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State and Local Tax Director

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley

Accounting & Finance
New York, NY, USA
USD 90k-155k / year
Posted on Sep 17, 2025

We're seeking someone to join the State and Local Tax team as a Director in Tax department to prepare and review of state income tax returns, state apportionment, state income tax provision, audit support and state and local tax analytics for multiple legal entities across different businesses.

In the Finance division, we act as a partner to business units around the globe by providing management, review, analysis and advisory services of the Firm's financial and capital resources. This is a director level position within the Tax & Advisory job family which ensures compliance with income and indirect tax filings, reports tax information for the Firm’s regulatory filings, manages the Firm’s global tax authority relationships, including tax controversy, and monitors relevant tax regulations and legislation. Additional responsibilities include managing the Firm’s domestic and international tax strategies, determining the Firm’s transfer pricing policies and advising Senior Management and BUs on business products, strategic transactions and restructuring objectives.

Since 1935, Morgan Stanley is known as a global leader in financial services, always evolving and innovating to better serve our clients and our communities in more than 40 countries around the world.

What you'll do in the role:
- Collaborate with a varied group of colleagues in Finance and across the Firm
- Responsible for and lead a significant set of deliverables, leveraging advanced understanding of Finance functional area, product and/or client segment
- Proactively identify emerging risks in individual and department work and contribute to strategies for mitigating them
- Act as a role model and culture carrier; Embody and set an example of the Firm's values and hold yourself and others accountable to Firm standards
- Tax compliance management, oversight and the preparation for a high volume of state and local returns including several separate/unitary state tax returns in a time sensitive environment
- Preparation, review, and processing of state and local gross receipts tax returns
- Active participation in preparation of state and local tax forms and schedules
- Preparation and review of state tax apportionment across all Morgan Stanley entities
- Reconciling balance sheet and income statement tax accounts
- Tax analysis, planning and analytics
- Tax audit support, including responding to state IDRs
- Working with outside service providers
- Special projects such as Amended Returns (RARs)

What you'll bring to the role:
- Advanced understanding of Finance functional area, product and/or client segment and technical skills, as well as of industry and competitive environment
- Ability to provide positive and constructive
- feedback and acknowledge efforts of team members
- Ability to articulate risk and impact to various audiences, and create plans to mitigate those risks
- 3-7 years of state and local tax compliance and provision experience, preferably in a large corporate environment or a large accounting firm
- Strong managerial skills, with a hands-on approach
- Strong communication skills
- Strong analytic, organizational and interpersonal skills
- Experience covering complex state tax issues in a real-time environment
- Significant state tax compliance and ASC 740 experience required
- 4-year accounting degree
- Corptax experience preferred
- CPA, MS or MBA in Tax preferred
- Financial services industry experience preferable, but not required

What you can expect from Morgan Stanley:

We have a track record of innovation and passion for unlocking new opportunities, we help our clients raise, manage and allocate capital. We do this by offering a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and asset management services. All that we do at Morgan Stanley is driven by our five core values: do the right thing, put clients first, lead with exceptional ideas, commit to diversity and inclusion, and give back. These aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day, ensuring we do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees around the world. And at the core of our success are the people who drive it - relentless collaborators and creative thinkers who are fueled by diverse thinking and experiences. Wherever you are in our 1,200 global offices, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest in an environment where you are empowered to achieve your full potential. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices into your browser.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

We are committed to maintaining the first-class service and high standard of excellence that have defined Morgan Stanley for over 89 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

Expected base pay rates for the role will be between $90,000 and $155,000 per year at the

commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

It is the policy of the Firm to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sex stereotype, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital and civil partnership/union status, pregnancy, veteran or military service status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).