Staff Software Engineer, People Technology

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:

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join our People Technology team as the dedicated architect and hands on engineer behind PeopleOS — our AI-native internal HR platform — and the broader suite of custom tools and integrations that power our People tech ecosystem. In this role, you will design, build, and ship software that directly shapes how every Gustie experiences HR, from recruiting and onboarding to performance and offboarding.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on full-stack engineer and problem solver who thrives in ambiguity, cares about the employee experience, and wants to see their work used every day by real people.

About the Team:

The People Solutions team is transforming how Gusto supports its people by pairing cutting-edge AI with smart automation. We build — not just configure — the systems that power People programs and processes. We optimize workflows, enhance service delivery, and free up teams to focus on meaningful, high-impact work to support a more responsive, efficient, and future-ready people experience.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

Product Engineering — PeopleOS

• Be the technical owner for PeopleOS, our internal AI-powered HR platform that was built with the purpose of enhanced Gustie experiences for people programs and a more efficient People team with features like the Offer Workflow Engine, People Home Base portal, Celebration tools, and automated Talk Track generation
• Partner directly with People Ops stakeholders to translate workflows into working software driving technical design, implementation, UAT support, and release

Integration & Systems Development

• Design, build, test, and maintain integrations across Workday, Greenhouse, Lattice, Slack, and Google Workspace
• Build and maintain custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that give AI agents structured access to People Systems data where no native tool MCP exists

AI-Powered Tooling

• Integrate the Anthropic API (Claude) to build intelligent internal tools including QPR coaching agents, HR front door chatbots, and ticket deflection workflows
• Design prompts, handle structured outputs, and build safe, reliable AI-assisted workflows for People Ops use cases

Collaboration & Quality

• Document integration specs, data mappings, and system configurations in Notion
• Participate in Jira sprint planning and demo work to stakeholders bi-weekly
• Troubleshoot issues, identify root causes, and proactively implement corrective actions across the portfolio

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 7+ years of full-stack software engineering experience, with production-quality work in Python, TypeScript/Node.js, or both
• Strong experience building and consuming REST APIs — including OAuth flows, rate limiting, pagination, and error handling
• Demonstrated ability to integrate SaaS platforms (bonus: Workday, Greenhouse, Slack, or Google Workspace)
• Comfort with AI/LLM API integration — Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, or equivalent — including prompt design and response parsing
• Experience shipping internal tools or developer tooling with real end users and feedback loops
• Strong written communication: you can document your own APIs, write a clear tech spec, and explain trade-offs to non-engineers
• An understanding of sensitivity of HR data and familiarity with implications of labor law and data retention guidelines

Preferred

• Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol) server architecture
• Experience with HR Tech ecosystems: HRIS, ATS, LMS platforms
• Background in People Ops, HR Systems, or internal tools engineering at a high-growth tech company
• Experience with XML, XSLT, JSON, and related integration technologies

Our cash compensation amount for this role is between $138,000 - $194,000 in Denver, between $168,895 - $235,000/year for New York/San Francisco. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate location, 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.

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Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.