Scale Engineer

Engineer

Backend Engineer · Mid · Full Time

CAN: VAN (333 Seymour St)CAD 132k – 150k1mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Xero's Accounting Core team is seeking a backend engineer to deliver high-quality software that scales accounting infrastructure across microservices. You'll architect and optimize distributed systems using C#/.NET Core and AWS, modernizing legacy monolithic systems while ensuring data integrity and operational excellence. This hybrid role in Vancouver requires strong backend development expertise, distributed systems knowledge, and a collaborative mindset to support Xero's mission of enabling small business success.

Responsibilities

  • Design and Implement Microservices Architecture: Lead the transition from monolithic systems to cloud-native microservices using C#, .NET Core, and AWS. Design service boundaries, implement resilience patterns including circuit breakers and retry logic, and establish service-to-service communication protocols that ensure system reliability and scalability across distributed systems.
  • Develop Production-Grade Backend Systems: Build robust, high-quality backend services operating in production cloud environments. Focus on creating scalable APIs, optimizing database queries, implementing proper caching strategies, and ensuring systems can handle high throughput while maintaining data integrity and ACID transaction principles.
  • Resolve Complex Legacy System Challenges: Identify and solve intricate problems inherited from legacy architectures, including database scalability bottlenecks, technical debt accumulation, and service coupling issues. Develop strategic modernization plans to migrate legacy code and data patterns into contemporary microservices frameworks.
  • Implement Automated Testing and CI/CD Pipelines: Champion test-driven development practices and trunk-based development methodologies. Build comprehensive automated testing suites covering unit, integration, and performance testing. Establish and maintain continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines using modern DevOps tooling.
  • Collaborate Across Product Teams: Work with product teams across Wellington and Vancouver to reduce coupling, establish clear service contracts, and accelerate product velocity. Participate in cross-functional planning, provide technical guidance on architecture decisions, and ensure platform stability supports downstream teams.
  • Drive Technical Excellence and Knowledge Sharing: Mentor team members through code reviews, pair programming sessions, and technical discussions. Share expertise in distributed systems, database optimization, and software engineering best practices. Contribute to architectural decisions and document technical standards that elevate engineering quality across the organization.
  • Optimize Database Performance and Scalability: Design efficient database schemas and query patterns for relational databases supporting transactional workloads. Identify performance bottlenecks through profiling and monitoring, implement indexing strategies, and propose data partitioning or sharding approaches to handle scale challenges.
  • Automate Manual Processes and Improve Efficiency: Identify opportunities to automate repetitive workflows and eliminate manual processes. Leverage modern tooling including AI-assisted development tools to streamline engineering workflows, reduce operational overhead, and increase team productivity and code quality.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Backend Development with C#, .NET Core, Java, or Go

    Proven proficiency in server-side programming with professional experience building production systems using one or more languages from C#/.NET Core, Java, or Go. Strong understanding of language-specific idioms, frameworks, and ecosystem tooling to write efficient, maintainable code at scale.

  • Distributed Systems Architecture

    Solid grasp of distributed systems concepts including service-to-service communication patterns (REST, gRPC, messaging), eventual consistency models, idempotency, and resilience patterns (timeouts, retries, circuit breakers). Experience designing systems that gracefully handle partial failures and network latency.

  • Relational Database Design and Optimization

    Practical working knowledge of relational databases with emphasis on ACID transaction principles, data integrity constraints, query optimization, indexing strategies, and schema design. Experience with databases such as SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or MySQL in production environments handling transactional workloads.

  • Cloud Infrastructure and DevOps

    Familiarity with modern DevOps practices including infrastructure-as-code, containerization (Docker), orchestration platforms, automated testing frameworks, and continuous integration/deployment pipelines. Experience with AWS services or similar cloud platforms for building and operating production systems.

  • Automated Testing and Quality Assurance

    Hands-on experience writing unit tests, integration tests, and implementing test-driven development (TDD) practices. Knowledge of testing frameworks and best practices for achieving high code coverage while maintaining test reliability and execution speed.

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related Field

    Educational foundation in computer science, software engineering, mathematics, physics, or equivalent practical experience demonstrating strong fundamentals in algorithms, data structures, systems design, and software architecture principles.

Experience

  • Backend Service Development

    3+ years of professional experience building backend services, APIs, or distributed systems. Demonstrated ability to take ownership of features from design through production deployment, handle production incidents, and iterate based on performance metrics and customer feedback.

  • Working with Legacy System Modernization

    Experience contributing to modernization efforts, refactoring legacy codebases, or participating in technical debt reduction initiatives. Understanding of migration strategies, backwards compatibility concerns, and gradual system evolution challenges.

  • Cross-functional Collaboration

    Track record of effective collaboration with product managers, other engineering teams, and stakeholders. Ability to articulate technical concepts to non-technical audiences, manage expectations, and align on priorities across organizational boundaries.

Skills

Required

  • C#/.NET Core Development

    Professional proficiency building production services with C# and .NET Core framework. Deep understanding of async/await patterns, dependency injection, Entity Framework ORM, and Microsoft-ecosystem tooling for enterprise backend systems.

  • SQL and Relational Databases

    Expert-level knowledge of SQL query writing, database design, transaction management, and performance optimization. Ability to write efficient queries, design normalized schemas, and troubleshoot database bottlenecks in production environments.

  • Microservices Architecture Patterns

    Practical knowledge of microservices design patterns including API gateways, event-driven communication, saga patterns for distributed transactions, and techniques for maintaining data consistency across service boundaries.

  • RESTful API Design and Implementation

    Expertise designing and implementing REST APIs following HTTP best practices, proper status codes, versioning strategies, and documentation. Understanding of API contract design for backward compatibility and schema evolution.

  • Git Version Control and Trunk-Based Development

    Proficiency with Git workflows, code branching strategies, particularly trunk-based development practices. Experience with code review processes, merge conflict resolution, and continuous integration with version control systems.

  • Debugging and Performance Analysis

    Strong ability to diagnose issues in production systems using logging, monitoring, and profiling tools. Experience identifying performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, and optimizing application behavior under load through data-driven analysis.

Preferred

  • AWS Cloud Services

    Nice to have

    Hands-on experience with AWS services including EC2, RDS, Lambda, S3, CloudWatch, and VPC. Familiarity with AWS architecture patterns, security best practices, and infrastructure-as-code tools like CloudFormation or Terraform.

  • Docker and Container Orchestration

    Nice to have

    Experience containerizing applications with Docker, writing effective Dockerfiles, and deploying containers in orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. Understanding of container networking, storage, and resource management.

  • Message Queues and Event Streaming

    Nice to have

    Knowledge of asynchronous messaging patterns and experience with message brokers (RabbitMQ, Kafka) or AWS services (SQS, SNS) for decoupling services and building event-driven architectures.

  • Monitoring and Observability

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with observability best practices including structured logging, distributed tracing, metrics collection, and dashboarding tools. Experience with platforms like DataDog, New Relic, or CloudWatch for production system monitoring.

  • AI-Assisted Development Tools

    Nice to have

    Experience leveraging modern AI tools (ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) to enhance coding productivity, accelerate development workflows, and improve code quality through intelligent suggestions and automation.

  • Accounting or FinTech Domain Knowledge

    Nice to have

    Background in accounting principles, financial software, or FinTech systems. Understanding of invoice management, bill processing, payment reconciliation, or payroll systems provides valuable context for the Xero platform.

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·CAD 131,800 – 150,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Annual Performance Bonus and Equity (RSU) Program

    Eligible permanent employees participate in annual bonus structures and Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) equity programs. Performance-based cash and equity incentives available depending on role level and company performance metrics.

  • Health and Wellness Benefits

    Comprehensive health insurance coverage including medical, dental, and vision. Wellness programs, mental health support, gym subsidies, and preventive care resources designed to support holistic employee wellbeing.

  • Retirement and Savings Plans

    Competitive registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) with employer matching contributions. Retirement planning resources and financial wellness programs to support long-term financial security.

  • Wellbeing Days and Generous Leave

    Paid wellbeing days in addition to standard vacation allowance. Competitive paid time off policy supporting work-life balance, mental health breaks, and personal time management throughout the year.

  • Professional Development and Learning Budget

    Dedicated annual professional development budget for courses, certifications, conferences, and technical training. Support for continuous learning in software engineering, cloud architecture, and business domains relevant to your career growth.

  • Parental and Family Support

    Generous parental leave policies and family support programs. Flexibility for life events and family circumstances demonstrating Xero's commitment to supporting employees through all life stages.

  • Flexible Work Arrangements

    Hybrid work model with flexibility to work remote while maintaining collaborative office presence. Additional workspace support, home office equipment stipends, and flexible scheduling accommodating personal preferences and productivity styles.

  • Global Mobility and Travel Opportunities

    Opportunity to travel to Wellington, New Zealand for onboarding and collaboration with global team members. International team environment exposing you to diverse perspectives and cross-cultural collaboration.

Full posting

Original listing.

The role / impact

You will deliver high-quality, impactful software that aligns with team and business goals, always keeping customer needs and outcomes front of mind. By identifying and solving complex, ambiguous problems independently, you will produce robust, high-quality, and scalable software that helps change the world by supporting small businesses. Your daily work will focus on systems, scalability, and engineering quality while collaborating across teams to drive technical excellence and developer efficiency.

Through clear and thoughtful communication, you will ensure stakeholders are well-informed and aligned. You will play a key part in fostering an inclusive team culture by mentoring others and sharing feedback with empathy. Your active participation in planning, delivery, and continuous improvement will contribute directly to the success of the broader Xero community.

The team / how they connect

You will join the Accounting Core team within Product Platforms, which forms the critical foundation underneath core product areas like invoices, bills, payments, and payroll. The team exists to make it easy for other groups across Xero to build on a strong foundation of accounting concepts, data, and libraries safely and efficiently. Operating across Wellington and Vancouver, we collaborate closely to reduce tight coupling, establish clear service boundaries, and accelerate product velocity global-wide.

The team is currently working on / Initially, you will focus on

  • Transitioning from a monolithic architecture to modern microservices to remove delivery bottlenecks and improve efficiency.

  • Building and operating services in a production cloud environment utilizing C#, .NET Core, and AWS.

  • Resolving complex legacy problems, database scalability challenges, and modernizing service interfaces or APIs.

  • Automating manual processes and applying test-driven and trunk-based development practices.

Where and how you can work

This role is based at our on-site location in Vancouver. We operate on a hybrid model where you will spend one to two days a week in the office for collaborative technical discussions and team alignment, with the flexibility to work from home on the other days. You will also have the opportunity to travel to New Zealand for onboarding after your first couple of weeks.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

  • You bring proficient backend development experience with one or more programming languages such as C#, .NET, Java, or Go.

  • A solid understanding of distributed systems concepts, including service-to-service communication, eventual consistency, and resilience patterns belongs in your toolkit.

  • Your background features practical experience working with relational databases where transactional data integrity and ACID principles are critical.

  • Having a familiar working knowledge of modern DevOps practices, automated testing, and continuous integration pipelines will help you succeed.

  • Showing an interest in utilizing modern artificial intelligence tools will enable you to enhance personal productivity and streamline engineering workflows.

  • You possess strong communication and collaboration skills, with the capacity to manage internal stakeholders like a technical product partner.

Apply even if your experience isn't a perfect match! At Xero, we hire based on your skills, passion, and the unique perspective you can bring to enhance our culture and team.

Compensation & Total Rewards

At Xero, we value the impact and skills you bring to the team. We believe in a Total Package philosophy - ensuring your value is recognized through a holistic lens that includes base salary, performance incentives, and world-class benefits.

The expected base salary range for this role is 131,800 - 150,000 CAD.

Individual pay is determined by various factors, including geography, level of experience, and the specific skills you bring to the role.

In addition to base pay, Xero’s roles are eligible for the following forms of variable compensation:

  • Variable Pay: Permanent employees are eligible to participate in our annual bonus and equity (RSU) programs. You may also be eligible for performance-based cash or equity (RSUs) incentives depending on your role level, and company performance.

  • Comprehensive Benefits: World-class health, wellness, and retirement programs. Xero Perks including Wellbeing days, generous leave, and dedicated professional development budgets.

This is a posting for an existing vacancy.

Xero uses AI to help screen applications based on job-related qualifications. These tools assist our recruiters but do not make automated hiring decisions. A human recruiter reviews all candidates before any hiring action is taken.

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