Staff Software Engineer, Solo
Gusto, Inc.· startup· HR & Payroll· Sep 25, 2026 · 1mo ago
San Francisco, CA - Hybrid
Hybrid
Full-time
Staff
$197K–$247K
8+ years exp
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:
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. Because of this, the title on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current title or level, your recruiter can help translate.
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 receive the timely support and responsiveness they deserve.
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 it's 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.
Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer .
Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice .
Application prep
Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.
Keywords to mirror
aireacttypescriptgraphqlllm
- Platform
- greenhouse
- Effort
- quick
Benefits
Benefits detected in the listing.
Health Insurance
401(K)