Program Management, Gusto
Embedded Payroll
$120.4-175k
Salary dependent on location
2-3 days a week in office
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
Open for applications
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$120.4-175k
Salary dependent on location
2-3 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To grow the small business economy.
Role
Who you are
- 6+ years of experience in program or project management, ideally with external client engagement and enterprise technology/SaaS environments
- Proven track record of leading complex, cross-functional programs from strategy through execution; skilled in driving alignment, influencing senior stakeholders, and delivering measurable business impact
- Deep understanding of partner ecosystems and lifecycle; able to identify key investment areas to accelerate partner success and retention
- Strong executive presence and communication skills (both written and verbal), with experience driving alignment across global and cross-functional teams
- Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously in fast-paced, ambiguous environments; known for resourcefulness, adaptability, and a solutions-oriented mindset
- Strategic thinker with a bias toward scalable systems and continuous improvement; capable of identifying and solving root problems to enable growth
- Balances hands-on partner engagement with the ability to design programs and processes that support long-term scale and efficiency
- Comfortable taking initiative in undefined spaces and leading through influence without authority
- 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
What the job involves
- In this role, you'll support partners in building and launching payroll by bringing together the interdependent work streams of Partner Growth, Technical Solutions, and Customer Experience across both internal and external teams
- Additionally, you'll develop scalable programs and tools to drive Gusto Embedded Payroll’s (“GEP”) rapid growth, ensuring our systems and processes evolve in step with our expanding partner ecosystem
- This will be a dynamic role, working across multiple disciplines both internally and externally
- You’ll work together with our teams (who are eager for the support!) to refine and build programs as we scale
- Since this function is still in its early stages, you'll have the opportunity to quickly develop and implement best practices to drive growth from the 1→10 phase and beyond. You'll be empowered by our Head of Program Management
- GEP is our newest business unit, driving the next phase of innovation and growth for Gusto. Our mission is to enable third-party SMB platforms to seamlessly build, sell, and serve payroll within their own products through our API. By expanding access to payroll services, we’re bringing Gusto’s people platform to hundreds of thousands more businesses than those we serve directly
- As GEP scales, our partnerships have grown more complex, serving thousands or even hundreds of thousands of employers
- This rapid expansion has created a need for stronger coordination across GEP work streams, external partner teams, and cross-functional Gusto stakeholders
- Program Management within GEP is a relatively new function, and in this role, you'll be part of a small team dedicated to driving alignment, improving collaboration, and ensuring smooth execution of our most critical initiatives
- Project Planning and Expertise: Own the end-to-end planning and execution of complex, multi-phase partner implementations across multiple workstreams
- Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders. Proactively manage risks, navigate escalations, and align cross-functional teams on shared outcomes
- GEP Interface: Act as the strategic connector across technical, operational, and growth teams within GEP. Ensure teams are aligned and mobilized to launch and scale partner payroll operations effectively
- Cross-functional Facilitation: Lead coordination across x-GEP and x-Gusto initiatives, anticipating blockers, identifying dependencies early, and driving cross-team accountability to accelerate partner success
- Process and Documentation: Continuously evolve and scale delivery frameworks and playbooks based on real-world learnings. Equip GEP with the tools, processes, and insights to execute efficiently and deliver repeatable partner success
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.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 52 more jobs at Gusto