Principal Software Engineer

About the role

You will own the design and delivery of critical payroll and tax systems that process millions of transactions each pay cycle. You will guide technical strategy across multiple engineering teams, translating complex regulatory requirements into scalable platform solutions. You will influence initial feature specifications and help evolve existing systems toward long-term extensibility and reliability. You will act as a hands-on technical lead, writing high-quality code while elevating the craftsmanship of the entire engineering organization. You will leverage AI tools to enhance productivity and ensure your team stays at the forefront of technology adoption in the payroll domain. If you thrive in ambiguous, high-impact environments, this role offers the opportunity to shape the infrastructure that powers the modern economy.

Key facts

What you'll do

Architect and lead the implementation of core payroll and tax features that directly impact compliance and customer trust across Gusto's products.

Collaborate with cross-functional partners including Engineering, Product Management, Design, Data Science, Compliance, and Operations to solve complex, ambiguous problems that span the payroll domain.

Mentor and grow fellow engineers by providing technical guidance, code review, and career development, fostering a culture of craftsmanship and continuous learning.

Design, build, and test the foundational systems that enable compliant payroll processing for millions of workers and small businesses nationwide.

Function as a technical leader across multiple teams in Payroll Services, unblocking engineers and aligning execution with long-term product and platform goals.

Help scale one of the largest Ruby/Rails and TypeScript/React applications in the world, focusing on extensibility, performance, and reliability.

Leverage AI tools and workflows to improve productivity, accelerate feature delivery, and deepen your fluency in emerging technologies relevant to the role.

Own end-to-end delivery of projects from initial discovery and specification through implementation, testing, and operation in production environments.

Partner with data and compliance experts to ensure tax accuracy, regulatory adherence, and auditability in all payroll and tax-related workflows.

Contribute to the long-term vision of the payroll and tax platform by identifying opportunities to simplify complexity for both internal and external customers.

Support the growth of the platform team by defining guardrails, improving documentation, and promoting best practices across engineering teams.

Engage in hands-on coding for critical paths while balancing strategic design work and high-level technical leadership responsibilities.

Evaluate and introduce new tools, libraries, and patterns that enhance developer experience and system maintainability within the payroll ecosystem.

Champion operational excellence by improving observability, reliability, and maintainability of the services you own and operate.

Requirements

8+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong track record of delivering complex systems in production environments.

Demonstrated expertise in Ruby/Rails and TypeScript/React, with the ability to write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code.

Deep understanding of distributed systems principles, including scalability, fault tolerance, and data consistency in large-scale applications.

Experience designing and implementing systems that handle sensitive financial and regulatory data with a strong focus on security and compliance.

Proven ability to operate in ambiguous, fast-paced environments while maintaining clarity, prioritization, and delivery against long-term goals.

Strong collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional stakeholders, including product, design, compliance, data science, and operations.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

A track record of mentoring and leading engineers, including providing technical guidance, conducting code reviews, and supporting professional growth.

Nice to have

Prior experience in payroll, tax, or financial compliance domains.

Experience building and operating platforms that serve internal engineering teams.

Familiarity with AI tools and practices for software engineering workflows.

Contributions to open source or public-facing engineering tools.

Practical notes

This is a full-time role located in Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; or New York, New York.

Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location.

All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) - because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success.

AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.

We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves.