Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
This role sits at an increasingly important intersection in SaaS: product-led platforms expanding into higher-touch services that improve customer outcomes and retention. Within an HR and payroll ecosystem, leading a fractional HR consulting function signals a shift from software alone to an integrated service model, where operational rigor and consistent delivery become as strategic as feature development. The mention of AI-native ways of working also reflects a broader SaaS trend toward embedding automation into service operations, not just the product.
For a SaaS career path, the standout value is learning how to scale a repeatable service layer alongside a platform business. That includes translating client needs into measurable performance systems, building operational playbooks, and partnering with product and operations to evolve the service offering. Experience in this kind of hybrid model tends to transfer well across SaaS companies building customer success, professional services, or advisory motions tied to retention and expansion.
The role is best suited to a leader who enjoys ambiguity, coaching senior practitioners, and improving systems while staying close to real customer work. It will likely appeal to someone who wants both people leadership and cross-functional influence, with an interest in how technology changes service delivery inside SaaS.
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
Our mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life, and it starts right here at Gusto. That’s why we’re committed to building a collaborative and inclusive workplace, both physically and virtually. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy.
About the Role:
We're looking for a people leader who is ready to step into a high-impact role at a pivotal moment for Gusto HR Partners. This isn't a role for someone who wants to manage a steady-state team - it's for a builder. You'll get to help shape how leadership works within Gusto HR, develop a team of senior HR consultants, and drive the operational and service excellence that defines what great looks like as we scale.
You'll bring a systems-thinking mindset, a coaching orientation, and the credibility to earn trust with a high-caliber team. Whether you're coming from inside Gusto or from the outside, you're someone who leads with authenticity, leans into hard conversations, and thrives in ambiguity.
About the Team:
The Gusto HR Partners team is a group of senior HR consultants who serve as embedded, fractional HR leaders for the small businesses we support — bringing strategic guidance, operational expertise, and a deeply human touch to every client relationship. We're at an inflection point: scaling our service model, pioneering AI-native ways of working, and redefining what world-class fractional HR looks like for the 400,000+ businesses on the Gusto platform. As a leader on this team, you'll join a tight-knit, mission-driven group that prizes craft, client outcomes, and continuous evolution — and you'll help shape the playbook for how we grow from here.
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Lead and develop a team of senior HR consultants, coaching them to exceed expectations, building trust through authenticity, and being a hands-on player-coach when needed
- Drive performance across client satisfaction, retention, and consultant productivity metrics in a high-growth environment
- Scale operations through process optimization, AI integration, and technology enablement to improve consultant-to-client efficiency
- Partner with product teams to pioneer AI-native HR services that augment human expertise and create new service possibilities
- Navigate ambiguity and build scalable systems from the ground up, helping to write the playbook
- Coach and develop your team
- Champion change management: build new processes, drive adoption, and iterate quickly in a fast-moving environment
- Collaborate with peer leaders on hiring strategy, process innovation, and cross-functional initiatives
- Shape organizational strategy as we expand service offerings and redefine what's possible in fractional HR service
Here’s what we're looking for:
- Minimum 8+ years of progressive HR or related professional services experience
- Early people leadership experience or strong evidence of leading without authority (mentoring, onboarding, influencing peers, or owning team initiatives) and scaling teams
- Experience operating in client-facing environments (HR, consulting, or service delivery models)
- Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize across multiple stakeholders or clients
- Evidence of contributing to or driving process improvements, team initiatives, or new ways of working
- Strong track record of delivering high-quality work, building trust, and maintaining client satisfaction
- Experience collaborating cross-functionally and contributing to team-level outcomes, not just individual success
- Experience partnering with Product, Ops, and GTM to innovate and scale
- Familiarity with AI/ML applications in professional services or HR
- AI and technology fluency with a vision for how emerging tools can transform professional services delivery
Compensation
Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $127,000/yr - $157,000/yr in Denver, and $154,000 - $191,000 for San Francisco and New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.
