Senior Staff Software Engineer, Gusto
Marketing Technology
$191-265k
Salary is dependent on location + Equity
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
Open for applications
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$191-265k
Salary is dependent on location + Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To grow the small business economy.
Role
Who you are
- If you are passionate about building highly reliable, frontend-focused systems that can reason, predict, and personalize to unlock Gusto’s next phase of sustainable growth, we would love to have you join our team
- 12+ years of experience building web systems connected to a headless CMS
- Curiosity and ability to operate in an AI-native environment. Integrating intelligence, automation, and experimentation into how we grow the business
- Experience building modern frontend applications with technologies such as React, Typescript, and Next.js
- Experience with web performance, CDNs, and advanced caching strategies
- Experience integrating with MarTech systems (e.g., CDPs, CRMs, orchestration tools)
- A systems thinker with excellent written communication and collaboration skills
- Ability to act as a thought partner for both technical (Engineering, AI/Data) and business (Marketing, Sales) teams
- A balance of pragmatic execution for immediate business needs and long-term architectural thinking to build a scalable, intelligent platform
- 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
Desirable
- Hands-on experience designing or implementing product experiences incorporating ML/AI, such as AI-driven personalization engines, recommendation systems, or predictive intent models
- Experience with generative AI or LLMs, particularly in applications related to content personalization (for a CMS) or building intelligent customer-facing agents
- Familiarity with building the frontend components of data feedback loops used for retraining or fine-tuning AI models
What the job involves
- As a Senior Staff Software Engineer on the Marketing Technology team, you will spearhead the architectural evolution of Gusto’s new MarTech stack as we transition to an AI-native company
- This is a frontend leaning architecture role where you will be instrumental in designing and building the foundational web platforms that connect our customer data with our communication channels
- Your work will focus on transforming our Headless CMS from a content repository into an AI-driven personalization engine, architecting the high-performance frontend systems that can reason about customer data, predict user intent, and serve the most relevant experience
- You will design how these platforms intelligently integrate with our central CDP and multi-channel Orchestration engine, turning backend insights into adaptive, personalized user journeys
- You’ll operate at the intersection of marketing systems, AI capabilities, and platform evolution
- Architect and evolve our customer-facing web platforms not just for performance and scale, but for AI-driven personalization and intelligent experimentation
- Build and maintain integrations with our MarTech stack (Segment, Braze, etc.) to create feedback loops for AI models and enable model-driven actions
- Implement and optimize caching strategies across our delivery stack (CDN, edge)
- Write high-quality, well-tested frontend code leveraging AI-powered tools and techniques to accelerate development, improve test generation, and ensure code reliability
- Support, mentor, and up-level fellow engineers on the team, helping to establish best practices for AI-native design patterns
- Partner cross-functionally with Marketing and Sales to translate business needs into technical solutions
- Be an owner of the long-term technical roadmap for MarTech, ensuring it aligns with Gusto’s transition to an AI-native company
- The Marketing Technology (MarTech) team is building the next generation of infrastructure that powers customer acquisition and engagement funnels
- Our mission is to move beyond deterministic user journeys and build intelligent growth systems
- We’re building a world-class technology platform designed to understand customer intent, tailor experiences in real-time, and continuously improve through data and feedback
- This means shifting from static tools to an adaptive platform that ensures a seamless, personalized, and performant experience for prospects and customers
- We prioritize quality, observability, and uptime because these intelligent systems are fundamental to Gusto's growth and brand
- We partner closely with Marketing, Sales, Growth R&D, and Operations to build and connect the AI-powered tools they use every day
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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