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Staff Software Engineer, Core Products

Join Gusto as a Staff Software Engineer to design and build core products that empower small businesses.

Location
New York, NY - Hybrid; San Francisco, CA - Hybrid
Compensation
$163k–$204k/yr
Level
staff
Type
full time · Hybrid

Posted by employer 3 months ago

First seen on Joblaze 3 months ago

Last verified on the company career page 4 hours ago

Skills & Technologies

Role intensity

40% coding

AI in the day-to-day

AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto; team members are expected to engage with AI tools relevant to their role.

Requirements

Experience
8+ years

Not disclosed in this posting: visa sponsorship.

Benefits

401k Match Equity/Stock Options Health Insurance

Joblaze summary

In the role of Staff Software Engineer at Gusto, the individual will design, build, and test core products that support small businesses, ensuring a seamless user experience. Proficiency in Ruby on Rails and JavaScript with React is essential, along with a strong background in scalable solutions and AI integration. This position is ideal for seasoned engineers with over eight years of experience who are passionate about mentoring others and tackling complex engineering challenges. Gusto emphasizes collaboration across teams to enhance product offerings and customer satisfaction.

Joblaze insights

  • Listed about 3 months ago — first seen on Joblaze June 25, 2026. Last confirmed on Gusto's careers page October 8, 2026.
  • Salary band is in line with the typical range for Fullstack roles (median ~$165,000).
  • Starts above 9% of 33 comparable staff fullstack roles in United States that list React we track (median $200,000 across 16 companies). See React salary trends
  • React appears in 61.3% of 75 comparable staff fullstack roles in United States; Rails appears in 1.3% of 75 comparable staff fullstack roles in United States.

Quick facts

Is the Staff Software Engineer, Core Products role remote?
It's hybrid — Gusto expects some on-site time in New York, NY - Hybrid; San Francisco, CA - Hybrid.
What's the salary range?
Gusto lists $163,000–$204,000 for this role.
How much experience is required?
At least 8 years of relevant experience for this Staff Software Engineer, Core Products role.
Where is the role based?
Gusto is hiring for this position in New York, NY - Hybrid; San Francisco, CA - Hybrid.
What's the tech stack?
Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: JavaScript, Rails, React, Ruby.
What seniority level is this role?
Gusto targets staff-level candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?
Full-time for this Staff Software Engineer, Core Products role at Gusto.

From the original posting


About Gusto

About the Role:

We're looking for seasoned full-stack software engineers to join the teams behind Gusto's customer-facing products — the features and experiences that small business owners and their employees rely on every day.

As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll operate across the full product lifecycle: shaping features from early spec and design through to launch and long-term iteration. That means writing clean frontend code, designing and building reliable backend APIs, influencing product direction, and taking ownership of what happens after a feature ships.

If you're drawn to work that combines technical craft with real-world impact — helping power the livelihoods of millions using Gusto products — join us!

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

  • Design, build, and test Gusto core products such as Payroll, Benefits, HR, Retirement, Gusto Money, Gusto Solo, and Gusto Pro, among others
  • Mentor other engineers to help solve some of the hardest technical problems out there in very complex domains and at a large scale
  • Help scale one of the largest Ruby/Rails and Javascript/React applications in the world
  • Collaborate with our Product Management, Data, Design, and Platform Engineering teams to understand customer pain points, come up with solutions, and then prototype, iterate, and launch daily
  • Build products that our customers genuinely love

Here’s what we're looking for:

  • Successful applicants typically have 10+ years of software development experience
  • Experience building scalable solutions that eliminate customer pain; passion for creating memorable experiences for customers
  • Experience leveraging AI tools or systems to accelerate development, improve testing, and deliver new product capabilities
  • Curiosity and experimentation with emerging AI frameworks, applying and sharing best practices to evaluate and scale AI use safely across teams
  • Experience owning multi-quarter projects that solve complex engineering problems and make measurable customer impact at scale
  • Experience with large scale refactors, performance and reliability issues, and a strong sense of ownership over all aspects of your product area
  • Ability to mentor engineers to maximize their performance and impact

Please note that a two day travel to a Gusto office for onboarding is required for this position. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please share with your recruiter.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $163,000–$204,000 in Denver & most remote locations, and $197,000–$247,000 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.


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.

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

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