Federal Tax Advisory - R&D Software Engineer STEM Senior Analyst - EDGE - HDG #1221

Location: Anywhere in Country

 

At EY, we’re all in to shape your future with confidence. 

 

We’ll help you succeed in a globally connected powerhouse of diverse teams and take your career wherever you want it to go.  Join EY and help to build a better working world.

 

The opportunity

As an EY STEM Senior Analyst, you will partner with other STEM team members as well as EY Tax professionals from across the globe to assist clients in identifying and documenting activities and expenses that qualify for various R&D and innovation-related incentives. Our clients span all industries and are performing some of the most cutting-edge research on the planet. If you want to be exposed to exciting research and development initiatives in product development, manufacturing, natural resources, pharmaceutical, and other high-tech engineering fields, this role is for you! This opportunity is ideal for individuals with relevant qualifications or experience in engineering, science and/or technology who wish to leverage and apply their technical skills in a new way. This role will suit experienced and enthusiastic individuals who are driven to learn about new technologies and industry trends, widen their technical knowledge and have broader client and commercial exposure. This is not a developer postion.  

 

The successful candidate will get the opportunity to work as part of a growing and dynamic specialist practice with a diverse team of highly successful tax and science/engineering/technology specialists

 

Your key responsibilities

As an EY STEM Senior Analyst focused on Software & Technology, you will engage with industry leaders across the software ecosystem to discuss cutting-edge digital products, cloud architectures, platform engineering, AI/ML models, cybersecurity solutions, data-driven systems, and modern software development methodologies. You will collaborate with startups, mid-market innovators, and large public technology companies to evaluate and help prepare their R&D and innovation-related incentives.

Many of these incentives, such as the U.S. Research Credit, are designed to encourage companies to invest in innovation and research-driven software activities. To qualify, clients must demonstrate that their work involved technical uncertainty, experimentation, and iterative software development. As an EY STEM Senior Analyst, you will leverage your software engineering background and industry experience to help clients document and substantiate their qualifying activities.

 

Your responsibilities will include:

• Applying your knowledge of software engineering, including application development, cloud services, data engineering, systems architecture, DevOps, AI/ML, testing frameworks, and platform optimization, during client discussions to identify qualifying R&D activities.
• Drafting detailed technical narratives that clearly explain clients’ software development objectives, constraints, technical challenges, design alternatives, and iterative testing activities.
• Collaborating within a multidisciplinary team of tax professionals, attorneys, scientists, engineers, and technologists across the globe.
• Reviewing technical write-ups prepared by junior team members, providing detailed feedback to ensure accuracy, clarity, and alignment with IRS guidance and industry best practices.
• Analyzing complex technical documentation—such as architecture diagrams, user stories, sprint records, design docs, API specifications, test reports, version control histories, and development roadmaps, to extract relevant information and assess the qualifying nature of software activities.
• Supporting our Tax colleagues during IRS audits by preparing clear and defensible technical documentation and participating in discussions with IRS engineers and technologists.

 

Skills and attributes for success

• Strong understanding of software engineering principles and practices, including application development, systems design, cloud architectures, SDLC methodologies (Agile/Scrum), prototyping, testing frameworks, DevOps, and modern software development tools.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a strong emphasis on clear and structured technical documentation.
• Creative problem-solving and technical writing abilities that allow you to identify, articulate, and explain clients’ software R&D and innovation-related activities.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability