Senior Lead, Process Improvement

About Gusto

At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff—like payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR—so owners can focus on their craft and customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we’re proud to support more than 400,000 small businesses across the country, and we’re building a workplace that represents and celebrates the customers we serve. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy .

About the Role:

Customer expectations, technology, and ways of working are changing faster than ever. AI is reshaping how service organizations operate, while customer trust and experience quality remain non-negotiable. At Gusto, we are reimagining our service - designing systems that are both human-centered and AI-enabled. This role will be critical in building the processes, responsible AI practices, and human-in-the-loop flows that allow our team to scale, adapt, and deliver consistently outstanding outcomes for customers and employees in a fast-moving environment.

About the Team:

The mission of our Customer Experience Transformation (CXT) team is to quickly evolve and scale how Gusto delivers outstanding service experiences and leverages AI to do so. Process Improvement is a key part of how we do that.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

• Build and mature the craft & capabilities of process improvement across Gusto to scale and improve service, including designing and refining approaches needed to scale AI-first building
• Manage a portfolio of high-impact projects that focus on the continuous improvement of CX operations efficiency, process quality, and customer experience—including collaborative, high-visibility, end-to-end workshop facilitation
• Partner with CX, Product, and Engineering to design and implement AI/automation initiatives, ensuring solutions are responsibly developed, integrated into workflows, and deliver measurable business value
• Establish and scale evaluation frameworks, governance practices, and feedback loops to measure the effectiveness of AI solutions, ensure compliance with internal standards and regulations, and inform iterative improvements.
• Drive understanding and adoption of AI-readiness methodologies, concepts, and skillsets and embed them into day-to-day operations
• Build scalable processes from the ground up, with a focus on AI-enabled designs that improve resiliency, adaptability, and trust
• Provide insights and recommendations for new processes and product launches, with a strong orientation toward leveraging AI where possible and high aptitude for data analytics and storytelling
• Lead through ambiguity and rapid change: create clarity, alignment, and adaptability in a fast-paced, evolving environment
• Willing to roll up your sleeves, lead from the front, and coach the team

Here’s what we're looking for:

• 4+ years experience owning / leading large-scale transformation initiatives
• 8-10+ years of experience in process improvement, applied to service model transformation, customer experience, and/or operations
• Proven track record driving AI or automation implementations—whether through process redesign, tool adoption, orchestration of human-in-the-loop systems, or scaling new capabilities
• Familiarity with Responsible AI practices, governance, and risk management frameworks; able to balance innovation with compliance, ethics, and customer trust
• Proven ability to operate in environments of high ambiguity and rapid change, creating clarity and momentum for teams
• Track record of building and managing process improvement programs that deliver high-value outcomes
• Lean, Six Sigma, and/or Service Design experience and/or other similar certifications
• Strong creative problem-solving skills. You thrive in environments where transformation is needed and flex solutions to meet the needs of the business
• Ability to take competing interests, priorities, and complexities and drive to clarity, recommendations, and alignment across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A systems thinker with a bias for action and strong ability to balance speed to outcomes with quality of solution
• Ability to influence cross-functional, senior leaders and drive change via strong executive verbal and written communication as well as data visualization and presentation skills
• Experienced with managing a variety of cross-functional stakeholders on complex strategic initiatives, to include influencing senior leaders in Product, Engineering or Customer Experience orgs
• Demonstrated self-starter and organized problem-solver. Self-sufficient, resourceful, and bias for action towards continuous improvement - always looking to improve upon the status quo
• Highly adaptable and resilient to changes in business needs or requirements. Ability to navigate challenges and make decisions even when information is incomplete
• Deep empathy and obsession for our small business customers. A deep passion for helping others

Our cash compensation amount for this role is $133,470 to $173,511/yr in Denver & most major metro locations, and $157,145 to $204,289/yr for San Francisco & New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate location, 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.

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Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application will be subject to Gusto's Applicant Privacy Notice .