Partner Manager, Franchise

 

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:

Franchise is one of Gusto's fastest-growing partner channels, and we are looking for a Partner Manager to own it. You will recruit and sign franchisors, and manage the partnerships once they are signed. When a franchisor becomes a Gusto partner, the franchisees in its network can access Gusto's payroll, benefits, and HR platform on partner terms. Franchisors are not traditional channel partners. They protect their brand, support independent owner-operators, and operate within legal limits on how they can endorse vendors. A signed agreement does not guarantee franchisee adoption. Your job is to make Gusto easy for a franchisor to approve and recommend, and to give franchisees a clear reason to choose us.   You will own the full partnership lifecycle for our managed partners (Silver through Platinum) and lead recruiting for our entry-level (Bronze) partners. You will work with a dedicated franchise Account Executive, the Mid-Market Sales team, Partner Marketing, Revenue Operations, and Legal. This role suits someone who enjoys building relationships with brand leaders, structuring agreements that work for both sides, and turning a growing partner portfolio into measurable customer growth.

 

Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:

Recruit franchisor partners

• Identify, qualify, and sign franchisors across emerging, growth-stage, and mature brands, with a focus on sectors such as health and wellness, children's businesses, and home services.

• Run discovery on every new partner application and serve as the franchisor's main point of contact through onboarding.

• Build outbound campaigns using prospect lists, partner referrals, franchise sales organizations, industry associations, and competitive displacement opportunities. Use AI and sales tools to research and reach decision-makers.

• Represent Gusto at franchise industry events and trade shows, and follow up so those events turn into signed partners.

Structure and manage partnerships

• Place each new partner in the right program tier based on their expected franchisee growth and engagement.

• Structure and negotiate partner agreements, working with Legal and Revenue Operations on terms such as offers, revenue share, and co-marketing commitments.

• Own the full lifecycle for managed (Silver–Platinum) partners: onboarding, joint planning, performance reviews, and renewals. Recruit and onboard Bronze partners, who are supported mainly through our partner management platform.

• Agree on rules of engagement with each partner that set how Gusto may reach their franchisees, so outreach is welcome and the brand relationship is protected.

Drive franchisee adoption

• Work with the franchise Account Executive and Mid-Market Sales on a shared list of target brands. Recruit the franchisor while sales works with that brand's franchisees.

• Coordinate with Partner Marketing on co-branded assets, landing pages, webinars, and event outreach.

• Work with franchisor headquarters teams, such as franchise support, onboarding, and training, to build franchisee awareness.

• Explore integrations with the operating platforms fr