Product Counsel - PEO/Employment Law
$177k - $208k USD
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:
We are seeking a creative, experienced attorney who wants to apply their deep expertise in employment law (and co-employment issues) to help shape tech-forward products and services for small businesses. This is a unique opportunity to help build Gusto's Professional Employer Organization (PEO) offerings and drive Legal & Compliance cross-functional workstreams for one of Gusto's most strategic new business lines.
In this role, you will move fluidly between providing front-line advice on Professional Employer Organization (PEO), Human Resource, and co-employment issues, and partnering with colleagues to ensure delivery of advice and counsel across all Legal & Compliance-related workstreams. You will be a key collaborator and primary point of contact for the PEO business teams.
Success in this role will require an ownership mindset, experience driving major product launches, and a focus on curiosity, collaboration, flexibility, and a good sense of humor. Attorneys are expected to use AI tools to accelerate research and processes, synthesize insights, and refine positioning and content with speed and precision, while maintaining accuracy and consistency with legal best practices.
About the Team:
Gusto’s Legal & Compliance team partners with product and engineering teams to enable innovation, facilitate responsible company growth, accelerate the Gusto roadmap, and provide compliant products to our customers through solution-focused counsel on legal and business risks. We are passionate about using groundbreaking technology and excellent service to elevate the experience of small business owners and their employees. Each team member takes real ownership of their work and makes a meaningful impact every day.
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Provide front-line legal support to PEO product and operations teams.
- Drive legal and compliance workstreams and cross-functional collaboration for pre-launch milestones, compliance frameworks, vendor onboarding, and Go-to-Market readiness.
- Advise on risk, product design, features, and operational workflows; address compliance with employment, payroll, HR, licensing, and other requirements relevant to the PEO offering.
- Develop actionable guidance, templates, and internal training for PEO-related products.
- Partner cross-functionally and build consensus with Legal and Compliance, Product, Finance, and Operations teams.
- Create and maintain PEO-related compliance work-product to support internal compliance tracking and content creation processes.
Here’s what we're looking for:
- 7+ years of legal experience, including in-house experience at a technology company. Experience must include employment law, litigation, and product counseling. We have a strong preference for PEO experience. We encourage exceptional candidates without PEO experience to apply if they have a demonstrated ability to quickly acquire deep expertise in complex new legal domains.
- Deep experience providing pragmatic legal guidance on tech products and employment obligations.
- Demonstrated ability to build consensus and strong working relationships.
- A collaborative, solution-oriented mindset with a focus on progress and teamwork (no job is too big or too small).
- An eagerness to dive in, take ownership of projects, and manage work with accountability, while ensuring appropriate visibility and smooth escalation to senior counsel or other decision-makers.
- Experience using AI tools to deliver efficiency in your individual work and as essential components in the processes you develop and improve.
- JD degree and membership in a State bar with a current license to practice law.
Our cash compensation amount for this role is between $177,000 - $208,000/year in Denver and $208,000 - $245,000/year for New York/San Francisco. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate location, experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above. Compensation for this position also includes an equity package and performance bonuses.
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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