Product Partnerships Deal Lead
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 looking for a Product Partnerships Deal Lead to join Gusto’s Corporate Development and Product Partnerships team. The ideal candidate brings experience driving growth for software and financial technology companies through strategic product partnerships, along with curiosity and comfort using AI to enhance that work. In this role, you will shape Gusto’s Build, Buy, Partner strategy and lead end to end product partnership transactions, leveraging AI tools to accelerate market mapping, partner evaluation, and deal execution. Your work will play a key role in helping Gusto empower more than 400,000 small and medium sized businesses to take care of their people.
About the Team:
The Product Partnerships and Corporate Development team is a high impact group responsible for shaping Gusto’s Build, Buy, Partner strategy and driving growth through strategic partnerships and M&A. As a small but mighty team, we use technology, data, and AI to identify opportunities, strengthen decision making, and deliver results faster.
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Product Partnerships Strategy: Work with product leaders and executives to refine strategy and roadmaps, using AI to assess markets, identify potential partners, and evaluate Build, Buy, Partner options.
- Deal pipeline. Establish industry relationships to help partner identification and deal sourcing.
- Deal Execution: Lead the end to end partnership process, leveraging AI for due diligence, financial analysis, and scenario planning to guide negotiations and deal structure.
- Strategic monitoring. Assess strategic trends and monitor industry developments, startup activity and the competitive landscape.
Here’s what we're looking for:
- Experience. 10+ years of relevant work experience (corporate development, partnerships, investment banking, VC, and/or private equity), with at least 3 of those years in corporate development and partnerships at a high growth software or financial technology company.
- Deal leadership. Ability to run deals end-to-end, from sourcing to negotiating docs, with excellence.
- Product-minded. Strong product intuition and ability to engage with product & engineering leaders on product strategy.
- Analytical Strength: Excellent financial modeling and analytical skills, with interest in integrating AI for data analysis and forecasting.
- Soft skills. Ability to listen deeply, communicate effectively and influence others.
Our cash compensation range for this role is $190,215/yr to $234,599/yr in 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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