Principal Product Manager, Payroll Platform

Denver, CO - Hybrid · New York, NY - Hybrid · San Francisco, CA - Hybrid · 8+ years experience · Hybrid · Posted Oct 8, 2026

At a glance

Experience: 8+ years experience
Workplace: Hybrid
Location: Denver, CO - Hybrid · New York, NY - Hybrid · San Francisco, CA - Hybrid

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.
By the Numbers:
- Named #1 best software for small business of 2024 by G2
- 2,700+ employees in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Turkiye and growing

As Principal Product Manager for Payroll Platform, you'll build the foundation for the future of payroll at Gusto by shaping APIs that help teams and partners create new ways to pay people.
You will connect payroll to the tools where work happens and enable AI agents to turn complex tasks into simpler experiences.
You'll join a lean team where PMs prototype, experiment, and ship with AI, helping businesses spend less time preparing payroll and giving product builders room to innovate.

Define the vision, strategy and roadmap for Payroll Platform, deciding what belongs in the shared platform and what teams build on top.
Drive adoption by the teams, partners and agents building on payroll by defining and using metrics for adoption, reliability and error rates.
Lead work across engineering, design, data and compliance, partnering with consuming teams to make speed-versus-safety trade-offs explicit.
Build a unified payroll API and lead migrations of existing users and systems onto it.
Define the payroll actions, controls, audit trails and evaluations that let AI agents work safely.
Prototype and test with AI, and expand agent autonomy as evidence supports it.

8+ years of direct Product Management experience.
Experience owning a platform, API or developer product that other teams or partners built on, and driving its adoption.
Technical fluency in APIs, data models and system design, with experience leading a migration to a new API or interface and credibility with senior engineers.
Strong platform judgment to decide what the shared system should and shouldn't do and make thoughtful choices about contracts and other difficult-to-reverse decisions.
Experience designing for trust in systems where errors have real consequences, including clear controls, auditability and evidence-based expansion of automation.
Hands-on experience building with LLMs or agents, including tool design and evaluations.
Experience leading multi-team work across engineering, design and data, and connecting platform metrics to customer outcomes.

Employees based in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City office 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.
Regular and predictable attendance is expected whether working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote.