Staff Software Engineer, Solo

Gusto; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 197,000 - 247,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock equity (RSUs)

Competitive base pay + benefits

Job summary

Gusto is seeking a Staff Software Engineer for Gusto Solo in San Francisco, to own end-to-end delivery of new AI-native product areas and help build high-impact experiences for solopreneurs and their accountants.

You'll work in a small, fast-moving team, responsible for architectural decisions, collaborating with product, design, data science, and GTM. The role requires 8+ years of experience and a strong product mindset, with hybrid office expectations in SF.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with end-to-end delivery.
• Proficiency across a full-stack toolkit (Ruby on Rails, React, TypeScript, GraphQL).
• Ownership of 0→1 or greenfield projects and strong product mindset.
• Experience shipping AI-powered or AI-augmented product experiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with cross-functional partnership.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of net-new product areas, from technical design through shipping.
• Use AI as a genuine multiplier in your own workflow, and help build AI-native experiences into the product itself (including MCP tools).
• Partner closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and GTM to identify customer and business problems, prototype solutions, and iterate quickly.
• Make pragmatic architecture and data-modeling decisions for problems that mostly don't have existing precedent at Gusto yet.
• Build and maintain full-stack features - from backend APIs to frontend UI - with an eye toward scalability and maintainability as the team and product grow.
• Weigh in beyond the "engineer lane" when it helps the team: product framing, design tradeoffs, or GTM considerations.
• Help define engineering practices and technical foundations for a team that's still early in its build-out.

Skills

Full-stack development

Product ownership

AI tooling

Cross-functional collaboration

Ruby on Rails

React

TypeScript

GraphQL

Regulated domain experience

Startup / solo work experience

Tools

Ruby on Rails

React

TypeScript

GraphQL

Job description

About Gusto

At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff — payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR — so owners can focus on their craft and their customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we support more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide and are building a workplace that reflects the people we serve. All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) — because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success. Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy . AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto. We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves. AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.

About the Role:

Gusto Solo is the all-in-one platform solopreneurs (and their accountants) run their whole business on. We're looking for a Staff Software Engineer to help build the next chapter of Solo. You'll work in a tight, high-leverage funnel where your work maps directly to top-line revenue, and you'll help build an AI-native product. We're looking for an owner, not just an executor: someone with a strong product mindset who spots the problem, drives the change, and sees it through end to end. We're a small, scrappy, fast-moving team, so we're looking for someone who likes wearing many hats. If you want to weigh in on product, design, or GTM along the way, there's real room for that here.

About the Team:

Self-employed businesses are one of the fastest-growing segments of small business, and Gusto is betting on making Solo the true all-in-one platform for solopreneurs. This is a fully funded, high-performing team: a small group of engineers and an Engineering Manager, plus a dedicated Data Scientist, Designer, and GTM partner with room to grow based on roadmap progress. Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Own end-to-end delivery of net-new product areas, from technical design through shipping.
• Use AI as a genuine multiplier in your own workflow, and help build AI-native experiences into the product itself (including MCP tools).
• Partner closely with Product, Design, Data Science, and GTM to identify customer and business problems, prototype solutions, and iterate quickly.
• Make pragmatic architecture and data-modeling decisions for problems that mostly don't have existing precedent at Gusto yet.
• Build and maintain full-stack features - from backend APIs to frontend UI - with an eye toward scalability and maintainability as the team and product grow.
• Weigh in beyond the "engineer lane" when it helps the team: product framing, design tradeoffs, or GTM considerations.
• Help define engineering practices and technical foundations for a team that's still early in its build-out.

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping full-stack features end to end.
• Proficiency across a full-stack toolkit (e.g., Ruby on Rails, React, TypeScript, GraphQL) and the judgment to choose the right tool for the problem.
• Demonstrated ownership of 0→1 or greenfield projects, not just extension of existing systems.
• A self-driven mindset: comfortable setting direction amid ambiguity, not just executing against a spec.
• Genuine, habitual use of AI tools in day-to-day engineering work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with a track record of strong cross-functional partnership.
• Bonus points: Experience building for self-employed businesses or SMBs.
• Experience in a regulated or compliance-adjacent domain (fintech, payroll, tax, accounting).
• Experience shipping AI-powered or AI-augmented product experiences (agents, copilots, LLM-based tooling).
• Startup or "team of one" experience, comfortable operating with high autonomy and few guardrails.

Please note that a two day travel to a Gusto office for onboarding is required for this position. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please share with your recruiter.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $197,000–$247,000 for San Francisco. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither.

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. Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance, whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and ensure colleagues and customers receiv