Employee Relations Manager
Denver, CO - Hybrid · 7+ years experience · Hybrid · Posted Oct 7, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 7+ years experience
- Workplace
- Hybrid
- Location
- Denver, CO - Hybrid
About Gusto
- At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff — payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR — so owners can focus on their craft and their customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we support more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide and are building a workplace that reflects the people we serve.
- All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) — because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success. Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy.
- AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto. We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves. AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.
About the role
- We're looking for an experienced Employee Relations Manager to lead Gusto's Employee Relations team — a specialized center of excellence that helps steward and protect company culture by ensuring policy and practice alignment across the organization.
- This role reports into People Team leadership and partners closely with People Partners/HRBPs, Legal, and business leaders on our highest-risk employee matters.
- You will lead and coach a team of Employee Relations Partners handling complex performance and investigations casework, using case data to identify patterns and recommend changes to increase Gustie experience and decrease risk.
Responsibilities
- Manage, mentor, and coach a team of Employee Relations Partners — setting quality standards for documentation and process flow, overseeing caseload distribution, and continuous process improvement within the team.
- Lead or oversee complex, high-risk workplace investigations with airtight documentation in our case management system, partnering with Legal to reduce organizational and legal risk.
- Own performance-management casework end-to-end, coaching managers through documented coaching plans, PIPs, disciplinary actions, and exits, while balancing employee experience, fairness, and business risk.
- Translate Gusto's codes of conduct and other policies into consistent, fair practice across departments — especially through periods of rapid scaling and structural change.
- Enable managers on performance management processes, difficult conversations, and structural team changes.
- Track ER metrics and case trends to surface areas of opportunity, and recommend action for managers and People Partners / HRBPs to maximize engagement and minimize risk.
- Serve as a strategic advisor to senior business leaders on complex personnel decisions, acting as ER's specialized center of excellence alongside People Partners/HRBPs and Legal.
- Operate with urgency and a bias toward resolution — prioritizing the issues that matter most, moving straightforward matters quickly, and applying deeper rigor where the risk or complexity warrants it.
- Demonstrate an AI-native mindset by actively using AI to work more effectively, such as synthesizing case trends, drafting documentation, and spotting patterns in ER data.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field
- 7–10+ years of progressive HR or Employee Relations experience, including direct ownership of ER casework, plus demonstrated experience leading or supervising a team
- Deep knowledge of employment law (EEOC, ADA, FMLA, FLSA) and experience conducting employee investigations — interviewing, assessing facts, documenting findings, and partnering with Legal when appropriate
- Strong coaching and mentoring skills, with the ability to influence, inspire, and guide both within and outside of hierarchical lines
- Excellent judgment navigating ambiguity — balancing employee experience, fairness and consistency, business needs, and organizational risk when making recommendations
- Strong data literacy — comfortable using case trends and ER metrics to make proactive, defensible recommendations
- Experience operating in a fast-scaling technology company — comfortable with frequent organizational changes and distributed/hybrid team dynamics
Preferred qualifications
- advanced degree or JD is a plus
Benefits
- competitive base pay
- benefits
- equity (RSUs)
Workplace
- Employees based in Denver, San Francisco, and New York locations are expected to work from the office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week.
- When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required.
