Reporting to an Assistant Director, provides advice, analysis and policy recommendations to Assistant Directors and executives within the department on issues of industry-wide, statewide and national significance, such as federal legislation and national tax initiatives. Must be designated in writing by the Director to represent the agency on politically sensitive state and national issues having significant impact on the agency; OR

Serves as the principle revenue forecaster for the agency and is responsible for publications and website information and statistics for state and local tax programs, history, collections and intra-state comparisons; OR

Supervises Tax Policy Specialist 3’s.

Drafts administrative rules to implement legislation related to major tax or issue assignment areas;

Develops policy alternatives, identifies relative strengths and weaknesses of each alternative, and drafts tax related legislation to be presented to executives and/or the legislature;

Analyzes proposed legislation to identify potential legal problems, administrative costs, policy implications and recommend changes or alternatives to the proposal;

Works with interest groups, businesses, industries, or other state agencies to analyze tax or finance issues and recommends resolutions to identified problems;

Analyzes, reviews, and makes policy recommendations regarding national tax policy issues;

Analyzes amendments and alternatives to develop positions regarding federal legislation and national tax initiatives;

Works interactively with national tax associations, often serving as a committee member on key efforts;

Prepares quarterly forecasts of non-general fund taxes collected by the Department;

Advises the Forecast Council on administrative issues and litigation impact of the state’s general fund revenue forecast;

Coordinates the preparation of the Department’s annual statistical reports;

Provides quantitative management information and formulates policy recommendations for the efficient administration of taxes within the Department;

Oversees document management and records retention for the division;

Advises executive and other divisions on survey design and implementation, benchmarking and other measures of customer satisfaction;

Develops and consults on agency-wide benchmarks and performance measures to assess productivity gains and service enhancements. 

Serves on intra-agency committees and task forces dealing with operational research studies;

Coordinates the work of professional division staff assigned to analyze federal legislation and other national proposals;

Develops concepts, drafts, and/or analyzes national and local business taxation proposals;

Monitors state legislation for necessary consistency with national policies;

Drafts rules to be adopted as part of the Washington Administrative Code for all revenue acts administered by the agency;

Performs other duties as required.

There may be instances where individual positions must have additional licenses or certification. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the appropriate licenses/certifications are obtained for each position.

Persons legally authorized to work in the U.S. under federal law, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, are eligible for employment unless prohibited by other state or federal law.

Admission to practice law in the State of Washington, or graduation from a school of law and current admission to practice before the highest court of a state, and five years of experience as a Tax Policy Specialist or comparable experience as a government attorney or private attorney practicing in Washington State excise and/or property taxes; OR

A Master’s degree in economics, taxation, public administration, public finance, accounting or closely allied field and five years of professional experience in economic analysis or tax policy analysis. A Ph.D. degree in economics, taxation, public administration, public finance, accounting, economics, or closely allied field will substitute for three years of experience.

New class:  11-09-2006
(01/08/2007) Added typical work.
New class code:  (formerly 15440)  effective July 1, 2007.
Revised definition and typical work, adopted June 13, 2019, effective July 1, 2019.

Revised Legal Requirements; effective June 6, 2024, due to adopted legislative action.