> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/1426752-head-of-design-unified-service-platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1426752-head-of-design-unified-service-platform). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Head of Design, Unified Service Platform - **Company:** Gusto - **Location:** New York, NY, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $204,000.0 - $280,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Cursor (Graphical User Interface Elements), Peer-To-Peer (P2P), Service Design - **Published:** July 24, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=fa3877cecf73fd0f ## About the Role * Experience managing and growing product designers - you've led a team, developed designers, run performance and growth, and built a healthy team culture. Managing across disciplines (e.g., content/conversation design alongside product design) is a well-developed plus. * Design leadership in ambiguity - you set direction and a high craft bar, co-own strategy with cross-functional peers, and hold a position when the right answer is unpopular. * AI-product judgment in consequential domains - you've shipped (or led teams that shipped) AI-mediated experiences in production, and can speak to uncertainty, errors, graceful failure, and human override. * Service design depth - real journey mapping and blueprinting on two-sided products with operational handoffs, not workshop exercises. * Hands-on AI fluency - you use AI-native tools yourself and can raise your team's fluency; you perceive AI as part of the craft, not separate from it. * 12+ years of design experience, including 5+ years managing designers, with clear ownership of shipped work in a B2B SaaS environment. ## Description Gusto's Unified Service Platform (USP) is the infrastructure behind how small businesses get help when it matters most - AI-driven support, multi-channel service, and the human expertise that steps in when AI isn't enough. We're looking for a Head of Design to lead the design team behind it and set the bar for what AI-native service design looks like at Gusto. This is a people-leadership role. You'll lead, coach, and grow a small, high-caliber team of three designers - spanning product design and conversation design - and you'll be accountable for the quality, direction, and delivery of design across the platform. You'll also be the design voice on the USP quartet, peer-to-peer with PM, Engineering, and Data leaders - authoring strategy in ambiguous spaces and spearheading cross-functional convergence. And it's a genuine player-coach role: alongside leading the team, you'll stay hands-on on the highest-leverage design work yourself. If you want to build and lead the team defining AI-native service design - at the exact moment the category is being invented - this is that role. About the Team: The Unified Service Platform team builds the experiences that establish how Gusto customers get help - across self-service, in-product guidance, multi-channel support, and the AI and human experts behind all of it. You'll lead a team of three designers (product and conversation design) within a cross-functional group of engineers, PMs, and data partners, designing for both the small business owners who rely on Gusto and the experts who serve them. Design on USP is a strategic function - embedded in product direction from day one, not brought in at the execution stage. Here's what you'll do day-to-day: * Lead, coach, and grow a team of three designers (product + conversation design) - own their development, careers, performance, and craft growth, and create the conditions for them to do their best work. * Own design direction and quality across USP - set the vision and the bar, and be accountable for the team's outcomes, not just its output. * Stay hands-on where it matters most - as a player-coach, prototype and design the hardest flows and quartet-level artifacts yourself, not just review them; flex your hands-on time down as the team grows. * Represent design on the USP quartet - co-lead product direction with PM, Engineering, and Data leaders; author strategy and POV in ambiguous spaces; drive convergence and close decisions. * Set the standard for AI-native service design. This includes how trust, uncertainty, graceful failure, and AI-human handoffs show up on the platform. You will identify when AI outputs are ready to ship, when a human is needed, and when outputs should not be sent out at all. * Guide service design end-to-end - journey mapping, blueprinting, and operational handoffs for a two-sided product - through your team. * Champion an AI-native design practice - model and expect fluency with AI-native tools (Claude Code, Cursor, and comparable agentic tools) as part of the craft, and raise the floor for how the team designs. * Partner on hiring and team building as the team grows. ## Related Videos - [What If We Designed Employee Experience Like a Customer Journey?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1824-what-if-we-designed-employee-experience-like-a-customer-journey) - [Insight into AI-Driven Design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1016-insight-into-ai-driven-design) - [P2P networks in Blockchain](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/209-p2p-networks-in-blockchain) - [Edit Your Future: Queerverse Radical AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/909-edit-your-future-queerverse-radical-ai) - [Design as an algorithm, not as a feature](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/471-design-as-an-algorithm-not-as-a-feature) - [Angstfreude - AI and Corporate Culture - The Thrill and the Threat](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100354-angstfreude-ai-and-corporate-culture-the-thrill-and-the-threat) ## Related Articles - [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding) - [The future is here: How artificial intelligence is influencing UX design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/65-the-future-is-here-how-artificial-intelligence-is-influencing-ux-design) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai) - [Declarative Design and a fresh take on collaboration with developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/595-declarative-design-and-a-fresh-take-on-collaboration-with-developers)