Talent Development Leader

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:

At Gusto, the rapid evolution of work requires a dynamic, agile capability infrastructure. As artificial intelligence transforms technical and leadership skills quarter to quarter, our team members need to upskill and adapt seamlessly. To meet this demand, we are building an innovative, agile capability model and tech-forward development ecosystem that delivers blended learning experiences and modular enablement directly in the flow of work.

We are seeking a talent product leader to spearhead the design and development of our enterprise capability framework across both individual contributor and leadership tracks. In this high-impact, strategic role, you will architect the foundational engine for our Talent Development function. Beyond defining the capability model, you will manage the full product lifecycle of our learning solutions—from user discovery and MVP prototyping to shipping, scaling, and maintaining high-impact learning products. You will define the taxonomy that powers modular content, partner with learning technology teams to set system integration requirements, and shape high-potential and executive leadership criteria.

As a talent development leader, you will translate validated capability data into scalable standards, establishing a single source of truth across the organization. You will leverage strong cross-functional judgment, partnering directly with HR business partners and executive leaders to diagnose capability gaps, prioritize strategic investments, and build future-proof learning solutions. If you are a technical instructional designer or learning architect passionate about AI-forward enablement, modular learning design, and scaling capability infrastructure, this role offers a unique opportunity to drive transformation.

About the Team:

The Talent Development team acts as a strategic partner to the business, diagnosing capability needs and architecting systems that empower employees to build their best careers. We move beyond traditional programs to design the organizational conditions that create clarity, connection, and commitment. By partnering with HR and business leaders, we align learning directly to organizational strategy, using AI and design to embed development into the flow of work.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Agile Capability Framework & Taxonomy: Define the product roadmap for our capability framework, managing it as a live product that evolves based on user needs, performance data, and business strategy across individual contributor and leadership tracks, explicitly embedding AI-native competencies.
• Collaborative Learning Experience Design & Agile Delivery: Partner directly with content designers to co-create, build, and ship blended learning experiences, using iterative development cycles to continuously improve and scale solutions in response to evolving business needs.
• Modular Enablement Strategy: Establish the strategic vision for core enablement programs using a hub-and-spoke model, collaborating with curriculum designers and content leads to scale blended learning experiences.
• Modular Architecture & Content Governance: Own the architectural design for modular content and automated governance, establishing standards for chunking, tagging, and dynamically updating learning objects as source material or business needs evolve.
• Cross-Functional Data Validation & Prioritization: Partner closely with HR business partners and executive stakeholders to analyze skill data, validate capabilities, and align learning investments with core business goals.
• Tech-Forward & Workflow Integration: Collaborate with People Technology teams to write functional and technical requirements for the capability engine, productizing learning experiences natively within HR tech platforms and daily workflows.
• Enterprise Advisory & Capability Translation: Partner directly with executive and business leaders across the enterprise to proactively diagnose emerging capability needs, translating complex operational priorities into clear, accessible training and actionable guidance.

Here’s what we're looking for:

• Typically 8+ years of progressive experience in Talent Development, Learning Architecture, Technical Instructional Design, or Organizational Design, with a track record of building foundational programs from scratch.
• Ability to establish vision, guide strategic policy development, and architect agile solutions in real time amidst shifting business landscapes.
• Strong strategic judgment and cross-functional fluency, with proven ability to partner with HR business partners and executive leaders to translate complex organizational data into clear capability priorities.
• Expertise in technical instructional design and modular architecture—proficient in structuring, tagging, and object-oriented content design to ensure learning is evergreen, searchable, and adaptable.
• Passionate about leveraging AI and automation to streamline learning design processes and experienced in defining AI-native skills within capability frameworks.
• Exceptional relationship management skills, with a track record of driving strategic consensus across diverse business customers/users and partner teams.
• Thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments with the agility to establish trusted, scalable learning infrastructure amidst rapid change.
• Experience designing and integrating content across various platforms (e.g., LMS/LXP systems, internal wikis, and workflow-embedded tools).
• Ability to instrument learning assets with data tracking to measure efficacy (e.g., click-through, completion, knowledge gain) and use those insights to iteratively optimize the content.
• Experience integrating generative AI or automation into the content production pipeline—not just as an outcome, but as a tool to speed up prototyping, drafting, or adaptive pathing.
• Proven experience with A/B testing and rapid prototyping, using clear data signals as the primary driver for ongoing content and experience iterations.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is $117,020/yr to $144,325/yr in Denver & most major metro locations, and $141,700/yr to $174,763/yr for 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.