Gusto Senior Staff Engineer at Gusto owns outcomes across the full expansion funnel, shaping technical architecture and partnering with Product, Design, and Data Science. The role includes scoping, experimentation, and mentoring engineers.
Responsibilities
Own outcomes across the full expansion funnel, not just a single surface or feature within it.
Shape the technical approach and architecture behind recommendations and conversion journeys so it holds up as a foundation other initiatives can build on.
Make sharp scoping calls under a time box: ship the simplest version that proves or disproves an idea, then iterate based on what you learn.
Design experiments and use ambiguous or noisy data to decide what's worth scaling versus cutting.
Partner independently with Product, Design, and Data Science to help shape the roadmap, not just execute it.
Raise the engineering bar through pragmatic technical direction, strong code review, and mentoring engineers around you, scoping out work and delegating it to other engineers on the team once it's ready to hand off.
Successful applicants typically have 10+ years of software development experience, including building and shipping full-stack, customer-facing products at scale.
A product-minded engineer who starts from the customer problem and the metric that matters, not just the ticket, and can operate independently across product, design, and data partners.
Experience in a growth, lifecycle, or conversion-focused context (onboarding, upsell flows, personalization, or recommendations) is ideal — or a demonstrated ability to think this way even without the exact domain background.
Qualification
Experience with large-scale refactorsAbility to build well-structuredExperience inAt GustoNoteReliable
Required
Demonstrated ability to move quickly and execute with high quality — someone who ships, measures, and iterates rather than waiting for perfect certainty.
Experience owning multi-quarter initiatives end to end, from early concept through measurable business impact.
Comfort navigating ambiguity and leading peers through influence, without relying on formal authority.
Experience with large-scale refactors, performance and reliability work, and a strong sense of technical ownership over your product area.
A track record of mentoring engineers and helping teams scale their impact, including knowing when to delegate scoped work to other engineers rather than carrying it yourself.
A track record of spotting technical or product opportunities before being asked, and building the case to prioritize them.
Experience leveraging AI tools or systems to accelerate development, improve testing, and deliver new product capabilities.
Ability to build well-structured, maintainable, well-documented code.
Ability to effectively communicate across engineering teams and with business stakeholders.
Experience in, or interest working in, Ruby on Rails, React, GraphQL, and TypeScript.
Preferred
Please note that travel to Gusto's office for onboarding is required for this position. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please share with your recruiter.
Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale. 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 cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at 191,000–240,000 in Denver & most remote locations, and 225,000–275,000 for San Francisco & New York. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.
At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither. Because of this, the title on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current title or level, your recruiter can help translate.
Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.
Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.
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.
Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance, whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and ensure colleagues and customers receive the timely support and responsiveness they deserve.
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