Back to jobs
New

Senior Product Design Manager, Payroll

Denver, CO;San Francisco, CA;New York, NY;Los Angeles, CA;Seattle, WA;Toronto, Ontario, CAN - Remote

 

About Gusto

At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff—like payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR—so owners can focus on their craft and customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we’re proud to support more than 400,000 small businesses across the country, and we’re building a workplace that represents and celebrates the customers we serve. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy. 

About the Role:

For the hundreds of thousands of small businesses we serve, our mission starts with one of their most critical responsibilities: paying their team. Getting payroll right isn’t just a feature—it’s the foundation of trust with every business that relies on us.

As the Senior Product Design Manager, Payroll, you’ll lead design for one of Gusto’s most complex and business-critical product areas, shaping the future of a product that millions of people rely on for financial stability and personal prosperity. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role with broad scope. You’ll manage a team of designers and set the UX direction for Payroll, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, Research, Data, Ops, Compliance, and others to take on payroll complexity so our customers don’t have to.

Your work will include simplifying complex, interconnected workflows, defining a long-term UX vision and rallying others around it, and leading automation and AI initiatives that make the work of paying a team disappear. You’ll also mentor designers, raise the bar for craft across the broader Design team, and contribute to platform standards that help others across Gusto build consistent, high-quality experiences.

About the Team:

Payroll is the foundation of Gusto and our most-used, most-loved product. It’s the first Gusto experience many customers interact with, and it continues to power their success as they grow. Payroll also underpins our broader ecosystem, enabling the adoption of Benefits, Time Tracking, HR tools, and so much more. Our team is tasked with evolving and scaling this core experience for small businesses of all sizes, from solo entrepreneurs to growing companies. We focus on taking on the complexity of payroll so our customers don’t have to—making payroll faster, more flexible, and increasingly hands off.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

  • Lead end-to-end design for Payroll, shaping experiences that help small businesses pay their teams properly, on time, and with confidence.
  • Define and communicate the long-term UX vision for Payroll, and rally multiple teams around it.
  • Partner with Product, Engineering, Data, Ops and others to set strategy and roadmaps.
  • Lead AI and automation initiatives that simplify payroll and reduce manual work, without compromising accuracy or trust.
  • Collaborate with Research and Data to uncover customer insights and translate them into clear, actionable UX priorities.
  • Influence product and technical roadmaps by advocating for design quality, customer needs, and long-term system health.
  • Raise the bar for interaction and visual design, ensuring experiences are clear, polished, and robust across edge cases.
  • Define and scale shared patterns, principles, and standards that promote consistency and help teams progress faster.
  • Manage and grow a team of designers, providing mentorship, clear direction, and hands-on support across multiple pods.
  • Ensure payroll integrates seamlessly with other add-ons in Gusto’s People Platform, including Time & Attendance and third-party tools.

Here’s what we're looking for:

  • 8–10+ years of product design experience, with at least 3 years in a people management role.
  • Experience leading design direction across multiple teams and influencing product strategy.
  • Proven ability to drive alignment, influence cross-functional partners, and represent design in strategic conversations.
  • Experience working on B2B, B2C, or SaaS products—ideally in complex, regulated domains.
  • Deep systems thinking, with experience turning complex workflows into clear, scalable, and intuitive experiences.
  • A portfolio that demonstrates high-quality UX and visual design craft.
  • Experience contributing to or evolving a design system—components, patterns, interaction models, and visual standards.
  • Familiarity with AI tools and workflows that support design exploration, prototyping, or process efficiency.
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguity while balancing long-term vision with short-term execution.
  • Clear, direct communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to explain decisions and influence partners and stakeholders.
  • A genuine bond to Gusto’s mission and the needs of small businesses.

Compensation Details

At Gusto, we strive to provide rewards that empower employees to achieve their financial and personal goals. We offer competitive compensation packages with a strong emphasis on equity based compensation (ownership in Gusto). To learn more about Gusto’s compensation philosophy and benefits offerings please view our Total Rewards Approach page.

Our cash compensation range for this role is $172,000/yr to $215,000/yr in Denver & most remote locations, and $202,000/yr to $253,000/yr in 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.

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.

Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer.

Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Gusto, Inc.? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
How did you hear about this opportunity? (select all that apply) *
Select...
Select...

If you’ll require this employer to commence, i.e., “sponsor,” an immigration or work permit case in order to employ you, either now or at some point in the future, then you should answer yes. An example of an immigration or work permit case that may require sponsorship now or in the future would be an H-1B or other employment-based work permit sponsorship.

Voluntary Self-Identification

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it helps us to build better products, better serve our customers, and makes our company stronger. 

In addition to the information required to consider your application, below is a set of demographic questions that help us identify areas for improvement in our process and further support the development and execution of our diversity efforts and programs as well as to create a more inclusive environment for all employees. 

Your responses to these questions will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file. Your responses, or your wish not to answer, will not be associated with your specific application, will not be shared with hiring managers,  and will not in any way be used in making any employment decisions, including hiring decisions.

Please use this as a reference while completing the disability self-identification:

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition. Disabilities include, but are not limited to: 

  • Blindness
  • Deafness
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Epilepsy
  • Autism
  • Cerebral palsy
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Schizophrenia
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Major depression
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder
  • Impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair
  • Intellectual disability

 

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Gusto, Inc.’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.