Senior Staff Product Designer, Finance

Gusto is on a mission to grow the small business economy, handling payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR for over 500,000 small businesses nationwide. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, Gusto is building a workplace that reflects the people it serves. All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs). AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto, and all team members are expected to engage with AI tools relevant to their role.

Design at Gusto is made up of over 80 creative, collaborative people who care deeply about the mission to empower small businesses and their employees. The team works closely with cross-functional partners in Product, Engineering, Data, and Marketing to design, build, and ship experiences. Gusto is building an AI-native design organization, looking for designers who use AI to prototype ideas quickly, shorten customer feedback loops, and ship quality UX directly to customers.

As the Product Designer, Finance, you'll set the UX vision and strategy across four interconnected product areas: Business Money, Consumer Money, Payments, and Risk. You'll identify opportunities and systemic gaps that span the full financial experience, and drive work that makes Gusto's financial products feel clear, trustworthy, and empowering. This role's level is similar to Senior Staff. You'll define a long-term UX vision, shape product strategy alongside product directors and engineering leaders, step in as a direct IC on high-priority projects, develop other designers, and contribute platform patterns that scale beyond the Money and Risk teams.

• Set the UX vision and strategy across the Money and Risk teams, connecting the dots across multiple pods.
• Identify and drive high-impact design opportunities across the Money and Risk teams.
• Influence product strategy, roadmap priorities, and team OKRs through a design lens.
• Define what AI-first financial UX looks like at Gusto, including representing uncertainty, surfacing errors gracefully, preserving user agency, and building trust in automated decisions.
• Own how the Money and Risk teams build and share customer understanding.
• Shape and raise the quality bar for experiences through hands-on design work.
• Step in as a direct IC on specific projects when necessary.
• Develop other designers through coaching, critique, and structured mentorship.
• Champion and evolve Gusto's design system and platform standards.

• 10+ years of Product Design experience, with a track record of leading design direction across multiple teams, pods, or product domains simultaneously.
• Experience designing for high-trust, high-stakes experiences where errors have real consequences (e.g., payments, risk, compliance, healthcare).
• Fintech or financial services background is a plus.
• Shaped product strategy at the domain or portfolio level alongside product directors and engineering leaders.
• High bar for craft, staying hands-on with prototyping, iterating, and shipping.
• Raise the bar for designers through coaching, critique, and mentorship.
• Advance experience architectures and service models that span multiple teams.
• Thrive in ambiguity, lead through influence, and anticipate organizational friction.
• Actively use AI in your own design practice and can direct others to do the same.
• Have a point of view on how AI is changing product design.

Cash compensation range for this role is $172,000/yr to $215,000/yr in Denver, and $202,000/yr to $253,000/yr in San Francisco and New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including candidate experience and expertise. All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs).

Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City. Employees 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 San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas.