Contracts Manager

Gusto

Gusto

Denver, CO, USA · San Francisco, CA, USA · New York, NY, USA
Posted on Monday, February 5, 2024


About Gusto

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 300,000 businesses nationwide.

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 Gusto

Gusto is a modern, online people platform that helps small businesses take care of their teams. On top of full-service payroll, Gusto offers health insurance, 401(k)s, expert HR, and team management tools. Today, Gusto offices in Denver, San Francisco, and New York serve more than 300,000 businesses nationwide.

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.

We are seeking our first ever Contracts Manager to join our growing Legal and Compliance Product and Commercial team. In this newly created role, you will drive efficiencies for Gusto’s contracting processes and support across a variety of commercial initiatives and strategic projects. This is a great opportunity to join a dynamic team of experienced attorneys and compliance professionals.

We are passionate about using innovative technology and excellent service to elevate the experience of small business owners and their employees. Each team member is a true owner and makes a tremendous impact every day. If you shine in a fast-paced environment and thrive on the success of a job well done, let’s chat!

This role can be based in the San Francisco, Denver, or New York City metro areas.

The Contracts Manager will be a key member of the Commercial Legal Team, responsible for negotiating a variety of contract types and executing on initiatives to improve upon and further design Gusto’s contracting processes. In this role, you will build trusted relationships with key cross-functional stakeholders across legal, finance, procurement, FinanceTech, security, and the business organizations. Your primary focus will be to identify and own key objectives and results related to contract negotiation, contract administration, tooling, and strategic project management. The ideal candidate has owned contract review workstreams, led the implementation of or meaningfully improved upon contract lifecycle management tools or processes, and developed systems or policies for expediting review, approval, and signature of vendors and contracts.

Most importantly, you will support and grow Gusto’s mission to create a world where work empowers a better life and to build a better ecosystem for small businesses and their employees.

If this sounds appealing, and you shine in a fast-paced environment and thrive on the success of a job well done, let’s chat!

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

  • Review and negotiate commercial agreements including NDAs, Terms of Service, and other vendor, partner, and license agreements.
  • Own contract lifecycle management, including within existing tooling (Ironclad), to build efficiencies in approvals, signatures, terms tracking, and repository management.
  • Identify and execute on opportunities for maturity in Gusto’s contract management and legal review processes.
  • Build and maintain workflows and templates designed to expedite contract signature.
  • Manage strategic commercial projects including tooling expansions, updates to Terms of Service, participation in supplier management, template localization for international use, outside counsel management, and team trainings.
  • Assist with key goals for the Commercial Legal Team, including updating templates, Terms of Service, developing risk assessment best practices, and building internal resources for negotiations and internal policies.
  • Participate in other legal and compliance operations projects as needed.

Here’s what we're looking for:

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • 4+ years with an in-house legal team
  • Experience supporting contract negotiation across Saas, professional services, software licensing, and marketing agreements
  • Demonstrated success scaling and managing the full contract lifecycle
  • Passionate about process building and improvement – you love finding ways to make things simpler or faster
  • Excellent communicator with an eye for the details
  • Highly responsive, accountable, growth mindset and service-oriented attitude in a fast-paced environment

Here’s what we’d love to see you bring to the table:

  • History of supporting highly regulated industries, such as financial services, payroll/tax SaaS, health care, etc.
  • Experience excelling in a high-growth, high-volume environment
  • A collaborative approach and demonstrated ability to work well independently under pressure, while contributing to cross-functional teams
  • A willingness to dive in and drive projects independently
  • Attention to detail and the ability to follow through in a fast-paced environment.

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $105,000 - $129,000/year in Denver, and $128,000 - $158,000/year for San Francisco & New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

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. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at accommodations@gusto.com.


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.


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. If you require assistance in filling out a Gusto job application, please reach out to candidate-accommodations@gusto.com.