Senior Product Design Manager, Payroll

About Gusto

At Gusto were on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stufflike payroll health insurance 401(k)s and HRso owners can focus on their craft and customers. With teams in Denver San Francisco and New York were proud to support more than 400000 small businesses across the country and were 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 isnt just a featureits the foundation of trust with every business that relies on us.

As the Senior Product Design Manager Payroll youll lead design for one of Gustos 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. Youll 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 dont 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. Youll 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. Its 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 dont have tomaking payroll faster more flexible and increasingly hands off.

Heres what youll 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 Gustos People Platform including Time & Attendance and third-party tools.

Heres what were looking for:

• 810 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 productsideally 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 systemcomponents 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 Gustos 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 Gustos compensation philosophy and benefits offerings please view our Total Rewards Approach page.

Our cash compensation range for this role is $172000/yr to $215000/yr in Denver & most remote locations and $202000/yr to $253000/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 Gustos 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 its 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.

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