Software Engineering Intern (Summer 2026)

About Gusto

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 400,000 businesses nationwide.

Our mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life, and it starts right here at Gusto. That’s why we’re committed to building a collaborative and inclusive workplace, both physically and virtually. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy .

About the Role:

Our Software Engineering internship is a 12 or 16-week hybrid summer experience focused on making a significant impact on our customers by being embedded directly into our engineering teams. Each intern is paired with a dedicated mentor and a team manager, providing guidance and support as they make immediate contributions to the team’s roadmap, directly advancing Gusto’s mission.

You will be given opportunities to participate in different aspects of the software development life cycle, such as influencing technical specs, discussing architecture, working with cross-functional partners, and designing tests while also exploring multiple areas of our tech stack.

About the Team:

Our engineers work on both customer-facing and internal employee products, developing features and iterating across our platform to bring delightful experiences to our customers, aiding them in driving their business to be successful. You’ll close your laptop at the end of every day knowing your work is making a difference for hundreds of thousands of small businesses and their employees. If you’re ready to hone your Software Engineering skills while creating software with far-reaching effects on our modern economy, we’d love for you to join Gusto this summer!

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Contribute to project success through technical designing, writing, testing, and shipping code within expected timeframes.
• Learn coding and testing best practices while applying them to the work you do.
• Collaborate and pair with others on the team and cross-functionally, including working with Product and Design teams to understand customer pain points, ideate on solutions, and execute plans.
• Understand the world of Gusto, our customers, and why we do what we do.

Here’s what we're looking for:

• Students pursuing a BS and/or MS degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field with an expected graduation date between December 2026 and June 2029.
• Passion for creating memorable customer experiences, regardless of which part of the tech stack you work in.
• Interest in technologies such as Ruby/Rails, Typescript/React, GraphQL, Python, Golang, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, and/or Swift.
• Appreciation for an iterative, test-driven, pair-programming, and code-review culture.
• Drive to create a well-structured and maintainable code that balances beauty and pragmatism.
• U.S. work authorization is required. This role is not available for sponsorship.
• This is a hybrid role and will require you to be in the office at least twice a week in our San Francisco, New York, or Denver office. Relocation assistance will be provided during your internship.

Pay and benefits

Our cash compensation amount for this role is $46.63/hr for undergraduate students to $51.44/hr for graduate students in Denver and $58.65/hr for undergraduate students to $64.42/hr for graduate students in San Francisco & New York .

Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.

Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.

When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required. This includes non-office days for hybrid employees.

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto.

Gusto is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Gusto considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Gusto is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. We want to see our candidates perform to the best of their ability. If you require a medical or religious accommodation at any time throughout your candidate journey, please fill out this form and a member of our team will get in touch with you.

Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer .

Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice .