Job Description
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 500000 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:
We're looking for an experienced engineer with deep expertise in distributed data systems to shape the future of Gusto's storage layer. You'll manage complex migrations architect high-scale systems and set standards for automation resiliency and security. This is a high-impact role where you'll implement distributed database solutions that enable Gusto's continued growth and scale.
About the Team:
The Datastores Infrastructure Engineering team designs builds and operates the data platforms that power Gusto's product: MySQL Postgres Redis Kafka and S3. We ensure our infrastructure is consistent reliable and ready to support Gusto's growing needs. As we transition to self-hosted distributed databases the team is focused on reducing blast radius improving operational resilience and enabling sustainable scale.
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Architect deploy and own the full lifecycle of distributed database systems (TiDB) on Kubernetes at scale ensuring high availability data consistency and operational excellence
- Coordinate complex zero-downtime migrations from monolithic to distributed architectures including vertical sharding to isolate Product Services
- Define and drive efficiency improvements across the storage infrastructure through query optimization caching strategies and workload management
- Define standards and build reliable automation to ensure data consistency integrity and security across distributed systems
- Continuously improve operational excellence by reducing on-call burden through sustainable long-term solutions
- Partner with product engineering teams and technical collaborators to enable rapid and reliable product development
- Mentor engineers across the Datastores Infrastructure team on best practices for operating complex self-hosted distributed systems actively developing our collective operational expertise
Here’s what we're looking for:
- 12+ years of software engineering experience building and scaling large-scale infrastructure systems
- Hands-on experience building and operating distributed databases on Kubernetes (strongly preferred: TiDB; alternatively: CockroachDB Vitess Citus or similar solutions)
- Deep expertise in distributed data systems including horizontal sharding partitioning strategies and distributed transaction management
- Proven experience coordinating complex zero-downtime migrations affecting production systems at scale
- 5+ years of AWS experience with RDS Aurora caching systems (Redis/ValKey) streaming platforms (Kafka) and infrastructure optimization at scale
- Strong communication skills with the ability to simplify technical complexity and collaborate on technical direction across teams
- Curiosity and ability to operate in an AI-native environment leveraging AI tooling to enhance infrastructure operations driving improvements in query optimization performance evaluation and infrastructure automation
- Bonus: Experience with service extraction and vertical sharding from monolithic architectures
- Bonus: Experience working with Ruby on Rails or similar MVC frameworks at scale
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.
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.
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.
Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously. Please review our Fraudulent Activity Disclaimer.
Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice.
What the Team is Saying
What We Do
Gusto is a modern online small business 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 400000 businesses. 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.
Why Work With Us
We help small businesses—the backbone of the economy—thrive. Everything we do ladders up to empowering entrepreneurs and supporting their teams. Gusto empowers builders at every level to take initiative and make things better. You'll be solving meaningful challenges that shape the future of work.
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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
We’ve built an inclusive connected culture—no matter where you live. Whether near an office or remote you’ll find opportunities to connect grow and belong. Employees work from the office on 2 designated days per week.
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Date Posted
05/02/2026
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