Benefits Engineering Manager
Lead a dynamic engineering team to design and deploy AI-powered applications enhancing customer experiences at Gusto.
Skills & Technologies
Role intensity
20% coding — mostly leadership/strategy
AI in the day-to-day
You will actively leverage AI and agentic tools to accelerate delivery.
Requirements
- Experience
- 10+ years
Benefits
Joblaze summary
The Benefits Engineering Manager at Gusto leads a team focused on designing and deploying AI-driven applications to enhance customer experiences. This role requires a strong technical background, particularly in integrating AI with legacy systems, and emphasizes collaboration across engineering, product, and design teams. Ideal candidates will have over a decade of technical experience, including several years in engineering management and generative AI. Gusto's dynamic environment offers the opportunity to significantly impact small businesses through innovative solutions.
Joblaze insights
- Listed about a month ago on Joblaze — tracked directly from Gusto's career page.
- Gusto has 88 other open roles including Consumer Money Support Specialist, Tier 2 , CX Learning & Development Facilitation & Programs Manager, Benefit Services - Member Fulfillment.
- 1579 active AI/ML roles on Joblaze right now.
- 571 active Salesforce roles on Joblaze right now.
- 77 active Generative AI roles on Joblaze right now.
- Salary band is above the typical range for Management (median ~$180,000).
Quick facts
- Is the Benefits Engineering Manager role remote?
- It's hybrid — Gusto expects some on-site time in San Francisco, California, United States.
- What's the salary range?
- Gusto lists $223,000–$251,000 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 10 years of relevant experience for this Benefits Engineering Manager role.
- Where is the role based?
- Gusto is hiring for this position in San Francisco, California, United States.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI/ML, Salesforce, Zendesk, Generative AI.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Gusto targets lead candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Benefits Engineering Manager role at Gusto.
From the original posting
About Gusto
At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff — payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR — so owners can focus on their craft and their customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we support more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide and are building a workplace that reflects the people we serve.
All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) — because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success. Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy.
AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto. We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves. AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.
About the Team:
Come be part of the Benefits group and help small and medium sized businesses make the right choice for themselves and their employees! We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Engineering Manager to empower part of our BenAdmin team.
As a key member of Gusto’ Benefits leadership team, your role will encompass building a dynamic team and contributing to build a thriving business. You will also be responsible for working collaboratively with other cross-functional teams and leaders to build a suite of products that will be adored by our customers while setting industry benchmarks.
If you are a customer-centric builder who thrives on making a substantial impact within a high-growth organization, we would be thrilled to hear from you!
About the Role:
Gusto Benefits is looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead the design, development, and deployment of solutions that enhance our customer experience. In this role, you'll empower a team of Gusties and contractors to architect and deliver solutions that help our CX team deliver on the commitments we’ve made to our customers.
You'll be a key technical voice on the team, helping define how we build, mentor engineers around you, and actively leverage AI and agentic tools to accelerate delivery. The ideal candidate will have a background in integrating artificial intelligence into legacy systems with proven expertise in applying these technologies to improve customer interactions and satisfaction. Be a change agent on how Gusto leverages AI to better serve customers.
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Lead your engineering team to design, develop, and deploy AI-powered applications to enhance customer and advocate experiences.
- Strategic thinking - challenge norms and ask questions!
- You will work cross-functionally with engineering, product, design, and stakeholder teams to lead various initiatives to advance our customer service solutions
- You will leverage our data to identify key insights and create operational efficiencies, as well as produce accurate and meaningful analysis to drive business decisions
- Meet with stakeholders from business and engineering to understand OKR requirements and convert them into analytical solutions
- Integrate with third-party platforms (e.g., Salesforce, Zendesk, or similar CRM/support systems) where applicable
- Responsible for driving the development of product and core platform in a fast paced, start-up environment
- Providing technical leadership in defining the product and platform solutions
- Understand customer pain points, devise solutions, and then iterate through prototyping and frequent, successful product launches.
- Work cross functionally with design leadership and product management leadership to build and drive Gusto’s product vision and strategy
- Empowering a team of senior engineers, architects, and potentially managers to create alignment, clarity, high morale, driving quick but informed decision making, and helping them get unblocked
Here’s what we’re looking for:
- 10+ years of total relevant technical experience
- 3+ years of engineering management experience
- 2+ years in Generative AI demonstrating the ability to leverage AI/agentic tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude or similar) to accelerate development
Nice to Have:
- Experience with CRM platforms or third-party integrations (Salesforce, Zendesk, or similar)
- Familiarity with Robotic Process Automation (RPA’s)
- Prior experience working with contractor-heavy or distributed team structures
Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $223,000-251,000 for San Francisco. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience, level, and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.
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.
Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto.
Gusto is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Gusto considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Gusto is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. We want to see our candidates perform to the best of their ability. If you require a medical or religious accommodation at any time throughout your candidate journey, please fill out this form and a member of our team will get in touch with you.
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