Engineering Manager, AI Engineering

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 400,000 businesses nationwide.Our mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life, and it starts right here at Gusto. That’s why we’re committed to building a collaborative and inclusive workplace, both physically and virtually. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy.Engineering Manager, Agent FoundationsAt GustoLocation: SF or NYCAbout the RoleGusto is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead our Agent Foundations team, a critical function that bridges cutting-edge AI research and transformative product experiences. As the Engineering Manager for Agent Foundations, you'll create an environment where engineers and designers can rapidly experiment with emerging AI capabilities, validate breakthrough ideas, and accelerate the path from research innovation to user impact.You'll lead a team that operates at the frontier of what's possible with AI, prototyping and productionizing features that push model capabilities to their limits. Success in this role requires a 0-to-1 mindset, the ability to coach engineers and scientists through the idea maze as they explore the properties and potential of large language models, and the ability to balance rapid experimentation with strategic thinking about AI's transformative potential.About the TeamThe Agent Foundations team works on the core algorithm powering Gusto’s AI assistant and serves as Gusto's innovation accelerator. The core loop involves identifying paradigm-shifting AI capabilities, building MVPs that validate the hypotheses, and productionizing the success so that all of Gusto can benefit. It is the most research-oriented team at Gusto, operating with a "fail fast" mentality and accepting a change of failure in exchange for breakthrough discoveries.What You’ll Do day-to-day:Lead and grow a team of versatile scientists and engineers who thrive in 0-to-1 environments and can rapidly prototype across the full stackIdentify emerging capabilities with transformative potential and translate them into compelling featuresCreate a culture that embraces experimental failure as a path to breakthrough success, while maintaining momentum through rapid iteration cyclesDevelop frameworks for evaluating success beyond traditional metrics, focusing on capability breakthroughs and research learningsBuild strong partnerships across Gusto to ensure that breakthroughs solve Gusto’s business problemsChampion lightweight, prototype-first development practices that maximize learning velocityGuide the team in building "living evals" that provide rapid feedback loops between product experiences and agent developmentRepresent the voice of ambitious, transformative product possibilities in planning discussionsFoster an environment where engineers feel empowered to pursue bold ideas and pivot quickly based on learnings — without falling in love with ideas that are no longer yielding learningWhat We’re Looking For:Have 2+ years of engineering management experience, with significant time leading teams in highly ambiguous, research-oriented environmentsExcel at managing high-variance outcomes and helping teams navigate the emotional rollercoaster of experimental workHave deep technical expertise across full-stack development, ML/AI systems, and emerging technologiesDemonstrate exceptional ability to identify high-potential ideas from a sea of possibilitiesCan context-switch rapidly between multiple experimental projects while maintaining strategic clarityHave experience translating research breakthroughs into user-facing products or demosAre passionate about pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AIHave strong communication skills to articulate the value of failed experiments and successful breakthroughs alikeCare deeply about the societal impacts of advanced AI systemsStrong Candidates May Also Have Experience WithBuilding and leading teams focused on emerging technologies or R&DCreating developer tools, AI agents, or other productivity-enhancing systemsWorking directly with machine learning researchers on productization effortsManaging portfolios of high-risk, high-reward technical projectsBuilding prototyping infrastructure and frameworks that accelerate experimentationLeading through extreme pivots and helping teams maintain morale through failureCreating compelling demos that communicate complex technical capabilitiesWorking with LLMs, agent systems, or other frontier AI technologiesOur cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $163,000-$204,000 in Denver, $178,000-$223,000 for Los Angeles and most remote locations, $197,000-$247,000 for San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience, level, and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.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.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 terested in building your career at Gusto, Inc.? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email. #J-18808-Ljbffr

Created: 2025-09-21