Head of Engineering, Gusto
CX Platform
$261-299k
Salary applicable to candidates based in CO, CA and NY only and may vary by other locations
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
Job no longer available
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$261-299k
Salary applicable to candidates based in CO, CA and NY only and may vary by other locations
1001+ employees
Company mission
To grow the small business economy.
Role
Who you are
- Demonstrated experience scaling platform products, including proven strategies to drive internal adoption of new methods, patterns, and capabilities through motivating and inspiring
- Strong technical acumen with the ability to understand and debate tradeoffs and approaches to building scalable architecture and data models A high standard, systems-first approach, and strong point of view for the user experience informed by customer empathy, research, data, and customer support insights
- Led highly distributed engineering teams and managers for at least 5 years with a minimum of 10 years of development experience
- Strong product opinions, including the ability to tell a clear and inspiring story about where we’re going, and work with teams to map dependencies, risks, and tradeoffs to increase velocity and make the vision real
- The ability to inspire and motivate a cross-functional team, including PMs, designers, engineers, data scientists, and other partners
- Tenacity, directness, and the ability to build relationships across the organization, including with app leads and execs, are designed to increase understanding of what we’re doing and why and drive the velocity of adoption of our platform capabilities
- A long view and strong opinion on where we’re going and what it will take to get there as one Gusto
- Sharp skills as a builder — even as you’ve become a strategic leader, you are fundamentally a builder who can jump into problem-solving with team members when they need support
- 10+ years working on high-growth digital experiences, with at least four years focused on platform features
- Demonstrated experience scaling platform products end-to-end (architecture to UI) at a company with a modern tech stack
- Ideal candidates will have seen a platform through growth, transition, or change and will have proven methodologies and tangible examples of how they’ve driven adoption
- Technical leaders who can bridge technology and business and can speak to the impact they’ve had in specific, tangible, and non-jargon-y terms
- Has likely held senior leadership titles focusing on platform products through strong product-minded leaders in other crafts who fit the profile and are also welcome to apply
- Excellent technical acumen with the ability to architect, design, and discuss tradeoffs in approach with senior engineers
- Strong opinions and high standards around the user experience. Particularly adept at thinking about systems, cohesiveness, and how to approach governance
- Has managed senior people in the past and knows how to align them, when to give space, and when and how to coach and motivate
- Is undaunted by organizational complexity and relishes in change management and unsticking sticky situations
- Energized by customer empathy and understanding while being able to speak to how customer impact is driving the business forward
- Thinks of themselves as a cross-functional business leader first — is not tied to a particular craft swim lane
- Able to move from high-altitude brainstorming and architecture down into problem-solving and unblocking teams in the weeds when it’s required
- Executive presence and strong storytelling skills — can craft a simple vision for a complex system, inspire people to rally around it, and drive iterative but meaningful results
- When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required
What the job involves
- Gusto is looking for a senior engineering leader to drive and execute the cross-functional strategy for our CX Platform team, a team of more than 60 people across Engineering, Product Management, Design, and Data Science
- CX refers to Gusto’s Customer Experience team and supports our customers and operations teams
- Our Head of Engineering will empower this role and will play a critical role in how we design, build, and drive internal adoption of our foundational experience platform at Gusto, including:
- Driving the cross-functional strategy, execution, and impact for CX Platform teams in partnership with your counterparts in Product, Design, and Data leadership
- Working across the company to increase understanding and adoption of platform capabilities and patterns in a systematic, measurable way across Gusto
- Building a culture of enthusiasm for our platform work that leads to greater productivity and higher quality and cohesion of the experiences we ship to customers
- Empowering a team of senior engineers, operating in an architect capacity as well as engineering people empowerers (managers, creating alignment, clarity, high morale, driving quick but informed decision making, and helping them get unblocked
- As a key stakeholder, contributes to the broader Gusto communication of vision, strategy, expectations, and stakeholder alignment via monthly and quarterly reviews with executives
- Holding a high standard for our User Experience by thinking across our stack (data models and architectural decisions to the way those influence and impact what we show in the UI) and are a voice for front-end excellence
- Getting in the weeds with senior IC leaders across engineering, design, data, and product to discuss trade-offs, define the green path, and help advance great decisions
Our take
For many small businesses, vital administrative tasks such as payroll, taxes, and benefits are manual tasks that take time and energy which many SMB owners don’t have. The three co-founders of Gusto – all coming from small business backgrounds – collaborated on a Fintech company that would handle employee payments, benefits administration, and compliance support specifically for small businesses.
The company may have started slowly, as the founders focused on nailing each individual aspect of Gusto’s operations, but has now skyrocketed to unicorn status with more than 400,000 customers and a multi-billion dollar valuation. And in 2021, Gusto began acquiring other companies to strengthen its offering and its position in a competitive market, including two other fintech startups, Ardius and Symmetry.
Through its continued acquisitions and fundraising efforts, the company has carved out a strong position for itself in the space. Although Gusto has found itself impacted by the macroeconomic situation, through the significant effect it has had on its clientele, the company still appears positive for the future after raising funds in 2023 that has seen it reach key profitability benchmarks. It continues to expand its platform, most recently partnering with Parafin to launch a payroll line of credit for small businesses. With a growing suite of services and a clear focus on supporting small businesses through changing economic conditions, Gusto looks set to sustain its momentum and further strengthen its position in the HR and payroll technology market.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
45% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
May 2022
$55m
SERIES E
Aug 2021
$175m
SERIES E
Total funding: $706.3m
Company benefits
- Health and Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents. Family care and support, including family planning and fertility benefits. Gender-affirming care and support. A variety of mental health resources.
- Time Away: It's important to take time away for yourself or to take care of your family. Gusto offers paid vacation, sick time, bereavement, and holidays, paid leaves, sabbatical, and more!
- Free meals and refreshments: If you work at one of our offices, enjoy food, drinks, and snacks— on us. Conversation and community is an added bonus!
- Perks:
Company HQ
Central Waterfront, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Joshua Reeves
(Co-Founder & CEO)Studied Electrical Engineering at Stanford and went onto co-found Gusto in 2011.
Tomer London
(Co-Founder & CPO)Has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. Was a Researcher at Intel, and then interned at Bump Technologies. Co-founded Vizmo, a mobile self-service technologies company, in 2008. Co-founded Gusto in 2011.
Edward Kim
(Co-Founder & Head of Engineering)Studied Electrical Engineering at Stanford. Was Senior Project Engineer at Volkswagen of America Electronics Research Lab and then co-founded Picwing, a printed photos company, in 2008. Co-founded Gusto in 2011.
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