Tax Deputy Director (Austin)

THIS POSTING IS FOR EXISTING TWC EMPLOYEES ONLY

WHO WE ARE:
Texas Workforce Commission connects people with careers across the state. While we are based in Austin on the north lawn of the Texas State Capitol, we have offices statewide. We're a Family Friendly Certified Workplace with great work-life balance, competitive salaries, extensive opportunities for training and development, and fantastic benefits. This position is located at 1411 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas in the Tax Department. Work schedule is Monday-Friday, in office. 

TWC is not considering applications from individuals who require sponsorship for an employment visa, now or in the future, for this position. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals currently on H-1B, F-1 (OPT/CPT), or H-4 visas. You must be a Texas resident to work for the Texas Workforce Commission or willing to relocate to Texas.

WHO YOU ARE:
You are an accomplished operational leader, strategic problem-solver, and collaborative individual who excels at guiding large-scale public programs in regulatory environments. You recognize that managing statewide tax operations, employer status determinations, and field audits require both rigorous statutory precision and modern, people-centered leadership. 

You thrive in complex organizations, possessing diplomatic skills and executive presence to bridge field operations, central administration, and technological modernization efforts. You anticipate operational bottlenecks, champion transformative projects and build a culture of continuous learning, audit-readiness, and accountability. Above all, you are a dedicated public leader committed to delivering fair, accurate, and customer-focused service to Texas employers and workers.

WHAT YOU WILL DO: 
Under the general direction of the Tax Department Director (Director II), the Tax Deputy Department Director (Director I) serves as the senior operational executive assisting in directing statewide operations, resource allocation, and strategic execution for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Tax Department. Performs advanced (senior-level) managerial work providing direction and guidance in strategic operations and planning. Works under minimal supervision, with extensive latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

In this role, you will help lead an operational department whose scale and budgeted FTE count are similar to agency divisions. You will direct the day-to-day administrative and technical workflows that support tax compliance, employer status determinations, tax rate setting, experience rating, and comprehensive field tax audits. You will also serve as a vital operational bridge between field operations, central administration, and technological modernization efforts to ensure services are delivered accurately, efficiently, and in full compliance with state and federal standards.

YOU WILL BE TRUSTED TO:
- Direct Daily Operations: Oversee statewide tax operations, including status determinations, experience ratings, wage reports, employer account maintenance, and collections across in-state and out-of-state accounts.
- Meet Federal & State Performance Standards: Drive departmental operations to consistently meet or exceed U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Acceptable Levels of Performance (ALPs) by streamlining Tax Quality Standards, Effective Audit Measures, and status determination timelines to ensure full alignment with Legislative Budget Board (LBB) and TWC agency performance metrics.
- Standardize Workforce Structure: Collaborate with Human Resources to design and implement consistent career ladders, job classifications, and development pathways across UI operational units to enhance morale and talent retention.
- Lead Business Continuity & Process Modernization: Identify single points of failure and operational bottlenecks, implementing process improvements, establishing robust cross-training protocols, centralizing coverage structures, and modernizing automated workflows, to guarantee uninterrupted operational continuity.
- Direct Specialized Tax & Technical Teams: Provide leadership and strategic direction to the department’s specialized units, technical support teams, and operational business functions.
- Ensure Regulatory & Audit Compliance: Serve as the division’s primary liaison for internal audits, State Auditor’s Office (SAO) reviews, and federal DOL administrative evaluations, proactively building an audit-ready culture and driving corrective action plans.
- Oversee Legislative & Policy Implementation: Direct the analysis of state and federal legislation impacting UI operations and spearhead the rapid administrative and operational rollout of enacted statutory mandates.
- Mentor & Cultivate Leadership: Supervise, evaluate, mentor senior managers, and operational staff, establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.

YOU QUALIFY WITH:
- Five years of full-time experience in the oversight and direction of an agency program; or in strategic planning and policy development and implementation, two years of which must have been in an administrative management or supervisory capacity.
- Relevant academic credits may be applied toward experience qualifications for this position. 
- One year of full-time in-service TWC experience classified as a Manager IV with regular status will satisfy the minimum qualifications.

YOU ARE A GREAT FIT WITH:
- In-Depth Regulatory Expertise: Comprehensive knowledge of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act, DOL tax and audit regulations, and state employer tax contribution structures.
- Systems Transformation Experience: Demonstrated track record of leading teams through major system implementations, legacy migrations (e.g., UISR), or business process re-engineering without disrupting daily operations.
- Data-Driven & Audit-Ready Mindset: Proven ability to analyze complex audit figures, misclassification trends, performance dashboards, and financial models to make sound operational adjustments.
- Customer-Centric Leadership: Dedication to delivering high-quality customer service to Texas employers, tax agents, and internal stakeholders with clear, transparent, and prompt communication.
- Collaborative People Leadership: Strong background in mentoring front-line and mid-level managers, building trusting and accountable team cultures, addressing staffing bottlenecks, and promoting continuous learning.
- Executive Problem Solving: Exceptional analytical, presentation, and written communication skills with the ability to synthesize statutory mandates and complex operational data for executive decision-makers.

YOU GAIN: 
- A Family Friendly Certified Workplace
- Competitive salary: $8,780.33/month 
- Defined Retirement Benefit Plan 
- Optional 401(k) and 457 accounts 
- Medical Insurance 
- Paid time off, including time for vacation, sick and family care leave 
- Additional benefits for active employees can be found at https://www.ers.texas.gov/Active-Employees/Health-Benefits 

Duty involves up to 10% travel within the state of Texas.

VETERANS:
Use your military skills to qualify for this position or other jobs! Go to www.texasskillstowork.com to translate your military work experience and training courses into civilian job terms, qualifications, and skill sets. Also, you can compare this position to military occupations (MOS) at the Texas State Auditor's Office by pasting this link into your browser: https://hr.sao.texas.gov/Compensation/MilitaryCrosswalk/MOSC_ProgramManagement.pdf 

HOW TO APPLY: 
To be considered, please complete a State of Texas Application for Employment on Taleo (Job Search). TWC is not considering applications from individuals who require sponsorship for an employment visa, now or in the future, for this position. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals currently on H-1B, F-1 (OPT/CPT), or H-4 visas. You must be a Texas resident to work for the Texas Workforce Commission or willing to relocate to Texas. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. A position utilizing this classification will be designated as security sensitive according to the Texas Labor Code, Section 301.042.