Payment Operations Analyst

Gusto; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gender-affirming care

Family care and support

Mental health resources

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Free meals at office

Paid vacation and holidays

Job summary

Gusto is seeking a Payment Operations Analyst to own end-to-end payment workflows, resolve exceptions with sound judgment, and improve reliability and efficiency across our growing money movement surface. You will work with Engineering, Product, Accounting, Risk, and CX, shaping requirements and driving launches with a mindset to use AI as a core productivity tool.

You will triage issues, escalate when needed, and partner with banks and payment partners to ensure timely resolution.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in payment operations, banking operations, treasury operations, or fintech payments.
• Working knowledge of domestic rails (ACH/Nacha, wires) and international money movement is a plus.
• Strong analytical instincts with ability to query/structure data; SQL a plus.
• Excellent communication with both non-technical and technical partners.
• Willingness to own issues end-to-end in ambiguous environments.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end payment workflows and resolve exceptions.
• Investigate outages affecting thousands of users and coordinate response.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Accounting, Risk, and CX.
• Improve system reliability and efficiency over time.
• Contribute to product specs and define requirements for launches.
• Drive root-cause analysis and implement fixes.

Skills

Systems thinking

Accountability

AI-minded

Cross-functional

SQL basics

Tools

Bank portals

Payment processors

Reconciliation tools

Job description

• Payments at Gusto aren’t just infrastructure — they’re the reason people get paid on time, every time
• Payment Operations sits within Gusto’s Money team, a cross-functional group spanning Engineering, Product, and Operations that powers money movement across Gusto’s growing product surface: core payroll, contractor payments, international money movement, and new business offerings like PEO
• As a Payment Operations Analyst, you’ll own specific end-to-end payment workflows, resolve exceptions that require real judgment, and help make our systems more reliable and efficient over time
• Gusto’s payment surface area is expanding — and this team is at the center of that growth
• This is a role for someone who can shift from investigating a single misfired transaction to coordinating a response on a payment outage affecting thousands — and bring the same rigor to both
• You think in systems
• You hold partners accountable
• You lead with curiosity and embrace AI as a core part of how you work
• You’ll collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, Accounting, Risk, and CX — and you’ll develop strong day-to-day relationships with Gusto’s bank and payment partners
• When something breaks or slows down, you’re the one who drives it to resolution
• Support the payment lifecycle end-to-end
• Own the operational layer of specific payment workflows — ACH processing, exception handling, refunds, collection re-debits, reconciliation. When something is off, you investigate, escalation where needed, and see it through to resolution. And when you see a pattern, you push to fix the root cause
• Build alongside Product and Engineering
• Payment Operations doesn’t just react — we shape how the systems work. You’ll contribute to product specs, surface operational pain points, help define requirements, and participate in launches. You’re a partner in building, not just a consumer of what gets shipped
• Close the loop on customer pain
• Customer and CX feedback is signal. You actively mine it to identify friction in payment flows, prioritize what matters, and bring those insights into the operational and product conversations where decisions get made
• Think in systems
• Connect the dots across rails, partners, reconciliation, compliance, and customer experience. When an issue surfaces, you understand how it ripples — and you bring that perspective to cross-functional conversations
• Hold partners to a high standard
• Work directly with Gusto’s bank and payment partners — domestic and international — to triage issues, resolve escalations, and maintain strong working relationships. You know how to be firm and collaborative at the same time, and you don’t let things sit
• Lead with AI
• You use AI as a genuine work partner — to move faster on analysis, draft communications, synthesize data, and automate the repetitive. You’re always looking for the smarter way to get to the answer

Benefits

• Gender-affirming care and support
• Family care and support, including family planning and fertility benefits
• A variety of mental health resources
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents
• Free meals and refreshments at the office (conversation and community is an added bonus!)
• Paid vacation, sick time, bereavement, and holidays, paid leaves, sabbatical, and more

Working knowledge of domestic payment rails (ACH/Nacha, wires, RTP) and/or international money movement (cross-border transfers, FX, global disbursement networks); experience across both is a strong plusEager to build AI into how you work — whether you’re already using it daily or just getting started, you see it as a genuine productivity lever and are committed to developing that fluencyStrong analytical instincts — you look for the pattern behind the problem and can query or structure data to find it (SQL a plus but not required)Experience working with bank portals, payment processors, or reconciliation toolsKnowledge of relevant compliance frameworks (Nacha operating rules, unclaimed property, money transmission) is a strong plusComfortable working in ambiguity and taking ownership without waiting for perfect informationAbility to communicate clearly with both operational and technical counterparts; you can write a crisp Slack to an engineer and a professional escalation to a bank partner3+ years of experience in payment operations, banking operations, treasury operations, or a related role at a fintech or financial institution