Gusto is on a mission to grow the small business economy, handling payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR for more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide.
Teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York.
About the role
The Pricing & Packaging team is looking for a Senior Staff Software Engineer and Tech Lead to drive the technical direction of Gusto's internal Commerce Platform.
You'll own the architecture and delivery of systems that power how Gusto packages, prices, and delivers its products to over 500,000 small businesses nationwide.
Responsibilities
Lead technical design and architecture for the Commerce Platform including the product catalog, promotion engine, and subscription and entitlement systems.
Partner with product management and cross-functional engineering teams to define the platform's technical roadmap and drive adoption.
Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, ambiguous projects.
Mentor and grow engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and hands-on technical coaching.
Leverage AI tools such as code assistants, automated testing, and data-driven diagnostics.
Own and improve platform observability, reliability, and performance.
Collaborate with marketing and business teams to evolve the self-serve system.
Requirements
10+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a tech lead or staff engineer role.
Mastery in at least one programming language (e.g. Ruby, Java, Python, Go).
Deep experience building and operating large-scale backend platform systems, ideally in commerce, billing, subscription management, pricing and packaging.
Strong command of distributed systems, API design, and service reliability practices.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with AI tools (such as GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, or similar).
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Conditions
Hybrid role; physical offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City; expected to work from the office approximately 2-3 days per week.
Cash compensation: $189,000/yr to $236,000/yr in Denver & most remote locations; $223,000/yr to $278,000/yr for San Francisco, Seattle & New York. Stock equity is additional.