Compensation Manager

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: 

The Senior Compensation Manager is a core member of Gusto's People team, responsible for building and scaling the compensation programs that help us attract, retain, and reward top talent. This role exists to bring rigor, fairness, and strategic clarity to how Gusto thinks about pay — operating at the intersection of data, policy, and people.

Operating with a systems-first, AI-native mindset, the Senior Compensation Manager uses automation, scalable workflows, and well-designed tooling to improve decision quality, ensure compliance, and reduce reliance on manual, one-off analysis. This role partners closely with HR Business Partners, Finance, Legal, and business leaders to ensure our compensation programs are grounded in market reality and aligned to our values.

Success in this role is measured by the quality and fairness of compensation decisions, the scalability and reliability of our programs, and the degree to which the organization can operate with confidence — without constant intervention or heroics.

Gusto's compensation function, built on first-principles thinking, is at an inflection point — scaling from early foundations to a mature, high-trust operation. You'll have real ownership to shape how we design and deliver compensation as the company grows.

Here's what you'll do day to day:

• Develop, implement, and communicate Gusto's compensation programs, policies, and procedures, ensuring internal equity, external competitiveness, and alignment with business strategy.
• Partner with and influence key stakeholders — including HRBPs, Finance, and senior leadership — to translate compensation philosophy into clear, actionable programs.
• Lead annual compensation cycles (merit, equity refresh, benchmarking) and own the end-to-end process from data collection through communication.
• Perform market analyses and compensation studies using survey data (e.g., Radford/Aon, Mercer, Pave) to recommend pay ranges, job levels, and offer positioning.
• Use AI tools and automation thoughtfully to accelerate analysis, synthesize benchmarking data, and reduce planning and reporting load — while maintaining sound judgment around data quality and decision guardrails.
• Design and maintain scalable compensation workflows and tooling — automating recurring analyses, audit processes, and reporting so programs run reliably without manual intervention.
• Build and maintain compensation dashboards and data visualizations that give leaders real-time insight into pay equity, market positioning, and budget utilization.
• Craft competitive, compelling offers to attract top-tier talent, and build playbooks to help recruiters and HRBPs communicate Gusto's total rewards story.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state, and local pay regulations — including pay transparency laws, FLSA classification standards, and emerging pay equity requirements — and proactively flag legislative changes.
• Partner with People Operations to integrate and optimize HRIS and compensation tools, ensuring data accuracy and system scalability as the company grows.

Here's what we're looking for:

• 12+ years of experience in Compensation, Total Rewards, People Operations, or a related analytical function — ideally in a high-growth technology environment.
• AI fluency: hands-on experience using AI tools or automation to accelerate analysis or synthesis, paired with strong judgment around trust and validation.
• Hands-on experience running compensation cycles (merit, equity, benchmarking) and building scalable programs from early-stage to maturity.
• Survey benchmarking fluency: direct experience with Radford/Aon, Mercer, Pave, or comparable compensation survey tools and methodologies.
• Systems-first orientation: experience building durable workflows, automating reports, or designing operating mechanisms that reduce recurring manual work.
• Strong analytical foundation: advanced spreadsheet skills (Excel, Google Sheets), comfort with data modeling, and experience building dashboards or visualizations that leaders actually use.
• Knowledge of compensation and employment law, including FLSA, pay transparency statutes, and pay equity frameworks — or foundational knowledge with a clear drive to build expertise.
• Clear, concise communicator who can translate complex pay data into narratives and recommendations for non-specialist audiences, including executives.
• Comfort operating at multiple altitudes — from hands-on analysis and modeling to advising leadership on compensation philosophy and strategy.
• High integrity and intellectual curiosity; someone who asks hard questions about fairness and market position, and isn't satisfied with the status quo.
• Background in Mathematics, Finance, Statistics, Economics, or a related quantitative field is preferred but not required.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is between $154,045 - $189,989/year in Denver, between $181,000 - $223,573/year for New York/San Francisco. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate location, experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither. Because of this, the title on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current title or level, your recruiter can help translate.

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). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.

Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas. 

When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure, reliable, and consistent internet connection is required. This includes non-office days for hybrid employees.

Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance, whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and ensure colleagues and customers receive the timely support and responsiveness they deserve.

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto. 

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 applicable legally protected characteristic. Gusto considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Gusto is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. We want to see our candidates perform to the best of their ability. If you require a medical or religious accommodation at any time throughout your candidate journey, please fill out this form and a member of our team will get in touch with you.

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Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.