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're looking for an Indirect Tax Filings Specialist to help execute and scale our tax compliance operations. Working closely with the Compliance Lead and Head of Tax, you'll own the day-to-day tax filing process, ensuring returns are prepared, reviewed, and submitted accurately and on time.
Beyond executing filings, you'll play a key role in improving how we operate. You'll partner with Engineering to automate manual workflows, identify opportunities to streamline processes, and help build a more scalable, technology-driven tax compliance function. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys combining operational excellence with process improvement and is excited to help modernize tax operations.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Within days:
Prepare, review, and file tax returns accurately and on schedule across multiple jurisdictions and filing frequencies
Monitor filing status and operational metrics, proactively identifying risks and driving issues to resolution
Perform reconciliations between tax returns, payments, and remittance records, investigating and resolving discrepancies
Manage filing calendars, deadlines, and dependencies to consistently meet compliance obligations
Within months:
Execute process and automation improvements in collaboration with the Compliance and Engineering teams
Flag process gaps, errors, and risk areas
Take on a growing share of filing volume as the business scales
Work with the Customer Success team to build a knowledge base and trainings to address customer questions
REQUIREMENTS
4+ years of experience preparing, reviewing, and filing high volumes of tax returns across multiple jurisdictions
Solid understanding of return filing processes, reconciliations, and controls
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience collaborating across Finance, Operations, and Engineering teams - we work at an extremely fast pace and so clear, concise communication is essential
High attention to detail - one of our key values is ‘Sweating the details’ and it is essential in our business
Multitasking capabilities - a lot will be thrown at you and you’ll need to manage your time wisely
NICE TO HAVES
Experience working with tax automation or compliance platforms
Familiarity with AI, web automation, and data analytics tools
Comfortable partnering with software engineering or product teams to automate operational workflows
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)