Compliance Lead, Broker-Dealer & Investment Adviser

Gusto • Denver, CO;San Francisco, CA;New York, NY • 1m ago

Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs

This Compliance Lead role stands out in the SaaS landscape because it sits where product-led software meets heavily regulated financial services. The listing signals a SaaS operator running affiliated RIA and broker-dealer entities, which creates a governance problem set that is uncommon in many software companies: compliance must be built as an operating system that can withstand SEC and FINRA scrutiny while still integrating with how software teams ship and iterate. The explicit inclusion of AI tool governance further reflects a modern SaaS environment where automation is becoming part of core control frameworks.

From a SaaS career perspective, the role offers durable experience in designing controls that scale across functions, not just maintaining policies. Ownership of exam readiness, incident escalation, vendor oversight, and cross-functional embedding provides exposure to the mechanics of operational maturity that many SaaS companies eventually need, particularly as they move into more regulated products, larger customer segments, or expanded distribution.

The position is best suited to a senior compliance professional who prefers high-accountability ownership and can switch between supervisory design and hands-on execution. It will likely appeal to someone motivated by clear documentation, defensibility, and partnering with Product, Legal, and go-to-market teams to make compliance workable inside a software delivery model.

The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.

Job Description

About the Role:

The Compliance Lead, Broker-Dealer & Investment Adviser is a senior member of the Gusto Retirement Compliance Team, reporting directly to the Head of Compliance. This role is the operational backbone of the compliance program, owning the compliance programs of the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and Broker-Dealer (BD) entities, including their AI governance frameworks, and serving as a trusted senior member of the RIA/BD Compliance team.

In this role, you would own the supervisory architecture (including the governance of AI tools used across the compliance program), drive exam readiness, and ensure the program is running effectively, documented thoroughly, and defensible under SEC and FINRA scrutiny. This is not a policy-only role, and it is not a passive-user-of-technology role. It requires someone who can move fluidly between strategic oversight and hands-on execution, who understands what it means to carry a compliance program in a regulated financial services environment, and who can serve as a supervisory principal over AI, ensuring tools are deployed lawfully, outputs are validated, and the program evolves alongside regulatory expectations.

About the Team:

Gusto operates RIA and BD affiliated entities, serving customers across the retirement savings landscape. Our Compliance Team is a lean, high-impact function responsible for maintaining robust, defensible compliance programs across both regulatory regimes, built to scale alongside the business. That includes staying ahead of how AI is reshaping compliance operations: the team actively governs and oversees AI tools used across the program, identifies where AI can responsibly expand team capacity, and ensures that any AI use meets the supervisory standards required by SEC and FINRA. We are building a compliance program that is both modern and defensible.

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

Own and mature the end-to-end compliance program across both the BD and RIA, ensuring the frameworks, controls, and infrastructure, including AI governance, keep pace with Gusto's growth
Serve as the primary compliance lead on all FINRA and SEC regulatory matters, including filings, examinations, supervisory control testing, and evolving regulatory guidance on AI use in compliance programs
Lead and develop the relationship with compliance consulting firm(s), directing their work across both entities and ensuring coverage is aligned with Gusto's risk posture
Build and maintain policies and procedures across both entities, covering advertising, Reg SP, complaints, books and records, BCP, Code of Ethics/Conduct, trade errors and more
Own incident management and escalation, including compliance violations, whistleblowing, and heightened supervision, and report trends to the Head of Compliance
Partner cross-functionally with Legal, Product, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and FinCrime to embed compliance into how Gusto builds and sells
Supervise AI tools used across the compliance program, including ongoing review and testing, ensuring outputs are validated by qualified licensed humans, identifying opportunities to expand team capacity, and flagging functions where AI use is not permitted
Lead training programs and annual compliance meetings for both BD and RIA, and own the advertising and communications review process
Assess whether resources, controls, and coverage are sufficient as Gusto scales into new markets and upmarket customer segments
Oversee all firm filings, employee registrations and licensing across the BD and RIA, including U4/U5, fingerprints, background checks, CRD, Form CRS, Form BD, ADV, and more
Lead suitability, rebalancing, and custody review and testing for the RIA, including coordination of the annual Surprise Custody Exam

Here’s what we're looking for:

7+ years of compliance experience at a FINRA-registered broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser, with deep working knowledge of FINRA Rules , the SEC Rules (including the Marketing Rule, Reg S-P and Reg S-ID), GLBA, and Bank Secrecy Act
Proven track record owning regulatory filings (Form BD, ADV, U4/U5, CRS), leading exam preparation and response, and running supervisory control testing and advertising review across both RIA and BD entities
Familiarity with compliance technology (e.g., ComplySci, Global Relay), books and records obligations under Rules 17a-4 and 204-2, and AI governance frameworks in a regulated environment
Strong written communication skills with the ability to draft, own, and defend compliance documentation under regulatory scrutiny and comfortable managing multiple programs in a lean, high-accountability team
Active SIE, Series 7, and Series 24 licenses
Experience at a fintech-integrated RIA/BD, comfortable working at the intersection of technology, product, compliance, and AI governance
Experience with outsourced compliance models (e.g., third-party consulting firms)
Prior experience managing compliance staff

Our cash compensation amount for this role is $156,170/yr to $192,610/yr in Denver & most major metro locations, and $183,830/yr to $226,724/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.

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