Staff Software Engineer - Infrastructure

At Gusto we are looking for a forward thinking technical leader to shape the next generation of our compute (Kubernetes) and networking (service mesh) platforms. This role is for someone who loves building foundational systems that empower hundreds of engineers to move faster safer and smarter. You will define the long-term vision for how services run and communicate at Gusto ensuring reliability scalability and developer delight at every layer.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive the vision for Gusto’s compute and networking platforms by setting the strategy for Kubernetes service mesh and related systems that power our global SaaS platform

• Lead architecture design performance optimization and security hardening of distributed systems at scale

• Partner with engineering leaders to translate broad organizational goals into concrete measurable technical outcomes

• Treat infrastructure as a product by focusing on the developer experience simplifying workflows and accelerating delivery

• Serve as a mentor and force multiplier by growing the skills of mid level engineers through coaching pairing and modeling best practices

• Communicate with clarity by simplifying complex concepts and building alignment across teams and functions

• Lead incident response and ensure our systems meet the highest standards of availability and resiliency

What You’ll Bring

• 12 or more years of experience in Infrastructure Platform or Site Reliability Engineering roles operating large scale distributed systems

• Proven hands-on coding experience in production environments and the ability to contribute directly to system development and automation

• Deep expertise running scaling and securing Kubernetes and service mesh technologies such as Istio Envoy or Cilium in production

• A demonstrated record of designing highly available systems that balance reliability observability and developer velocity

• Mastery of Infrastructure as Code using tools such as Terraform or Crossplane with experience managing complex state for large engineering organizations

• Experience owning and evolving twenty four seven SaaS infrastructure including monitoring alerting and performance analysis

• A systems thinking mindset that identifies small levers capable of creating meaningful organizational impact

• Curiosity and ability to operate in an AI-native environment using data and experimentation to continuously improve infrastructure and developer outcomes

• Experience integrating AI copilots or automation frameworks into developer workflows to accelerate delivery and reduce operational burden

• Exceptional communication skills that simplify complex ideas and bring teams together around a shared vision

• A strong bias toward action resilience in the face of ambiguity and the ability to transform big ideas into real impactful systems

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $200000-$230000 /yr in Denver & most remote locations and $230000-$270000 /yr for San Francisco Seattle & New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.