Senior Engineering Manager: Software Development Tools

About Gusto

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 300,000 businesses nationwide.

Our mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life, and it starts right here at Gusto. That’s why we’re committed to building a collaborative and inclusive workplace, both physically and virtually. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy. 

About the Role:

In this role, you’ll lead teams dedicated to improving local development environments, enhancing CI stability, and streamlining the inner loop of software development. Working across monoliths and services, you’ll deliver tools and workflows that boost developer productivity while fostering collaboration and innovation. By aligning with leadership and partnering with cross-functional teams, you’ll drive impactful solutions that accelerate software delivery and technical excellence.

About the Team:

These teams are dedicated to empowering developers by improving local development environments, enhancing CI stability, and optimizing the broader inner loop of software development. Our mission is to streamline the iterative process of pulling, changing, testing, and pushing code, ensuring it is fast, reliable, and enjoyable for engineers.

Operating within a diverse ecosystem of large monoliths and an ever-growing number of services, we provide tailored support and scalable solutions to meet the unique challenges of our codebases. By collaborating closely with engineering teams, we aim to elevate developer productivity and deliver tools and workflows that enable seamless contributions across the organization. With a long-term vision to enhance the full inner loop experience, this team plays a critical role in accelerating innovation and driving technical excellence.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Lead and Scale the Team: Recruit, mentor, and develop a diverse team of engineers while fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performance culture.
• Shape Developer Productivity: Own and enhance local development environments and CI stability, with the vision to expand to the entire inner loop of software development processes (pull, change, test, push, verify).
• Collaborate Across Functions: Partner with technical infrastructure teams, product development, data science, operations, product management, and design teams to deliver end-to-end product experiences for complex customer needs.
• Drive Strategic Roadmaps: Work closely with leadership to set priorities, define both short-term and long-term goals, and ensure accountability for progress and delivery.
• Own Delivery of Technical Solutions: Lead planning, execution, and delivery of impactful engineering projects, balancing technical excellence with practical business outcomes.
• Champion Developer Experience: Advocate for improvements in tools, processes, and workflows that enhance developer productivity and satisfaction.
• Foster Innovation: Encourage a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement within the team, leveraging insights to drive meaningful enhancements.

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 8+ years of engineering people leadership experience
• 12+ years of hands-on programming experience at scaled product companies, ideally with focus on internal developers
• Experience with working on Ruby, Rails in the context of large applications
• Experience in empowering and nurturing technical teams of 4-10 engineers 
• Experience in managing and resolving complex product development issues
• Experience in leading large scope technical projects and driving engineering excellence
• Self-driven mindset, and the ability to work in the in-between space of leading and supporting people and driving direct, hands-on impact and creating memorable experiences for customers

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $225,000-$256,000 in Denver, $245,000-$277,000 for Los Angeles and most remote locations, $265,000-$299,000 for San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. 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.

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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