Head of Personal Investor Tax and Cost Basis

About Vanguard

Founded in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's leading investment management companies. The firm offers investments, advice, and retirement services to individual investors, institutions, and financial professionals. Vanguard operates under a unique, investor-owned structure where Vanguard fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. As such, Vanguard adheres to a simple purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

About Personal Investor

As Vanguard’s direct channel, the Personal Investor division plays a special role in that mission. When investors come to us directly, they are choosing to have a deep, enduring relationship with Vanguard. They are choosing much more than our products—they are choosing purpose-driven crew, a disciplined client offer, and an experience built to make each client a better investor.

Summary

The Head of Tax and Cost Basis serves a critical senior leadership role with responsibility for the Personal Investor division’s cost basis reporting, tax reporting, tax withholding, and tax resolution services functions. As a member of Vanguard’s Brokerage Operations leadership team, you’ll own and drive the tax and cost basis business strategy, service offer, and operations with oversight of >100 staff, >$25M budget, and >10 suppliers. You’ll bring tax and cost basis expertise, command of operations and lean management practices, and a track record of influencing organizational change to improve clients’ after-tax returns, reduce risk across the value chain, and drive operational quality and efficiency. As a credible and trusted thought leader, you’ll effectively partner with and influence regulators and key enterprise-wide stakeholders, including Mutual Fund and Brokerage Operations; Client Experience; Wealth Management, Advice, and Self-Directed client segments; Compliance, Legal, and Risk; and Corporate Tax and Treasury.

What It Takes

• Hires, evaluates, and supervises crew. Provides guidance and training as necessary to develop crew. Sets performance standards, reviews performance, and makes informed compensation decisions in accordance with all applicable Human Resources policies and procedures.
• Leads strategy and development of tax and cost basis operations. Provides thought leadership, shapes and sets departmental goals and analyzes against targets.
• Oversees development of tax and cost basis offer, product and service changes, regulatory compliance, internal and external technology products.  Adapts goals and strategies as market structure and industry, operational methods and procedures, technology, business opportunities or regulations change.       
• Leads the development and implementation of processes and internal standards to mitigate risk. Ensures internal controls promote compliance with all regulations and standards.
• Ensures compliance with all relevant regulations and standards. Represents Vanguard with external regulators and parties regarding specialized, complex, and highest risk functions. Ensures readiness for regulatory inspections and examinations.
• Partners with related departments to develop long-term strategies to fulfill client needs. Drives process and workflow improvement.
• Maintains current knowledge of market, regulatory, and industry events and adapts business processes as needed. Continuously expands knowledge of the business, brokerage industry, and tax and cost basis policy.
• Leads the development of the departmental budget. Sets and meets fiscal targets, allocates resources, and ensures the department operates within established budgetary guidelines.
• Partners with related departments to develop long-term strategies to fulfill client needs.
• Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum of ten years related work experience in the Financial Services and Brokerage industry.
• Minimum five years of supervisory experience and Operations Management experience.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience.
• This job requires a regulatory license and/or registration (e.g., FINRA, state, SFC). These will be determined by Compliance based on role-specific duties.

 Special Factors

• Five years’ experience in cost basis or tax operations preferred. 
• Lean management preferred.
• Graduate degree preferred (e.g., MBA, LLM).

Special Factors

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

About Vanguard

We are Vanguard. Together, we’re changing the way the world invests.

For us, investing doesn’t just end in value. It starts with values. Because when you invest with courage, when you invest with clarity, and when you invest with care, you can get so much more in return. We invest with purpose – and that’s how we’ve become a global market leader. Here, we grow by doing the right thing for the people we serve. And so can you.

We want to make success accessible to everyone. This is our opportunity. Let’s make it count.

Inclusion Statement

Vanguard’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our culture. Every decision we make to best serve our clients, crew (internally employees are referred to as crew), and communities is guided by one simple statement: “Do the right thing.”

We believe that a critical aspect of doing the right thing requires building diverse, inclusive, and highly effective teams of individuals who are as unique as the clients they serve. We empower our crew to contribute their distinct strengths to achieving Vanguard’s core purpose through our values.

When all crew members feel valued and included, our ability to collaborate and innovate is amplified, and we are united in delivering on Vanguard's core purpose.

Our core purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.