Brand Design Manager

About Gusto

At Gusto were 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 400000 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 Design at Gusto

Design at Gusto is made up of over 80 creative collaborative people who care deeply about our mission to empower small businesses and their employees. Were a cross-functional group that is always looking for opportunities to build understanding and empathy for the people who use Gusto. We dont care much about swim lanes and though we care deeply about quality and craft we are never precious about it. We work closely with cross-functional partners in Product Engineering Data and Marketing to design build and ship experiences that make a real difference. We believe great design can make hard things possible even delightful.

We are building an AI-native design organization and we mean that seriously. Were looking for designers who are already working this way: using AI to prototype ideas quickly shorten customer feedback loops and ship quality UX directly to customers. This isnt a future aspiration its how we work now and its changing what the design role looks like at Gusto and across the industry.

About the Opportunity

Brand design is where our identity comes to life. Visual craft consistency and clarity arent finishing touchestheyre the work. Theyre how we earn trust convey confidence and make people feel something.

Gusto is growing our in-house creative studio inside our fast-moving late-stage startup. We design campaigns brand systems and multi-channel marketing assetspartnering closely with marketing product marketing and comms to bring Gustos brand to life across every touchpoint. Our work spans paid media email web social and experiential.

Were looking for a Brand Design Manager (we call these People Empowerers or PEs at Gusto) to lead a small team of brand and motion designers. Youll set creative direction develop talent and ensure visual quality and brand consistency across everything we ship. This is a leadership roleyoull be managing people not just making the work.

In this role youll coach and mentor designers set the creative bar for brand design and partner cross-functionally with marketing leadership to prioritize and deliver high-impact work. Youll also help us scale building design systems workflows and templates that let the team move faster without sacrificing quality or brand integrity.

If youre energized by developing people care deeply about brand craft and enjoy building the systems that make great creative work repeatable this role will be an excellent fit.

Heres what youll do day-to-day

• Define and maintain quality standards for AI-generated brand work (establishing what passes what fails and why) so the team can move fast without drifting from the brand.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate AI-generated creative work criticallyknowing when to use it when to redirect it and how to articulate why a generated direction fails Gustos brand standards. Experience establishing those standards for others not just their own practice.
• Has established or contributed to AI creative governance: what the team will and wont use AI for how to QA AI outputs and how to maintain brand integrity at higher production volumes.
• Manage mentor and develop a small team of brand and motion designerssetting expectations providing feedback and supporting career growth.
• Set creative direction and maintain visual quality across campaigns paid media email web social experiential and product marketing.
• Build and maintain scalable design systems templates and brand guidelines.
• Partner closely with marketing product marketing comms and creative leadership to prioritize work and translate strategy into visual execution.
• Define and improve team workflows processes and production standards to scale creative output.
• Track record of raising quality standards in an environment where AI is accelerating output and keeping the bar high when the temptation is to ship faster and evaluate less.
• Contribute directly to creative work when needed maintaining a strong connection to the craft.

Heres what were looking for

• 8 years of professional brand design experience spanning campaign marketing and brand systems work.
• 24 years of direct people management experience leading brand or production designers.
• A portfolio demonstrating strong craft brand-building work and range across multi-channel marketing.
• Expertise in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite; familiarity with motion tools a plus.
• AI fluency in creative workflows and processes with hands-on familiarity with generative AI tools for design ideation and production.
• Experience building and maintaining scalable design systems and templates.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills in fast-paced high-output environments.
• A leadership mindsetyou enjoy developing people and building systems not just making the work yourself.

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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