nexus, maintain a taxability matrix documenting tax treatment and supporting authority, and configure taxability rules in Avalara to ensure accurate tax calculation at point of sale.
• Collect, validate, and store customer exemption certificates, monitor expiration dates and proactively request renewals, and maintain an organized exemption certificate database.
• Monitor economic nexus thresholds across all applicable jurisdictions, register the company in new states when nexus is established, and maintain a nexus register tracking registration status, filing frequency, and account numbers.
• Respond to state and local tax authority notices, gather and organize documentation for state sales tax audits, and assist with penalty abatement requests.
• Partner with Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable to ensure tax is charged correctly and use tax obligations are identified, advise product and operations teams on the tax implications of new offerings or business changes, and support IT and ERP teams with tax engine configuration and rate table maintenance.
• Operate and maintain the indirect tax platform (Avalara), monitor automated return filing outputs and review AI‑prepared returns before submission, and identify and flag data quality issues affecting tax calculation accuracy.
• Prepare and support business license registrations, prepare and file property tax returns, and provide other business compliance support as needed.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business preferred. Equivialvent experience will be considered in lieu of degree.
• 2+ years of hands‑on sales and use tax compliance experience, including independently owned multi‑state filing.
• Experience managing an exemption certificate portfolio using a dedicated platform (e.g., Avalara Cert Capture or equivalent).
• Hands‑on experience configuring an indirect tax platform such as Avalara, Vertex, or Sovos, beyond end‑user access.
• Experience with nexus analysis and state registration, including post‑Wayfair economic nexus thresholds.
• Experience supporting a state sales tax audit a plus, but not required.
• Strong working knowledge of…