Gusto · 10 hours ago
Staff Software Engineer, Infrastructure
San Francisco Bay Area
Full-time
Hybrid
Lead/Staff
$200K/yr - $270K/yr
12+ years expGusto is on a mission to grow the small business economy by handling essential services like payroll and HR. They are looking for a forward-thinking technical leader to shape their compute and networking platforms, focusing on building foundational systems that empower engineers and ensure reliability and scalability.
Bookkeeping and PayrollEmployee BenefitsEnterprise SoftwareFinancial ServicesFinTechHuman ResourcesSaaSSoftware
Responsibilities
Define and drive the vision for Gusto’s compute and networking platforms by setting the strategy for Kubernetes, service mesh, and related systems that power our global SaaS platform
Lead architecture design, performance optimization, and security hardening of distributed systems at scale
Partner with engineering leaders to translate broad organizational goals into concrete, measurable technical outcomes
Treat infrastructure as a product by focusing on the developer experience, simplifying workflows, and accelerating delivery
Serve as a mentor and force multiplier by growing the skills of mid level engineers through coaching, pairing, and modeling best practices
Communicate with clarity by simplifying complex concepts and building alignment across teams and functions
Lead incident response and ensure our systems meet the highest standards of availability and resiliency
Qualification
Required
12 or more years of experience in Infrastructure, Platform, or Site Reliability Engineering roles operating large scale distributed systems
Proven hands-on coding experience in production environments and the ability to contribute directly to system development and automation
Deep expertise running, scaling, and securing Kubernetes and service mesh technologies such as Istio, Envoy, or Cilium in production
A demonstrated record of designing highly available systems that balance reliability, observability, and developer velocity
Mastery of Infrastructure as Code using tools such as Terraform or Crossplane, with experience managing complex state for large engineering organizations
Experience owning and evolving twenty four seven SaaS infrastructure including monitoring, alerting, and performance analysis
A systems thinking mindset that identifies small levers capable of creating meaningful organizational impact
Curiosity and ability to operate in an AI-native environment using data and experimentation to continuously improve infrastructure and developer outcomes
Experience integrating AI copilots or automation frameworks into developer workflows to accelerate delivery and reduce operational burden
Exceptional communication skills that simplify complex ideas and bring teams together around a shared vision
A strong bias toward action, resilience in the face of ambiguity, and the ability to transform big ideas into real, impactful systems
Benefits
Health insurance
401(k)s
Company
Gusto
Gusto is an HR and payroll platform that simplifies complex tasks, empowering businesses to focus on what matters most.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Gusto has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (49)
2024 (54)
2023 (19)
2022 (37)
2021 (24)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$746.1MKey Investors
Friends & Family CapitalT. Rowe PriceAkkadian Ventures
2023-01-28Series Unknown
2022-05-12Series E· $55M
2021-08-10Series E· $175M
Leadership Team
Josh Reeves
Head of Gusto (CEO) and Co-Founder. Building Gusto for the Long Term.
Edward Kim
Co-founder and Head of Technology
Recent News
Small Business Trends
2026-01-12
General Catalyst
2025-12-30
Digital Commerce 360
2025-12-20
Company data provided by crunchbase