Principal Software Engineer

Summary

Join Gusto's Payments team as a Principal Engineer and play a pivotal role in building and scaling our payments platform. You will be responsible for developing new payment capabilities, both domestically and internationally, and re-architecting our existing systems for enhanced scalability. This leadership role involves guiding projects end-to-end, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and mentoring fellow engineers. The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience in payments platforms at scaled FinTech companies, proven leadership abilities, and a strong technical background. Gusto offers a competitive salary, stock equity, and a collaborative work environment.

Requirements

• 15+ years of expertise in Payments platforms at scaled FinTech companies: Experience successfully building scalable and global payments platforms
• Proven ability to collaborate across multiple teams (3+) to shape product vision and drive strategic direction, effectively aligning diverse stakeholders towards common goals
• Extensive experience in developing and maintaining platform products that serve as foundational components across the organization, ensuring reliability and fostering innovation
• Demonstrated expertise in engineering, designing, and deploying large-scale, mission-critical systems in production environments, with a focus on performance, scalability, and resilience
• Strong knowledge of data structures, data modeling, and system design
• Strong aptitude for distilling complex technical challenges into clear, actionable insights, facilitating informed decision-making through effective communication with major stakeholders and guiding strategic trade-offs
• Experience in operationalizing and scaling intricate interconnected production systems, optimizing performance and ensuring seamless integration across various services and applications
• Passionate mentor dedicated to nurturing and developing fellow engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the creation of holistic, scalable solutions
• Leadership in driving the entire product development lifecycle from ideation to launch, delivering exceptional products that simplify payroll, tax, and compliance processes, enhancing user satisfaction
• Commitment to enhancing team productivity and morale by designing and implementing innovative services, tools, and APIs that streamline workflows and empower engineers to excel in their roles
• Travel to Gusto’s Denver office for onboarding is required for this position

Responsibilities

• Function as a Technical Lead across multiple teams in Payments, helping us keep engineers unblocked and deliver high-quality work supporting our long-term goals
• Design, build, and test the foundation that supports payments for millions of people
• Help scale one of the largest Ruby/Rails and TypeScript/React applications in the world
• Collaborate on complex and ambiguous problems with partnerships from Engineering, Product Management, Design, Data Science, Compliance, Operations, and other cross-functional teams
• Mentor and grow fellow engineers working to create holistic and scalable solutions
• Drive the product development process from concept to launch, delivering delightful products that make payroll, taxes, and compliance simple and easy
• Improve the productivity and happiness of our teams with the services, tools, and APIs you build
• Engage in a highly supportive environment working with others to drive productivity and innovation

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with payment regulations including money service licensing and requirements to achieve and maintain SOC2 compliance is a plus
• Knowledge of payments unit economics and how they work is also a plus

Benefits

• Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $222,000/yr to $247,000/yr in Denver & most remote locations, and $261,000/yr to $290,000/yr for San Francisco, Seattle & New York
• Stock equity is additional
• 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)
• When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required