Key skills
AI/ML systems design and deploymentLarge Language Models (LLMs)Natural Language Processing (NLP)Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)Agent orchestrationDeep learningReinforcement learningPrompt engineeringEvaluation of AI modelsProduction deployment of AI modelsPyTorchTensorFlowHugging FaceCloud platforms GCPCloud platforms AWSCloud platforms AzurePython programmingSoftware engineering fundamentals testingSoftware engineering fundamentals code reviewSoftware engineering fundamentals CI/CDSoftware engineering fundamentals reliabilitySoftware engineering fundamentals API designPythonAIMLDeep LearningNLPLLMRAGAgenticAWSAzureGCPCI/CD
About this role
Gusto is on a mission to grow the small business economy by providing essential services like payroll and health insurance. They are seeking a Senior Staff AI/ML Engineer to design and build the AI platform that empowers internal teams to create intelligent agents and deliver customer value.
Responsibilities:
- Design and build scalable platform services — agent orchestration, RAG pipelines, eval frameworks, model serving — that internal teams use to ship AI-powered products
- Lead technical strategy and architecture for the AI platform, including model lifecycle, observability, safety guardrails, and evaluation infrastructure
- Collaborate cross-functionally with app teams, PMs, and Designers to understand their AI needs and deliver platform capabilities that unblock them
- Build, harden, and operate shared infrastructure that powers intelligent agents across Gusto (e.g., retrieval, routing, prompt management, content selection)
- Stay current with AI/ML research; rapidly prototype and productionize new techniques that strengthen the platform
- Establish robust practices for validation, deployment, monitoring, and ongoing performance management of platform services and the agents built on them
- Communicate technical strategy, tradeoffs, and impact clearly to executives and non-technical partners
- Mentor engineers across teams, raising the bar on AI/ML best practices and fostering a culture of pragmatic innovation
Requirements:
- 12+ years building and deploying end-to-end AI/ML systems, with experience designing platform-level infrastructure that other engineering teams build on
- Deep expertise in one or more areas: LLMs, NLP, retrieval/RAG, agent orchestration, deep learning, or reinforcement learning
- Hands-on experience building LLM-based applications and agentic workflows — including prompt engineering, retrieval design, evaluation, and production deployment
- Proficiency with modern ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face) and cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure)
- Strong Python skills and sound software engineering fundamentals — testing, code review, CI/CD, reliability, and API design
- Proven track record shipping impactful AI/ML projects to production, ideally in a platform or infrastructure context
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functionally, influence technical direction, and communicate clearly with both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
- Ph.D. or Master's in CS, ML, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field is a plus