Is the FP&A AI Architect role remote?

It's hybrid — Gusto expects some on-site time in San Francisco, CA, United States.

What's the salary range?

Gusto lists $225,000–$250,000 for this role.

How much experience is required?

At least 10 years of relevant experience for this FP&A AI Architect role.

Where is the role based?

Gusto is hiring for this position in San Francisco, CA, United States.

What's the tech stack?

Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI/ML, Adaptive, Anaplan, Databricks, NetSuite, Pigment.

What seniority level is this role?

Gusto targets staff-level candidates for this position.

Is this full-time or contract?

Full-time for this FP&A AI Architect role at Gusto.

FP&A AI Architect at Gusto

Joblaze summary

In the role of Staff FP&A AI Architect at Gusto, the individual will focus on transforming financial planning and analysis through the integration of AI, moving away from traditional spreadsheet methods to automated systems that generate insights. Key skills include expertise in finance fundamentals, machine learning, and proficiency in SQL and Python, alongside experience with enterprise planning platforms. This position is suited for seasoned professionals with a strong background in FP&A and data science, particularly those who can bridge finance and technology. The role is part of a new team dedicated to enhancing Gusto's enterprise systems with AI and advanced analytics.

Joblaze insights

Listed today — first seen on Joblaze October 20, 2026. Last confirmed on Gusto's careers page October 20, 2026.
Salary band is above the typical range for AI/ML roles (median ~$190,000).
Starts above 50% of 107 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States that list Python we track (median $224,000 across 42 companies). See Python salary trends
Python appears in 50% of 284 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States; dbt appears in 1.4% of 284 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States.

Quick facts

Is the FP&A AI Architect role remote?: It's hybrid — Gusto expects some on-site time in San Francisco, CA, United States.
What's the salary range?: Gusto lists $225,000–$250,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?: At least 10 years of relevant experience for this FP&A AI Architect role.
Where is the role based?: Gusto is hiring for this position in San Francisco, CA, United States.
What's the tech stack?: Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI/ML, Adaptive, Anaplan, Databricks, NetSuite, Pigment.
What seniority level is this role?: Gusto targets staff-level candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?: Full-time for this FP&A AI Architect role at Gusto.

From the original posting

About Gusto

About the Role

Gusto’s Finance team is rebuilding planning, forecasting, and analysis with AI at the center. As Staff FP&A AI Architect, you’ll design and lead the technical and process architecture that turns FP&A from a manual, spreadsheet-driven cycle into an automated, insight-generating function. You’re a hybrid: deep enough in finance to understand driver-based planning, variance analysis, and board reporting, and deep enough in data and AI to design the systems that automate them. You’ll partner with the CFO org, FP&A, Accounting, Data, and Engineering.

About the Team

This is a new role on the Enterprise AIT team, which drives the intelligent transformation of Gusto’s enterprise systems by integrating AI, automation, and advanced analytics across internal applications. The team works closely with Finance, Business Ops, IT, and Security, and this role brings dedicated AI architecture capacity to FP&A and the CFO org.

What You’ll Do

Set the strategy: Define the multi-year architecture and roadmap for AI-enabled planning, forecasting, and reporting, prioritizing use cases by value, feasibility, and risk.
Build forecasting systems: Architect driver-based, ML-assisted forecasts for revenue, headcount, opex, and cash, combining statistical models with LLM workflows and benchmarking against human forecasts.
Automate analysis: Build agentic workflows for variance commentary, flux analysis, scenario modeling, board and QBR narratives, and ad-hoc “ask the numbers” questions.
Own the finance data foundation: Work with Data Engineering on governed data models connecting the GL, billing, CRM, HRIS, and planning tools, so AI outputs are traceable and auditable.
Embed controls and trust: Establish evals, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, lineage, and audit trails that meet SOX, security, and privacy requirements.
Evaluate and select tools: Drive build-vs-buy decisions across planning platforms, LLM providers, and orchestration frameworks.
Lead through influence: Mentor analysts and engineers, create reusable patterns and templates, and drive AI adoption across Finance.
Measure impact: Report on cycle-time reduction, forecast accuracy, analyst capacity freed, and decision latency.

What We’re Looking For

Required

10+ years in FP&A, corporate finance, finance systems, data science, or finance engineering, including 3+ years designing or leading AI/ML or advanced automation for finance
Strong FP&A fundamentals: driver-based modeling, operating plans, rolling forecasts, SaaS or fintech metrics, variance analysis
Hands-on experience with LLMs and agentic systems (prompting, RAG, tool use, evals) and classical forecasting (time series, regression, ensembles)
Proficiency in SQL and Python, a modern data stack (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, dbt), and BI tools
Experience with enterprise planning platforms and ERP/GL systems
Track record shipping production-grade solutions under SOX, data governance, and security review
Exceptional communication: able to explain model behavior to a CFO and system design to an engineer

Nice to have

Payroll, HR tech, fintech, or SaaS finance experience
Experience building internal tools with Engineering
Familiarity with MCP-style integrations and AI governance frameworks
CPA, CFA, or an advanced quantitative degree

Ideal Attributes

Finance-fluent builder, systems thinker, rigorous about trust (evals, lineage, and human-in-the-loop as design requirements), pragmatic on build vs. buy, influencer and teacher, and outcome-driven.

AI Fluency Expectations

Expert/Transformer level, expected to set AI standards for Finance. Advanced in LLM platforms (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini), agent frameworks and MCP, and Python/SQL; proficient in Snowflake/Databricks/dbt, planning platforms (Anaplan, Adaptive, Pigment), ERP/GL (NetSuite), and BI tools.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $185,000-$205,000 /yr in Denver & most remote locations, and $225,000-$250,000 /yr for San Francisco, Seattle & New York. 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.

Standard company text repeated across Gusto's postings is omitted here.