Staff Software Engineer, Core Products

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Gusto seeks a senior software engineer to design, build, and test core products such as Payroll, Benefits, HR, and Retirement. You will mentor engineers, scale Ruby/Rails and JavaScript/React apps, and collaborate with product, data, design, and platform teams to reduce customer pain.

You will prototype, iterate, and launch product improvements daily, owning the full lifecycle from specification through launch and long-term iteration; a focus on AI-enabled development and reliability is

Qualifications

• Typically 10+ years of software development experience.
• Experience building scalable solutions that eliminate customer pain.
• Experience leveraging AI tools or systems to accelerate development, improve testing, and deliver product capabilities.
• Curiosity and experimentation with emerging AI frameworks.
• Ability to evaluate and scale AI use safely across teams.
• Experience owning multi-quarter projects solving complex engineering problems with measurable customer impact at scale.
• Experience with large-scale refactors, performance issues, and reliability issues.
• Strong ownership of all aspects of a product area.
• Ability to mentor engineers to maximize performance and impact.
• Two-day travel to a Gusto office for onboarding is required.
• Secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection when working from an approved non-office location.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and test Gusto core products including Payroll, Benefits, HR, Retirement, Gusto Money, Gusto Solo, and Gusto Pro
• Mentor engineers solving complex technical problems at large scale
• Scale Ruby/Rails and JavaScript/React applications
• Collaborate with Product Management, Data, Design, and Platform Engineering teams to understand customer pain points and develop solutions
• Prototype, iterate, and launch product improvements daily
• Operate across the full product lifecycle from specification and design through launch and long-term iteration
• Write frontend code and design and build reliable backend APIs
• Influence product direction and own post-launch product outcomes

Skills

Ruby/Rails Application Development

JavaScript/React Application Develop

AI Tools and Frameworks

Mentorship and Team Leadership

Product Lifecycle Management

Curiosity

Experimentation

Collaboration

Ownership

Communication

Tools

Gusto Core Products

AI Systems

Product Management Tools

Data Analysis Tools

Design Tools

Job description

• Design, build, and test Gusto core products including Payroll, Benefits, HR, Retirement, Gusto Money, Gusto Solo, and Gusto Pro
• Mentor engineers solving complex technical problems at large scale
• Scale Ruby/Rails and JavaScript/React applications
• Collaborate with Product Management, Data, Design, and Platform Engineering teams to understand customer pain points and develop solutions
• Prototype, iterate, and launch product improvements daily
• Operate across the full product lifecycle from specification and design through launch and long-term iteration
• Write frontend code and design and build reliable backend APIs
• Influence product direction and own post-launch product outcomes

Requirements

• Typically 10+ years of software development experience
• Experience building scalable solutions that eliminate customer pain
• Experience leveraging AI tools or systems to accelerate development, improve testing, and deliver product capabilities
• Curiosity and experimentation with emerging AI frameworks
• Ability to evaluate and scale AI use safely across teams
• Experience owning multi-quarter projects solving complex engineering problems with measurable customer impact at scale
• Experience with large-scale refactors, performance issues, and reliability issues
• Strong ownership of all aspects of a product area
• Ability to mentor engineers to maximize performance and impact
• Two-day travel to a Gusto office for onboarding is required
• Secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection when working from an approved non-office location

Core Competencies

Demonstrates extensive experience in software development, particularly in building scalable Ruby/Rails and JavaScript/React applications. Proven ability to mentor engineers, influence product direction, and manage complex projects with measurable customer impact.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Ruby/Rails Application Development
• JavaScript/React Application Development
• AI Tools and Frameworks
• Mentorship and Team Leadership
• Product Lifecycle Management

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Software Development
• Scalable Solutions
• Backend API Development
• Frontend Code Writing
• Large-Scale Refactoring
• Performance Optimization
• Reliability Engineering
• Product Improvement Prototyping
• Complex Problem Solving
• Customer Impact Measurement

Soft Skills

• Curiosity
• Experimentation
• Collaboration
• Ownership
• Communication

Industry Keywords

• Payroll
• Benefits
• HR
• Retirement
• Customer Pain Points

Tools & Technologies

• Gusto Core Products
• AI Systems
• Product Management Tools
• Data Analysis Tools
• Design Tools