Head of Partner Growth, Embedded Payroll

Lead & Develop

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of Partner Success Managers and Partner Enablement
• Set the operational rhythm for the partner growth function — including planning cadences, escalation workflows, and performance management
• Coach team members on partner strategy, executive communication, and cross-functional navigation
• Drive Enablement with the ideation, creation, and execution of enablement frameworks and materials
• Drive AI fluency across the team — embedding AI tools and workflows into day-to-day partner operations, GTM planning, and internal knowledge management to accelerate output and decision quality

Strategize & Plan

• Own the partner growth strategy across the GEP portfolio, including partner segmentation, prioritization, and resource allocation
• Develop and maintain per-partner operating plans with clear success metrics, in collaboration with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Sales Enablement
• Build repeatable GTM playbooks — covering co-marketing motions, sales enablement, content roadmaps, and launch sequencing — tailored to each partner's distribution model and ICP
• Translate portfolio-level data (revenue, attach rates, funnel performance) into strategic narratives for leadership

Operate & Execute

• Drive success for our partners and their end customers through adoption, activation, and retention of Gusto-powered embedded products
• Own the full marketing funnel and sales motion with partners — from top-of-funnel demand generation through conversion, onboarding, and expansion
• Manage complex, high-stakes partner relationships directly — including contract negotiations, executive escalations, and cross-functional alignment on roadmap priorities
• Lead partner incident response and escalation management with structured, cross-functional workflows

Build for Scale

• Create and expand the feedback loop between partners, their end users, and Gusto's internal product, marketing, engineering, and operations teams
• Design frameworks, templates, and processes that enable the team to manage a growing partner portfolio without linear headcount growth
• Identify and implement AI-powered workflows and tools that improve team efficiency, partner reporting, and knowledge management

Requirements

• 12-15 years of experience, with 8+ years in a people management role and 7+ years in partner-facing or channel-facing roles
• Partner-side perspective: Has operated on the partner or channel side of the table — understands how partners evaluate, prioritize, and activate embedded or referral relationships
• Farmer mentality: Wired to grow and deepen existing partner relationships through trust-building, strategic account planning, and proactive expansion — not just hunting new deals
• Methodical operator: Builds repeatable playbooks, escalation frameworks, and operational rhythms rather than relying on one-off heroics. Strong systems thinker
• GTM playbook experience: Hands-on experience building go-to-market plans from scratch — including co-marketing, keyword strategies, content roadmaps, and launch sequencing
• Full-funnel fluency: Understands the complete marketing and sales journey from demand gen through conversion, activation, and retention. Can diagnose where a partner motion is leaking value and prescribe the right intervention
• AI fluency: Actively uses AI tools (e.g., LLMs, automation platforms) to accelerate workflows, improve decision quality, and build team capability. Comfortable leading an AI adoption agenda within a team
• Executive communicator: Strong ghostwriter and strategic communicator who can represent the partnership function credibly with C-suite stakeholders — both internally and at partner organizations
• Strong sense of ownership and resilience: Thrives in ambiguity, takes initiative, and drives outcomes without waiting for permission
• Exceptional written and verbal communication: Can shift register fluently between partner-facing emails, internal Slack, leadership documents, and board-level narratives

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with embedded or platform business models (APIs, developer tools, B2B2B)
• Knowledge of payroll, HR tech, or fintech software ecosystems
• Experience managing partner P&Ls, cost-to-manage models, or portfolio-level financial analysis
• "Gets" the building-mode opportunity — has scaled a partner function from early stage, not just inherited a mature program