Payroll Product Design Manager — AI-Driven UX Lead

Gusto; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 202,000 - 253,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity (RSUs)

Job summary

Gusto is seeking a Product Design Manager for Payroll to lead design for a high‑impact, highly regulated domain. You will shape long‑term UX vision, mentor designers, and partner with cross‑functional teams to deliver an AI‑driven, scalable payroll experience used by millions of workers and businesses.

You’ll drive design quality, influence roadmaps, and champion a cohesive, accessible user experience across benefits, time tracking, and third‑party tools.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of product design experience, with at least 3 years leading and managing design teams.
• Experience designing in complex domains (e.g., financial products, healthcare or similarly regulated environments).
• Experience setting UX direction across multiple teams and influencing product strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for Payroll — shaping experiences that help small businesses pay their teams correctly, 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 product initiatives where AI and automation are central to the user experience, simplifying payroll and reducing 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.
• Set the quality and judgment standard for all design work — whether AI-assisted or not.
• Define and scale shared patterns, principles, and standards that promote quality, consistency, and velocity.
• Manage and grow a team of designers, providing mentorship, clear direction, and hands‑on support across the team.
• Champion the Payroll experience as the foundation of Gusto's broader People Platform, ensuring seamless integration across Benefits, Time & Attendance, and third‑party tools.

Skills

Product design

Team leadership

AI in design

UX strategy

Job description

Gusto is seeking a Product Design Manager for Payroll to lead design for a high‑impact, highly regulated domain. You will shape long‑term UX vision, mentor designers, and partner with cross‑functional teams to deliver an AI‑driven, scalable payroll experience used by millions of workers and businesses.

You’ll drive design quality, influence roadmaps, and champion a cohesive, accessible user experience across benefits, time tracking, and third‑party tools.