Tax Specialist - US at Kontak Recruitment

A US-based alternative investment manager operating in structured and private credit is expanding its lean, high-calibre tax function with a remote hire based in South Africa. The firm's core activities span loan origination, securitisation, investment partnerships, corporations, REITs, registered funds, and an insurance business.
The tax function is currently led by a single Managing Director with over 18 years of industry experience. This hire is created to relieve a growing compliance backlog and build a structured two-tier review system. Third-party firms prepare the returns and workpapers. The successful candidate performs the first level review. The Managing Director handles the final review. It is a focused, high-trust role for someone who takes ownership of their output and does not need to be chased.


What's in it for you


Fully remote role based anywhere in South Africa, with no relocation required.
Work directly alongside a Managing Director with 18-plus years of US tax experience, gaining deep exposure to complex US fund structures.
Long-term engagement with a firm that intends to extend the contract indefinitely for the right person.
Paid in South African Rand through a local entity, removing currency and administrative friction.
20 days paid leave per year plus South African public holidays.
Equipment supplied or reimbursed, with all system access provided by the client.
Bonus discussed at offer stage.
Opportunity to work with AI tools including Claude, which the tax function already uses to automate entry-level tasks and routines.


Minimum Requirements


Ideally 5-7 years big four experience in the tax department
Prior experience supporting a US/UK/Irish asset management, financial services, real estate, hedge fund, or private equity tax practice.
Hands-on experience with Geneva or a comparable portfolio accounting system used by fund administrators.
Advanced Excel skills covering lookups, pivot tables, and large-dataset reconciliations with clearly built, traceable workpapers.
Exceptional reconciliation discipline where every number ties to a source and every adjustment is documented so a remote reviewer can follow it without a call.
Strong file management habits with consistent naming, versioning, and folder organisation.
Sharp eye for errors in work prepared by others.
Basic familiarity with Claude or similar AI tools and willingness to use them in daily work.
Professional written and spoken English for regular communication with US-based colleagues and third-party service providers.
Availability to overlap at least 5 hours daily with US Eastern Time, with extended overlap during peak periods in February to mid-April, late August to mid-September, and December.


Preferred requirements


Solid working knowledge of US partnership tax under Subchapter K, including allocations across large partnership structures and K-1 reporting.
Familiarity with US federal and state income tax forms, including the Form 1120 series and Form 1065.


Key Responsibilities


Perform first level review of US federal and state corporate and partnership tax returns prepared by third-party accounting firms, flagging errors, inconsistencies, and open items.
Review Schedule K-1 deliverables for accuracy, consistency with fund allocations, and investor-level reporting.
Review estimated tax payment calculations and supporting schedules before payments are processed.
Perform tax and technical diligence on positions taken in third-party deliverables and raise uncertainties and potential risk areas early.
Reconcile taxable income workpapers to book income and portfolio accounting data, including allocations across large partnership structures.
Run and export reports from portfolio accounting systems such as Geneva to support tax workpapers and data requests.
Tie tax data back to source systems and document every adjustment with a clear, traceable paper trail.
Complete and maintain IRS W-series forms including W-9, W-8BEN-E, and W-8IMY for firm entities and counterparties.
Maintain entity management records and registrations covering legal entity details, tax classifications, EINs, and organisational charts.
Organise tax files and records in a consistent, structured format so any reviewer can locate support quickly.
Coordinate regularly with third-party tax firms, fund administrators, and the fund accounting team on data requests and open questions.
Track deliverables to completion and escalate issues to the Managing Director, Tax.
Prepare internal ad hoc analyses, schedules, and summaries for the tax function.
Assist with process improvement and help extend the firm's use of AI tools within the tax function.