# Strategic Operations Lead

**Company:** [Gusto](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/gusto)
**Location:** Denver, CO, Phoenix, AZ, San Francisco, CA, New York, NY
**Role:** Business Operations
**Salary:** $99k – $140k/yr
**Experience:** 4+ years
**Skills:** AI Agents, Automation, Workflow Design, Data Analysis, Operational Metrics, Pilot Governance, Process Improvement, Cross-Functional Leadership, SaaS, Evidence Synthesis
**Posted:** 2026-08-19

> Build and operate an AI-powered governance system for Benefits Labs, managing intake, pilots, measurement, and leadership recommendations. The role requires 4+ years in operations, program management, or business operations, plus hands-on experience building AI agents, automations, or multi-step workflows.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Own the Benefits Labs lifecycle, including intake, pilot design, execution governance, measurement, and recommendations to leadership.
- Operate and improve an AI-powered intake system that classifies, routes, and prepares incoming work.
- Govern pilots with defined success metrics, checkpoints, and outputs; recommend whether to scale, iterate, or stop.
- Pressure-test hypotheses, refine success criteria, and hold Pilot Leads accountable to execution standards.
- Extend agent and automation architecture across intake routing, workflow execution, evidence synthesis, and readout generation.
- Identify systemic operational inefficiencies and convert repeatable problems into scalable AI-powered workflows.
- Develop analytical approaches and evidence-based narratives to support leadership decisions.
- Lead coordination across product, engineering, operations, enablement, and business partners.
- Produce leadership-ready readouts, post-mortems, and recommendations.
- Coach Pilot Leads and Business Operations partners on AI-powered ways of working.

## Requirements
- 4+ years of experience in operations, program management, or business operations in a SaaS, technology, or operationally complex environment.
- Experience owning complex, cross-functional work and delivering outcomes end-to-end.
- Experience designing and deploying AI agents, automations, or workflows that execute multi-step work.
- Ability to measure operational leverage and improve systems at the process level.
- Strong data fluency, including structuring problems, defining success metrics, and turning data into decision-driving narratives.
- Experience leading initiatives across product, engineering, and operations without direct authority.
- Ability to create structure and move work forward amid ambiguity.

## Nice-to-haves
- Experience in benefits, insurance, or brokerage operations.
- Experience working with operational metrics such as cycle time, quality, and throughput.
- Direct experience building or managing AI agents in a production or operational context.

## Compensation and Benefits
- Cash compensation is $98,725/year to $116,000/year in Denver and most major metro locations.
- Cash compensation is $114,285/year to $140,000/year for San Francisco and New York.
- Final offers vary based on candidate location, experience, and expertise.
- Full-time employees receive competitive base pay, benefits, and equity in the form of RSUs.
- Employees based in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City are expected to work from the office approximately 2–3 days per week or more depending on the role.

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