Greenhouse ·
full-timeSenior Manager, Escalation Services
Gusto · Denver, CO - Hybrid; Scottsdale, AZ - Hybrid
Gusto provides payroll, benefits, and HR solutions for small businesses, helping them manage payroll, health insurance, 401(k)s and related HR tasks so owners can focus on their core work. The Senior Manager, Escalation Services role leads the Escalation Services team within Benefits Services, handling high‑stakes cases such as executive escalations, access‑to‑care emergencies and benefit inaccuracies that affect a customer’s coverage. Day‑to‑day responsibilities include overseeing a team of specialists who resolve complex escalations, ensuring timely and accurate outcomes, and simultaneously redesigning the escalation ecosystem — improving intake, triage, tooling and root‑cause analysis to create a scalable system that reduces reliance on individual heroics. The role also involves building an AI‑driven automation roadmap, coaching the team to use AI tools effectively, and measuring success by how much escalation volume the system can absorb while maintaining high customer satisfaction. This position suits professionals with experience in escalation or benefits operations, team leadership, process improvement, and comfort working with AI and data‑driven initiatives.
About Gusto 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. About the Role: Gusto is hiring a Senior Leader to lead our Escalation Services team within Benefits Services. This role is two jobs at once: operate a white-glove escalation service, and become the owner of Gusto's escalation ecosystem — co-creating the next iteration of how escalations are handled, not just managing the team that handles them today. You'll lead a team of specialists, accountable for how Gusto shows up today when something has already gone wrong for a customer — while simultaneously redesigning the intake, triage, tooling, and root-cause infrastructure that determines how well Escalation Services performs a year from now. Your team owns comprehensive, white-glove escalation management: executive escalations, access-to-care emergencies, and any internally or externally sourced escalation involving missing or inaccurate benefits — health insurance chief among them. When a member can't fill a prescription, an employee loses active coverage, or a customer executive needs a direct answer, your team is the one that steps in, resolves it, and closes the loop. The other half is the build. This function's current operating model — how escalations get triaged, routed, resolved, and learned from — wasn't designed for the volume and complexity it now handles. You're being hired to rethink it at a system level — what gets automated, what gets simplified, and what a scalable escalation ecosystem looks like as Gusto grows. Your impact will be measured in leverage: how much escalation volume the system can absorb without depending on individual heroics, and how clearly escalation health becomes a trusted, leading indicator for leadership. You'll also be a senior partner in shaping how AI transforms escalation work at Gusto — building the automation roadmap, coaching your team to use it, and reducing the administrative overhead that keeps specialists from spending time where it matters most: with the customer. About the Team: Escalation Services is the last line of defense when a case has outgrown standard resolution — the point where a missed or inaccurate benefit stops being an operational miss and becomes someone's actual health coverage, prescription, or procedure. We sit at the highest-stakes intersection of Benefits Services, owning the resolution of Gusto's most complex, highest-visibility cases: executive escalations, access-to-care emergencies, and benefit inaccuracies that affect a customer's coverage. We measure ourselves by speed, accuracy, and how the customer feels on the other end of the call — because for the people we serve, an unresolved escalation isn't an inconvenience, it's a real gap in their care. Every case that reaches this team already matters to someone; our job is to make sure it never has to escalate again. As an AI-native company, we don't just use technology — it's the backbone of how we work. Senior leaders on this team are expected to model digital fluency and a proactive approach to leveraging AI tooling to speed resolution, surface root cause, and free up capacity for the cases that need a human touch most. Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day: Operate a white-glove escalation service Lead the specialists who run Escalation Services, running a structured cadence — weekly 1:1s, team forums, monthly business reviews. Serve as point of contact for Gusto's highest-visibility escalations — coordinating cross-functionally to drive resolution and providing clear, confident status updates to customer executives and internal stakeholders alike. Step into the most sensitive and highest-risk cases yourself — executive-visible, compliance-related, or reputationally significant — working them alongside your team, not just above it. Coach your team to operate as drivers, not passengers — owning the case end-to-end, communicating proactively, and holding the bar on white-glove service without waiting to be told what “good” looks like. Own the rationale before you deliver any meaningful change — running a clear playbook every time: what's changing, why, what it means for the team, what resour
| Role | Senior Manager, Escalation Services |
|---|---|
| Company | Gusto |
| Location | Denver, CO - Hybrid; Scottsdale, AZ - Hybrid |
| Compensation | Not disclosed |
| Posted | 2026-09-30 |
| Deadline | Rolling |
Typical process for this type of role
A general guide — the exact steps for this specific listing may vary; check the original posting for details.
- 1ApplicationSubmit your resume through the apply link.
- 2ScreeningRecruiter reviews your background against the role.
- 3AssessmentA technical test, assignment, or coding round, depending on the role.
- 4Interview(s)One or more rounds with the hiring team.
- 5OfferOffer letter with compensation and start date.
Before you apply
0/4Senior Manager, Escalation Services at Gusto: frequently asked questions
- What is the salary for this role?
- Gusto has not stated compensation in the listing. Check the original posting or ask during the application process.
- Is the Senior Manager, Escalation Services position remote, hybrid or onsite?
- The listing gives Denver, CO - Hybrid; Scottsdale, AZ - Hybrid as the location and does not state a work mode.
- What is the application deadline?
- Gusto has not listed a fixed deadline, so apply early in case the opening is filled.
- How do I apply for the Senior Manager, Escalation Services role?
- Use the Apply button on this page. It opens the original listing on job-boards.greenhouse.io, where you submit your application with the company.
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['Hybrid (2 days onsite)', 'Base salary $131k-$220k']