Black Ore — Tax Technical Specialist

Type: Full-time | Hybrid | New York City, NY (primary) · Austin, TX (secondary) Compensation: $80,000–$160,000 + competitive equity (no % specified) Hiring count: 2 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Sarah, Director of Data Architecture (hiring manager)

About Black Ore

Black Ore is an AI platform for financial services. Its flagship product, Tax Autopilot, autonomously prepares tax returns for CPA and accounting firms — transforming preparers into reviewers and reviewers into advisors. The company launched to a waiting list of 4,000+ accounting firms after operating in stealth with 40% of the Top 20 CPA firms, delivering 99% accuracy and saving up to 98% of preparation time versus manual workflows, and is accelerating toward $100M ARR.

Founded: 2022 | Team size: 11–50 | Stage: Series A Backed by: Oak HC/FT, a16z, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Trust Ventures Angels: Tom Glocer (former CEO, Thomson Reuters), Max Levchin (founder, PayPal & Affirm), Gokul Rajaram Industry: AI Tools / Financial Services Website: blackore.ai Office: New York City, NY · Austin, TX

Why Candidates Should Join

• Bleeding edge of tax disruption: Build the canonical tax data model behind an AI-native platform — not another 15 years of incremental change.
• Real traction: 4,000+ firm waiting list, 40% of the Top 20 CPA firms in stealth, 99% accuracy, racing toward $100M ARR.
• Top-tier backing: Oak HC/FT, a16z, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, plus marquee angels.

Intake Call Summary

• No intake call transcript or written summary was on the role page (intake video present but not transcribed). Role detail below is drawn from the posted "About the Role" content.

The Role

Tax Technical Specialists join the Information Architecture team as tax domain experts shaping the design of an AI-native tax platform, sitting at the intersection of tax, information architecture, and AI-enabled technology design. The work translates complex tax concepts (HNW 1040s, partnership K-1s, basis tracking) into a single, opinionated data model — the bridge between the tax brain and the engineering brain.

What You'll Be Doing

• Translate tax rules, regulatory guidance, and accounting concepts into structured data models, business rules, and computational logic
• Research complex tax and regulatory guidance from authoritative sources to define requirements, taxonomies, rule sets, and integration workflows for tax automation
• Build the canonical model: every form, every institution, every line item maps back to one consistent source of truth
• Explain complex tax and accounting concepts to non-CPA technical stakeholders (architects, engineers, AI engineers)
• QA system logic to ensure outputs match expected behavior (faulty logic, not hallucination, is the focus)
• Use AI tools (Claude Code, Codex) daily to accelerate delivery of models and implementation artifacts

Tech stack: Excel, Codex, Claude Code (AI tooling used daily; significant time in Excel and Codex)

Requirements

• CPA with 2+ tax seasons, high-net-worth focus
• 1040s, K-1s, partnership returns, basis tracking
• Beginner+ coding: data structures, OOP, foreign keys
• Can write algorithms explaining tax logic to non-CPAs
• AI-native: Claude Code, Codex daily
• NYC Metro hybrid, Austin secondary

Green Flags

• Tax associate at a boutique high-net-worth shop (Anderson, Centerbridge, comparable) who has personally built workpapers or automation tools on the side. Coding coursework or self-taught Python. Strong GPA from a solid accounting program. This is Black Ore's calibration anchor for the existing similar hire.
• CPA who has already transitioned from tax into automation, dev, or tech-adjacent roles.
• AI-native daily usage of Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or comparable. Probe specifically: which tools, how often, for what kinds of problems.
• Younger CPA (2-5 years) who is excited to be on the bleeding edge of tax disruption rather than riding out another 15 years of incremental change
• Can answer the four core tax screening questions: loss limitations, nonpassive activity classifications, grouping elections, basis tracking. Bonus: has personally built workpapers or calculators in prior jobs.

Red Flags

• Pure C-Corp tax background. Black Ore needs high-net-worth and pass-through entity depth (1040s, K-1s, partnerships).
• Senior tax manager or tax director (10+ years) who likely won't take the comp Black Ore offers
• CPA with no coding fluency. Cannot work alongside the engineering team or pseudo-code logic into structured form. Hard floor on the screening questions.
• AI tourist who has heard of Claude Code or Codex but does not use them daily
• Brooks from Shawshank profile: 10+ years at a Big 4 or similar without lateral curiosity or tech-adjacent signal. "Comfortable with the walls."

Role Details

Salary$80,000–$160,000EquityCompetitive (no % specified)On-site policyHybrid — come in when neededVisa sponsorshipNone availableEmployment typeFull-timeLocationNew York City, NY (primary) · Austin, TX (secondary)Experience2–5 years (per Job Details)

Screening Questions

Every candidate must clear the Technical CPA Screening Questions doc (gold-standard first-pass filter): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u5ZlrdpJyUyuUwRgvfhMmjI3jH4cn1zo/view?usp=sharing

The four core tax screening questions:

1. Loss limitations
2. Nonpassive activity classifications
3. Grouping elections
4. Basis tracking

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Initial Interview (30 min) — Chat with Teddy. Stage 3 — Chat with Sarah (1 hr) — Director of Data Architecture, hiring manager. Stage 4 — Chat with Pavel (30–60 min) — CTO. Stage 5 — Chat with Tax Person — Tax knowledge verification. Stage 6 — Final Chat with Sarah Stage 7 — Offer Extended Stage 8 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive equity
• Platinum, 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• One Medical, Talkspace, Kindbody coverage
• 401(k), Roth 401(k), and other employer-sponsored investment benefits
• Parental leave
• Unlimited PTO

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

No dedicated "Ideal Companies" section was present on the role page. Boutique HNW shops named in Green Flags as the calibration anchor: Anderson, Centerbridge, and comparable.

Ideal Candidate Profiles — DO NOT CONTACT

For reference only — do not source these specific profiles.

• Simon Bass — LinkedIn URL not captured in page HTML
• Natalie Connors — LinkedIn URL not captured in page HTML
• Hannah Grassmann — LinkedIn URL not captured in page HTML

Rejected Candidate Feedback

• None present on the role page.