Head of Accountant Partner Program, Gusto
$200-300k
OTE
Actual salary is dependent on location
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
Job no longer available
Automated payroll, benefits & HR platform
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$200-300k
OTE
Actual salary is dependent on location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To grow the small business economy.
Role
Who you are
- 15+ years of experience in partner programs, channel strategy, customer/partner support, or business development with a demonstrated track record of building category-defining programs at scale — ideally with meaningful exposure to the accounting or professional services industry
- Proven experience as a principal architect of partner program infrastructure — you've designed and owned rev-share structures, tiered benefits, partner incentives, program governance, and multi-year investment theses. You've set the strategy, not just executed within it
- People management experience — you've managed and developed ICs in partner enablement, channel, or GTM functions. You know how to set direction, clear blockers, and grow people while staying close to the work yourself
- Enablement fluency — you have a working command of what great partner enablement looks like for partners: onboarding design, CPE programming, certification tracks, and activation at scale. You don't need to be the practitioner, but you need to be a credible leader of practitioners
- Recognized external expert and thought leader in the accountant channel or partner program space — you've represented companies publicly, shaped industry POV, and built credibility with partners, vendors, and industry bodies as a peer-level voice
- External partnership depth — you've negotiated complex vendor and platform contracts, managed high-stakes third-party relationships, and operationalized partnerships from concept through scale
- Operational rigor — you've consolidated fragmented program operations across complex organizations and built the systems and processes that let programs run at scale without breaking
- Executive-level financial acumen — you've owned program P&Ls, built multi-year investment models, and presented capital allocation recommendations to senior leadership with full accountability for outcomes
- AI fluency and strategic foresight — you understand how AI is reshaping the accounting industry and partner ecosystems, actively use AI tools in your own work, and can credibly set Gusto's POV on where this goes
- Cross-functional leadership at senior levels — you've shaped strategy with exec stakeholders, driven outcomes across product, sales, finance, and operations, and built formal networks with key decision makers inside and outside the company
What the job involves
- The accounting industry is at an inflection point
- AI is fundamentally reshaping how firms operate, advisory services are displacing compliance-only engagements, and the platforms that win accountant loyalty in the next two years will define the category for the decade after
- Gusto's Accountant Partner Program is one of the most strategically important levers in the business, and we need a senior leader to own its full arc — from strategy and program design through enablement and team development
- As the Head of, Accountant Partner Program, you will own the strategic direction, operational architecture, and multi-year investment thesis for Gusto's Accountant Partner Program
- In addition to your IC ownership of program strategy, you will directly manage two enablement ICs: a Channel Partner Enablement Manager and a Senior Enablement Manager, Accountants
- Together this team owns how accounting firm partners and channel partners are activated, onboarded, and trained
- You will set the overarching enablement strategy and develop both individuals as the team scales
- This role reports directly to the Head of Indirect GTM and operates with wide latitude over objectives, approaches, and program design across the Accountant Partner Program
- The Indirect GTM team at Gusto owns the Accountant Partner Program — Gusto's scaled path to SMB customers through accounting firm partners. What it needs now is a senior owner who can drive the next phase: a program that is strategically differentiated, operationally cohesive, and known in the industry as the standard of excellence
- The team is lean, cross-functional, and moves fast. You'll work closely with product, sales, marketing, finance, and operations — and spend meaningful time externally as one of Gusto's spokesperson in the accountant partner community. The program is entering a period of significant investment, and this role sets the agenda for where and how that investment lands
- Set the Accountant Partner Program strategy and multi-year investment thesis — defining where Gusto should place bets across program components, how capital should be allocated, and what the accountant channel looks like at 10x scale
- Serve as one of Gusto’s external voice in the accountant partnership space — representing the company at industry events, shaping Gusto's public POV on the future of accounting firm partnerships, and building Gusto's reputation as the standard of excellence in the partner program community
- Lead market research and competitive intelligence — maintaining a continuous view of how competitors and the broader industry are evolving, and translating that into strategic recommendations that shape program design and capital allocation
- Collaborate with Partner Marketing on program brand and external positioning — identifying and executing on awards, thought leadership, speaking opportunities, and industry partnerships that establish Gusto as the program of choice for accounting firms
- Build and own external partner relationships for program benefits — sourcing, negotiating, and operationalizing vendor and platform partnerships (e.g., AI tooling, firm consultants) that deliver tangible, differentiated value to accountant partners
- Own the end-to-end operationalization of the program internally — consolidating fragmented program components (support, incentives, rev-share, orchestration, AI agents) into a cohesive, AI-leveraged operating model with clear ownership and accountability across functions
- Own program financial management and ROI — determining how investment is deployed, monitoring performance by tier (CAC:LTV, activation rates, GNARR contribution), and presenting the return story to executive leadership
- Lead and develop two enablement ICs — managing the Partner Enablement Manager for Channel and the Senior Enablement Manager for Accountants (responsible for partner onboarding and training). Set the overarching enablement strategy and ensure the team ships with quality and at scale
- Identify and drive resolution of gaps across adjacent program areas — proactively surfacing where challenges in support, tooling, or partner experience are creating friction and driving cross-functional resolution
- Collaborate with Partner Operations on the partner program tech stack — shaping the architecture of how Gusto manages, orchestrates, and scales accountant partner relationships at volume, including agentic enablement capabilities
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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