People Partner Lead, Gusto
Engineering
$158.3-229.3k
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
$158.3-229.3k
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
- This role is designed for someone who operates with high ownership, has a strong bias toward action, and earns trust through follow-through — not decks
- 10+ years of HRBP or People Partner experience, with meaningful time supporting technical organizations — Engineering, Data Science, Security, or similar
- Strong operator mindset. You've executed complex People work — not just advised on it. You know what a well-run reorg looks like from the inside
- A strong bias toward action and a high speed of execution. You'd rather move and adjust than wait for the perfect answer — and when you decide to move, you move quickly
- Demonstrated ability to influence and partner with senior technical leaders. You have opinions, you share them, and you push back when something doesn't make sense — but you don't need to own the answer
- Deep experience with performance management, calibrations, promotions, and organizational design
- Strong analytical instincts. You're comfortable in spreadsheets and can tell a story with People data without over-engineering it
- You build credibility through follow-through. Leaders trust you because you do what you say you'll do
- Ability to thrive in ambiguity and hold a lot of detail without losing the thread
- Sound judgment that accounts for Gusto, not just R&D. You make People decisions that hold up beyond your client group — ones your COE partners can build for and that don’t create one-off exceptions that ripple across the company. You proactively build COE relationships because you know that’s what makes the model work
- AI-native mindset. You actively use AI to do your work better — synthesizing data, drafting communications, building lightweight workflows or agents to eliminate repetitive work. You know when to reach for AI, when to iterate on what it gives you, and when to keep the human in the loop. You don't just follow AI trends; you experiment with them
What the job involves
- We're looking for a high-ownership People Business Partner to support our Engineering, Data Science, and Security/IT organizations at Gusto
- This role reports into Gusto's Head of People and serves as a trusted partner to leaders across some of our most technically complex teams
- This role blends high-trust business partnership with hands-on execution. You'll partner with leaders through organizational changes, drive core People programs and operating rhythms, and act as the connective tissue between R&D and the broader People team
- He leaders you'll support have strong points of view and deep context — you add value by stress-testing their thinking, then making it happen
- The ideal candidate is equally comfortable analyzing gPulse data to surface a team health trend, running a clean reorg end-to-end, and building a lightweight process that makes a program actually land
- Build trusted partnerships with Engineering, Data Science, and Security/IT leaders — understanding what's happening in their teams, surfacing friction early, and navigating performance management, promotions, leveling, and employee relations matters with good judgment
- Synthesize People data — gPulse results, Gustofied performance cycles, attrition signals, headcount trends — into clear, actionable reads for R&D leaders before they have to ask
- Support and operationalize core talent programs including performance cycles, calibration discussions, promotion processes, and manager enablement
- Reinforce high performance standards, accountability, and clarity around expectations, feedback, and growth across Engineering, Data Science, and Security/IT
- Serve as the liaison between R&D and Gusto's broader People team (Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, L&D, People Ops), translating company-wide programs into what they mean specifically for technical orgs — and surfacing R&D context back to the center
- Proactively identify risks, friction points, and opportunities for improvement using People insights and organizational data
- Build lightweight but scalable People frameworks, operating mechanisms, and repeatable processes that improve consistency across the business
- When org changes are decided, own end-to-end execution — transition planning, communication sequencing, Workday updates, leader enablement, and follow-through until nothing is left unresolved
- 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 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 co-founders of Gusto all come from small business backgrounds, which is why they created a platform 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 position in a competitive market, including the likes of Ardius, Symmetry and Guideline.
Through its continued acquisitions and fundraising efforts, the company has carved out a strong position for itself in the space. It continues to expand its platform, for example by partnering with Parafin to launch a payroll line of credit for small businesses, and more recently launching Cofounder, an AI teammate tailored to the needs of small businesses.
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
- 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
- Paid vacation, sick time, bereavement, and holidays, paid leaves, sabbatical, and more
- Free meals and refreshments at the office (conversation and community is an added bonus!)
Company HQ
Central Waterfront, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Joshua Reeves
(CEO & Co-Founder)Studied Electrical Engineering at Stanford and went onto co-found Gusto in 2011.
Tomer London
(CPO & Co-Founder)Has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. Was a Researcher at Intel, and then interned at Bump Technologies. Co-founded Vizmo before co-founding Gusto in 2011.
Edward Kim
(Head of Technology & Co-Founder)Studied Electrical Engineering at Stanford. Was Senior Project Engineer at Volkswagen of America Electronics Research Lab and then co-founded Picwing before co-founding Gusto in 2011.
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