Property Tax Manager - Commercial

Company Background

Ownwell helps property owners reduce the costs of owning real estate. Our proprietary software automatically identifies property owners who are overpaying on real estate expenses. We then manage the end-to-end process of reducing bills through tax appeals, exemptions, and corrections.

Over $40 billion is overpaid in property taxes every year, and inaccurate tax assessments disproportionately affect people of color, immigrants, as well as low-income communities.

We’re dedicated to making the costs of property ownership more transparent and equitable. We believe that regardless of status or level of real estate expertise, everyone should have access to the information, tools, and resources to manage their real estate with confidence.

Ownwell is well-funded and venture-backed by some of the best investors in the world. Our customer base has grown by more than 1000% year-over-year with exceptional feedback demonstrating clear product market fit. We are looking for driven and passionate team members who thrive in a collaborative, positive culture where we all win together. If this sounds like the place for you, come help us change the way everyday homeowners manage their real estate across the country.

Our Culture

People are our superpower! Centered in everything we do is a true sense of team. We listen and we learn from each other. We are on this rocketship together and embrace a fast-paced, truly collaborative environment. We are here to win as a team and as a company.

We’ve brought together General Appraisers, Certified Public Accountants, Property Tax Consultants, Data scientists, PhDs, best-in-class customer support representatives, and more to deliver top results for our customers.

Our core values are our guiding principles in everything we do

• Customer Obsession

• Take Ownership

• Do The Right Thing

• Go Far Together

• Accelerate Innovation 
  
  

The Role and Overview of Responsibilities:

The Commercial Property Tax Manager will be tasked with leading and building Ownwell’s emerging Commercial Real estate business which aims to continuously produce industry-best results for our clients enabled by state of the art software. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of individual success in Commercial property tax appeals, cross functional collaboration, managing high-performing teams, and relevant experience that showcases an ability to build and scale. Additional desired capabilities include analytical and problem-solving skills, strong people skills, a strong bias for action, and a natural inclination to continually showcase grit, passion, and resilience to do whatever it takes to achieve the best results for our clients.

Responsibilities

Property Tax Consulting

• Lead a team in all aspects of property tax analysis and appeals for CRE
• Support operations in the onboarding of new clients and filing of appeals as needed
• In-depth evaluation of CRE properties cross many geographies for appeal with an eye for innovation and automation opportunities
• Develop standard operating procedures for the Ownwell CRE department
• Informal, Formal, Arbitration, Litigation - whatever it takes to get the best results for our clients
• Training and enforcing procedures with your team to get best-in-class results for our clients
• Acts as jurisdictional subject matter expert in managing all aspects of commercial property taxes and the appeal process.
• Communicates new issues, legislative changes, and training opportunities internally and to clients as needed.

People Management

• Hire, develop and motivate a team of CRE facing tax consultants
• Empower a high-performing and responsible team demonstrating Ownwell’s values
• Servant leadership, getting in the weeds, and doing the hard work with your team. Be a player-coach and take ownership.
• Gives timely performance feedback to team members and addresses and escalates performance issues.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work with sales and marketing to pitch, demonstrate, and close potential clients. This includes help with analysis, estimates, resources, and speaking with potential clients.
• Work with operations to managed clients properties in our system, ensure timely evaluation and support appeal filing.
• Work with engineering to improve all aspects of our software and automation in the appeal pipeline.
• Ability to think outside the box and not do everything the traditional way. Continuous improvement and rethinking what is possible.
• Work with client success to support our clients, answer questions, and obsess over our customers driving best in class service with best in class results.

Hiring process overview:

• For this interview process you can expect an in-person and virtual component. 
• The process will consist of initial video and/or  in-person interviews with the CEO and Head of Operations.
• As the conversations progress, relevant candidates will meet with other property tax consulting managers and team members.

Requirements

• 8 years of experience in commercial property tax, with a proven track record of achieving industry-best results for clients while also building, scaling, and leading teams.
• A strong working knowledge of property tax laws and regulations, with an ability to ensure appropriate application to minimize tax liabilities for clients.
• A deep understanding of the real estate valuation methodologies and how they vary by property type and how tax code varies by jurisdiction to achieve the best results.
• Strong business acumen with an ability to identify potential roadblocks, and formulate and implement effective solutions to reach desired business outcomes.
• Proven track record of defining success, tracking progress metrics, and holding teams accountable for results.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, work on multiple assignments, and manage ambiguity with confidence.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with legacy commercial tax firms and ability to adapt that to a startup which will require high levels of collaboration with legal, sales, product, engineering, and customer support.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in business, finance, economics, accounting, or real estate.

• Appraisal experience with professional designations like MAI, CCIM, and CMI is strongly preferred but not required.
• Participates actively in professional organizations preferred but not required

Individual competencies

• Ownwell core values reflect your ethos.
• You care about Ownwell’s mission and making an impact for all types of property owners.
• You are passionate about what you do and bring a thoughtful perspective to the function of Property Tax as well as overall organization.
• Your previous managers had to slow you down, not speed you up.
• You have a strong execution orientation.
• Working with thoughtful velocity is a part of your leadership principles
• Like us, you love reducing property taxes for clients