Gusto
Overview
Software Engineering Manager, Payroll Canada — a foundational leadership role on Gusto’s Payroll Canada team, building the next evolution of Gusto’s payroll engine for Canada. As the People Engineering (PE) leader for Payroll Canada, you’ll lead and grow a team of engineers responsible for architecting and building systems that power Canadian payroll from the ground up. You’ll set technical direction, align with product and operations, and foster an environment where engineers can do their best work. This role blends hands-on technical leadership, people management, and strategic influence to ensure accuracy, compliance, and scalability as Gusto expands to new markets. The Payroll Canada team is part of Gusto’s broader Payroll organization, focused on delivering a payroll experience that is compliant, reliable, and delightful for employers and employees in Canada. Responsibilities
Lead and grow a team of software engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and inclusion. Set technical direction for Canadian payroll systems — architecting APIs, services, and data models that scale from early pilots to a multi-country platform. Drive execution of complex, cross-functional initiatives from inception to production, ensuring systems are correct, compliant, and resilient under load. Collaborate with Product, Design, and Operations to shape the customer experience for Canadian payroll, balancing speed with long-term scalability. Mentor engineers through thoughtful feedback, design reviews, and hands-on guidance — helping them grow technically and professionally. Promote engineering excellence through best practices in testing, observability, performance, and maintainability. Build strong partnerships across Gusto’s R&D and operations to align on technical strategy and execution. Influence global payroll evolution, contributing to Gusto’s long-term strategy for scaling payroll systems to new markets. Qualifications
8+ years of experience in software engineering, with a proven record of driving IC-level impact through technical direction and execution on complex, distributed systems. 2+ years of full-time experience as an Engineering People Manager or PE, leading product engineering teams. Proven success building or modernizing high-availability, transactional, or compliance-critical systems, ideally in payroll, fintech, or tax domains (not required but preferred). Deep experience designing APIs, data models, and customer-facing experiences that perform reliably at scale. Ability to lead cross-functional technical initiatives from inception to production, balancing speed, quality, and operational excellence. Experience with systems that integrate third-party APIs, handle sensitive financial data, or require high auditability. Strong track record mentoring senior engineers, influencing system design beyond direct ownership, and establishing engineering best practices. Comfortable operating across infrastructure and product layers — from backend logic to orchestration, observability, and deployment. Proven ability to build and sustain high-performing teams with trust, collaboration, and shared purpose. Bonus: experience with global payroll, multi-currency systems, or region-specific compliance. Bonus: experience with Kafka, event-driven architectures, or distributed data consistency models. Bonus: familiarity with Ruby on Rails or similar web frameworks. End-to-end systems thinking across compliance logic, data pipelines, product workflows, and customer experience. Technical vision combined with hands-on implementation capability; a champion of engineering excellence and code quality. Ability to operate in ambiguous domains and drive clarity through complexity; strong cross-functional collaboration with Product, Design, Ops, and CX partners. Experience building scalable foundations to generalize patterns across regions for future growth. Demonstrated leadership by example, promoting curiosity, ownership, and inclusivity. Compensation & Location
Cash compensation for this role is targeted at 163,000 USD to 204,000 USD per year in Denver (plus most remote locations), and 198,000 USD to 247,000 USD per year for San Francisco & New York. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts depend on candidate experience and expertise. Gusto has offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees based in those locations are 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 in Scottsdale. Note: San Francisco office expectations include the San Jose metro area. Remote work from other locations requires a secure, reliable internet connection. Equal Opportunity
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 legally protected characteristics. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in line with applicable laws. Gusto provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans during the candidate journey. If you require accommodations, please contact us. Security & Privacy
Gusto takes security and protection of personal information seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer. Personal information collected as part of your application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Software Engineering Manager, Payroll Canada — a foundational leadership role on Gusto’s Payroll Canada team, building the next evolution of Gusto’s payroll engine for Canada. As the People Engineering (PE) leader for Payroll Canada, you’ll lead and grow a team of engineers responsible for architecting and building systems that power Canadian payroll from the ground up. You’ll set technical direction, align with product and operations, and foster an environment where engineers can do their best work. This role blends hands-on technical leadership, people management, and strategic influence to ensure accuracy, compliance, and scalability as Gusto expands to new markets. The Payroll Canada team is part of Gusto’s broader Payroll organization, focused on delivering a payroll experience that is compliant, reliable, and delightful for employers and employees in Canada. Responsibilities
Lead and grow a team of software engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and inclusion. Set technical direction for Canadian payroll systems — architecting APIs, services, and data models that scale from early pilots to a multi-country platform. Drive execution of complex, cross-functional initiatives from inception to production, ensuring systems are correct, compliant, and resilient under load. Collaborate with Product, Design, and Operations to shape the customer experience for Canadian payroll, balancing speed with long-term scalability. Mentor engineers through thoughtful feedback, design reviews, and hands-on guidance — helping them grow technically and professionally. Promote engineering excellence through best practices in testing, observability, performance, and maintainability. Build strong partnerships across Gusto’s R&D and operations to align on technical strategy and execution. Influence global payroll evolution, contributing to Gusto’s long-term strategy for scaling payroll systems to new markets. Qualifications
8+ years of experience in software engineering, with a proven record of driving IC-level impact through technical direction and execution on complex, distributed systems. 2+ years of full-time experience as an Engineering People Manager or PE, leading product engineering teams. Proven success building or modernizing high-availability, transactional, or compliance-critical systems, ideally in payroll, fintech, or tax domains (not required but preferred). Deep experience designing APIs, data models, and customer-facing experiences that perform reliably at scale. Ability to lead cross-functional technical initiatives from inception to production, balancing speed, quality, and operational excellence. Experience with systems that integrate third-party APIs, handle sensitive financial data, or require high auditability. Strong track record mentoring senior engineers, influencing system design beyond direct ownership, and establishing engineering best practices. Comfortable operating across infrastructure and product layers — from backend logic to orchestration, observability, and deployment. Proven ability to build and sustain high-performing teams with trust, collaboration, and shared purpose. Bonus: experience with global payroll, multi-currency systems, or region-specific compliance. Bonus: experience with Kafka, event-driven architectures, or distributed data consistency models. Bonus: familiarity with Ruby on Rails or similar web frameworks. End-to-end systems thinking across compliance logic, data pipelines, product workflows, and customer experience. Technical vision combined with hands-on implementation capability; a champion of engineering excellence and code quality. Ability to operate in ambiguous domains and drive clarity through complexity; strong cross-functional collaboration with Product, Design, Ops, and CX partners. Experience building scalable foundations to generalize patterns across regions for future growth. Demonstrated leadership by example, promoting curiosity, ownership, and inclusivity. Compensation & Location
Cash compensation for this role is targeted at 163,000 USD to 204,000 USD per year in Denver (plus most remote locations), and 198,000 USD to 247,000 USD per year for San Francisco & New York. Stock equity is additional. Final offer amounts depend on candidate experience and expertise. Gusto has offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees based in those locations are 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 in Scottsdale. Note: San Francisco office expectations include the San Jose metro area. Remote work from other locations requires a secure, reliable internet connection. Equal Opportunity
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 legally protected characteristics. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in line with applicable laws. Gusto provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans during the candidate journey. If you require accommodations, please contact us. Security & Privacy
Gusto takes security and protection of personal information seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer. Personal information collected as part of your application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.
#J-18808-Ljbffr