FP&A AI Architect

At Gusto, we're on a mission to grow the small business economy. We handle the hard stuff — payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s, and HR — so owners can focus on their craft and their customers. With teams in Denver, San Francisco, and New York, we support more than 500,000 small businesses nationwide and are building a workplace that reflects the people we serve.

All full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity (RSUs) — because everyone who helps build Gusto should share in its success. Offer amounts are determined by role, level, and location. Learn more about our Total Rewards philosophy.

AI is a fundamental part of how work gets done at Gusto. We expect all team members to actively engage with AI tools relevant to their role and grow their fluency as the technology evolves. AI experience requirements vary by role and will be assessed during the interview process.

Gusto’s Finance team is rebuilding planning, forecasting, and analysis with AI at the center. As Staff FP&A AI Architect, you’ll design and lead the technical and process architecture that turns FP&A from a manual, spreadsheet-driven cycle into an automated, insight-generating function. You’re a hybrid: deep enough in finance to understand driver-based planning, variance analysis, and board reporting, and deep enough in data and AI to design the systems that automate them. You’ll partner with the CFO org, FP&A, Accounting, Data, and Engineering.

This is a new role on the Enterprise AIT team, which drives the intelligent transformation of Gusto’s enterprise systems by integrating AI, automation, and advanced analytics across internal applications. The team works closely with Finance, Business Ops, IT, and Security, and this role brings dedicated AI architecture capacity to FP&A and the CFO org.

What You’ll Do

What We’re Looking For

Required

• Set the strategy: Define the multi-year architecture and roadmap for AI-enabled planning, forecasting, and reporting, prioritizing use cases by value, feasibility, and risk.
• Build forecasting systems: Architect driver-based, ML-assisted forecasts for revenue, headcount, opex, and cash, combining statistical models with LLM workflows and benchmarking against human forecasts.
• Automate analysis: Build agentic workflows for variance commentary, flux analysis, scenario modeling, board and QBR narratives, and ad-hoc “ask the numbers” questions.
• Own the finance data foundation: Work with Data Engineering on governed data models connecting the GL, billing, CRM, HRIS, and planning tools, so AI outputs are traceable and auditable.
• Embed controls and trust: Establish evals, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, lineage, and audit trails that meet SOX, security, and privacy requirements.

Ideal Attributes

Finance-fluent builder, systems thinker, rigorous about trust (evals, lineage, and human-in-the-loop as design requirements), pragmatic on build vs. buy, influencer and teacher, and outcome-driven.

AI Fluency Expectations

Expert/Transformer level, expected to set AI standards for Finance. Advanced in LLM platforms (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini), agent frameworks and MCP, and Python/SQL; proficient in Snowflake/Databricks/dbt, planning platforms (Anaplan, Adaptive, Pigment), ERP/GL (NetSuite), and BI tools.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $185,000-$205,000 /yr in Denver & most remote locations, and $225,000-$250,000 /yr for San Francisco, Seattle & New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors, including candidate experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.

At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither. Because of this, the title on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current title or level, your recruiter can help translate.

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.

Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance, whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and ensure colleagues and customers receive the timely support and responsiveness they deserve.