Tax Partner - UHNW (West Coast)

For more than 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been helping families amplify and simplify their financial lives by integrating financial planning, investment management, business management, tax, estate, insurance, and more, all managed by a single team. We deliver comprehensive care once reserved for only the wealthiest households, serving over 42,800+ families across 110+ cities in the U.S. Ranked the #1 RIA Firm in the nation by Barron’s for two consecutive years, Mercer Advisors is an independent fiduciary legally bound to act in our clients’ best interests.

Mercer Advisors offers a workplace that stands apart in the financial industry, with more than half of our employees and client-facing professionals being women. With a flexible, national footprint, we build our teams around exceptional talent—wherever they are. Regis is Mercer Advisors’ offering designed for ultra-high net worth families with complex, multi-generational wealth, providing a deeply integrated wealth management experience with the highest level of service, coordination, and sophistication.

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional Tax Partner - Regis to serve as the lead tax advisor, strategist, and subject matter expert for our Regis families. In this role, you will lead engagements alongside senior wealth advisors and other Regis team members, with direct accountability for the tax outcomes and experience of our most complex families. This is not a support or review role—you will bring the credibility, judgment, and gravitas that ultra-high net worth (UHNW) families expect from their most trusted advisors.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead tax advisor and primary point of accountability for a select group of Regis families, maintaining and growing a book of clients with balance sheets that often exceed +$100M.
• Build practical, year-round, and multi-year tax strategies tailored to each family’s goals, ownership structures, businesses, trusts, investments, charitable activities, and succession plans.
• Lead and develop a select team of UHNW-focused tax professionals supporting Regis engagements, overseeing staffing, engagement economics, billing, and service quality.
• Identify planning opportunities and risks arising from business transactions, concentrated positions, real estate, carried interests, equity compensation, major charitable gifts, residency changes, and cross-border exposure (foreign trusts, PFICs, GILTI, FATCA/FBAR), bringing in specialists when deeper expertise is required.
• Oversee tax compliance at a level appropriate to each engagement: directly when Mercer prepares the returns, or through active review and coordination when a family’s own CPA firm or internal tax team handles preparation.
• Lead the response to significant federal and state tax notices, examinations, and controversy matters, coordinating with counsel and other specialists through resolution.
• Partner with Regis wealth advisors and Mercer’s broader team—estate planning, investments, financial planning, and family office services—so tax advice is fully integrated with each family’s overall plan.
• Collaborate and coordinate the tax calendar and division of responsibilities with the families' outside CPAs, attorneys, trustees, investment bankers, valuation professionals, controllers, and other advisors when relevant.
• Support new client development through prospective client meetings and partner with Regis leadership to evolve the tax service model, team, and technology.

Requirements

• CPA license required; advanced degree in taxation (MST/LL.M.), law degree, or comparable technical credential strongly preferred.
• 12–15+ years of progressive tax experience, with the majority spent advising clients with balance sheets of $25M or greater; meaningful experience with $100M+ families required.
• Deep technical command of individual, fiduciary, partnership, corporate, estate, gift, and state and local taxation, including advanced planning strategies commonly used by ultra-high net worth families.
• Experience identifying cross-border tax and reporting issues and working effectively with international tax specialists; direct technical expertise in every international area is not required.
• Experience managing significant tax notices, examinations, and controversy matters, including coordination with tax counsel.
• Meaningful experience advising entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and multi-generational families through liquidity events, business succession, wealth transfer, and other significant transactions.
• Ability to analyze complex facts, focus on what matters, and deliver clear, practical recommendations—with excellent written and verbal communication skills to explain sophisticated tax matters in plain language.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop high-performing tax professionals and build a culture of accountability and technical excellence.
• Comfort operating in a team-based, integrated advisory environment within a regulated RIA structure; experience at a family office, multi-family office, wealth management firm, or national accounting firm strongly preferred.
• Unquestioned integrity and a strong commitment to confidentiality, sound risk management, and putting the client’s interests first.
• Ability to travel up to 10%.

Schedule

This professional role requires availability during standard business hours of Monday through Friday from 8AM to 5PM. At times, the role may have early or late hours to meet business tasks and deadlines for external and internal client needs. All roles classified as non-exempt are required to record working time into the timekeeping system daily at the start and end of each workday, including a 30-minute unpaid lunch period.

Working Conditions

This position may be in a professional office environment or a dedicated home office workspace free of interruptions. Basic technology needs will be provided to satisfy position requirements. Routinely involves sitting and standing for periods of time. No heavy lifting over 10 lbs.

Pay

The annualized compensation range for this role is based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skillset, and geographic location where work is performed. The cash compensation range includes both base salary and an annual bonus. The total compensation package may include additional cash bonus amounts and other incentive compensation. Total expected cash compensation range: $212,500 - $250,000 USD.

Benefits

• Company Paid Basic Life & AD&D Insurance
• Company Paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Supplemental Life & AD&D, Short-Term Disability, Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance
• Three Cigna medical plans, including two High Deductible Health Plans and a Traditional Co-Pay medical plan
• Kaiser Medical plans available in California
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contributions if enrolled in either HDHP medical plan
• Two comprehensive Dental Plans
• Vision Insurance Plan
• Dependent Care Savings Account for child and dependent care
• 14 Company Paid Holidays, including a full week off at Thanksgiving
• Generous paid time off program for vacation and sick days
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Family Medical Leave
• Paid Parental Leave (8 weeks)
• Maternity benefits utilizing company paid STD, any supplemental STD, plus Parental Leave (8 weeks)
• Adoption Assistance Reimbursement Program
• Company Paid Concierge Services for aging parents, young children, life’s challenges, and more
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with both Traditional and Roth plans, per pay period match, and an after-tax option
• Pet Insurance
• Personalized financial planning and guidance from Mercer Advisors professionals, offered at preferred employee pricing