Senior Product Design Manager, Payroll

We're on a mission to grow the small business economy. You will lead design for one of Gusto's most complex and consequential product areas, shaping the future of a product that millions of people rely on for financial stability and personal prosperity.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for Payroll , shaping experiences that help small businesses pay their teams correctly, 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 product initiatives where AI and automation are central to the user experience, simplifying payroll and reducing 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.
• Set the quality and judgment standard for all design work , whether AI-assisted or not , including when to push further and when outputs meet the bar.
• Define and scale shared patterns, principles, and standards that promote quality, consistency, and velocity.
• Manage and grow a team of designers, providing mentorship, clear direction, and hands-on support across the team.
• Champion the Payroll experience as the foundation of Gusto's broader People Platform, ensuring seamless integration across Benefits, Time & Attendance, and third-party tools.

Requirements

• 8–10+ years of product design experience, with at least 3 years leading and managing design teams.
• Experience designing in complex domains i.e. financial products, healthcare, or similarly regulated environments.
• Experience setting UX direction across multiple teams and influencing product strategy , not just executing on it.
• Experience leading product initiatives where AI or automation is central to the user experience , including how to represent uncertainty, surface errors gracefully, and preserve user agency when automation gets it wrong, particularly in high-stakes contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to assess AI-generated design directions: knowing when to use them, when to override them, and how to raise the quality bar on AI outputs.
• Proven ability to drive alignment across cross-functional partners and represent design in high-stakes, strategic conversations.
• Deep systems thinking, with a track record of turning interconnected, complex workflows into experiences that feel simple and intuitive.
• Experience leading a team through an AI workflow transition , not just adopting AI personally, but changing how a team works, including establishing new norms and standards.
• Clear, direct communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to explain design decisions and influence partners at all levels.
• A genuine bond to Gusto's mission and the needs of small businesses.

Compensation Details

• Cash compensation range: $202,000/yr to $253,000/yr in San Francisco, Seattle & New York.
• Competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs).