Software Engineering Manager, Payroll Ledger

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:

Gusto is looking for a hands-on engineering leader to lead the Payroll Ledger team. This team is on a multi-year journey to become the source of truth to power business decisions and reporting for customer cash - ensuring accurate tracking and management of every cent of customer cash.

As a key member of Payroll's engineering leadership team, your role will encompass building a dynamic team and contributing to building a thriving business. You will also be responsible for working collaboratively with other cross-functional teams and leaders to build a product that helps Gusto scale.

If you are a customer-centric builder who thrives on making a substantial impact within a high-growth organization, we would be thrilled to hear from you!

About the Team:

You’ll be a part of Payroll, a core part of the Pay Group and the team most directly connected to our customers' peace of mind. We believe that getting payroll right isn’t just a feature - it’s the foundation of trust with every business we serve. We don't just build software; we take on the immense complexity of payroll so our customers can focus on their passions. Our vision is to make the hard work of paying a team disappear, transforming it into a seamless, automated, and even magical experience.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Guide critical parts of the Payroll Ledger engineering team and charter, empowering a team of engineers in different archetypes
• Interview and hire engineers
• Conduct regular 1:1s with your team members to support their continued growth and learning
• Collaborate with the extended team during daily “Team Times” where we plan, pair program, and laugh together
• Collaborate with design and product management partners to build and drive Gusto’s Payroll Ledger product vision and strategy
• Partner with Payments, Payroll Ops, Accounting, Customer Success, and others within and outside your team
• Proactively consider our org design and partner with other PEs on finding the right separation of responsibilities for our teams
• Provide technical leadership in defining the product and platform solutions
• Model Gusto’s values in your immediate team, and as part of the broader Gusto community
• Provide and receive mentorship and peer support

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, including experience with backend systems and native mobile development.
• 2–4 years of engineering management experience including coaching, mentoring, and sustaining high-performing teams
• Comfort navigating a complex and ambiguous problem space, and asking for help and clarification when needed
• Strong product sense, including the ability to tell a story about the “why”, simplify complex technical concepts, and motivate and inspire others to contribute
• A focus on building with quality and rigor, while keeping in mind the impact our code has on our customers’ financial well-being
• Strong technical acumen with the ability to understand and debate technical and product tradeoffs and approaches to building scalable architecture and data models
• A desire to grow and learn on the job

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $163,000/yr to $204,000/yr in Denver, $198,000/yr to $247,000/yr for San Francisco & New York. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

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.

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.

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