# Engineering Manager - Database Reliability **Company:** [Xero](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/xero) Engineering Manager - Database Reliability at Xero leads two specialized database engineering teams across Australia and New Zealand, overseeing infrastructure supporting millions of customer transactions. You'll drive the delivery of an AI DBA platform to automate incident response, lead cloud database migrations from on-premise systems to AWS RDS and Aurora Postgres, and transform the team from reactive firefighting to strategic database consulting. This is a high-impact leadership role requiring deep database architecture expertise, proven experience managing large-scale infrastructure projects, and strong mentoring capabilities with experienced engineers. **Role:** Engineering Manager **Seniority:** Manager **Locations:** AU: Sydney (45 Clarence St) **Salary:** 140000–200000 NZD [Apply](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/db392f3f-7c28-49f8-ba5a-397e13be9ae5) Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/jobs/xero/engineering-manager-database-reliability --- ## Responsibilities - Lead and oversee two specialized database engineering teams: Manage and mentor experienced database reliability engineers across Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland and Wellington) locations, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and fostering a high-performing culture focused on continuous improvement in database infrastructure. - Drive AI DBA platform delivery and incident automation: Lead the successful delivery of an agentic AI database administrator platform that embeds institutional knowledge, automates incident response workflows, and handles routine database support tasks, transitioning the team from reactive firefighting to proactive strategic consulting. - Oversee global database migration initiatives: Coordinate and manage critical database migrations from on-premise Microsoft SQL Server to AWS RDS and Aurora Postgres, including completing XeroDB migration and managing transition of other critical databases in close partnership with product teams across the organization. - Mentor database engineers through technology transformation: Coach and develop experienced engineers to adopt modern database technologies and approaches, helping them grow their expertise in cloud-managed services, performance optimization, and strategic database architecture consulting for internal product teams. - Build operational and cultural foundations for proactive consulting: Establish processes, practices, and cultural shifts within the database engineering team to transition from incident-driven reactive support to proactive strategic consulting, enabling product teams to own and manage their own database infrastructure more effectively. - Manage cross-functional stakeholder relationships and complex initiatives: Navigate stakeholder complexity across technical and non-technical teams, including product leadership, infrastructure teams, and AWS partnerships, ensuring smooth execution of large-scale modernization projects and driving organizational alignment on database infrastructure strategy. - Deliver complex infrastructure projects at scale: Break down and execute large-scale infrastructure projects impacting millions of customer transactions, implementing solutions that improve system reliability, performance, and operational efficiency across Xero's global platform. ## Requirements ### education - {"name":"Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field","description":"Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating strong foundational knowledge in computer systems and software engineering principles."} ### technical - {"name":"Deep database architecture expertise","description":"Demonstrated deep understanding of relational database systems, database architecture patterns, and design principles with hands-on experience across multiple database technologies including relational databases, non-relational systems, and cloud-managed database services."} - {"name":"Large-scale infrastructure project experience","description":"Proven track record leading or managing large-scale infrastructure modernization projects, including database migrations, infrastructure upgrades, and complex technical transformations requiring cross-team coordination and phased delivery."} - {"name":"Cloud database platform proficiency","description":"Working knowledge of cloud-managed database services such as AWS RDS, Aurora Postgres, and related ecosystem tools, with ability to guide teams through cloud infrastructure decisions and optimization strategies."} - {"name":"Postgres and alternative database technologies","description":"Preferred experience with PostgreSQL/Aurora Postgres architecture and operations, alongside familiarity with Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, or other database platforms relevant to heterogeneous database environments."} - {"name":"Database reliability engineering principles","description":"Understanding of database reliability engineering, incident response frameworks, observability tooling for databases, and automation strategies for reducing operational toil and improving mean time to recovery."} - {"name":"AI and automation in database operations","description":"Knowledge or demonstrated interest in artificial intelligence applications for database management, including agentic systems, automated incident response, and knowledge embedding in operational tools."} ### experience - {"name":"Engineering management or technical leadership","description":"Minimum 5+ years of engineering management experience or equivalent technical leadership role overseeing teams of experienced engineers, with demonstrated success in performance coaching, mentoring, and developing technical talent."} - {"name":"Infrastructure or database systems engineering","description":"5+ years of hands-on database or infrastructure engineering experience before management roles, including database design, performance tuning, operations, or reliability engineering on systems handling significant scale."} - {"name":"Large-scale system modernization","description":"Proven experience leading or contributing to significant technology migrations or modernization initiatives, such as database platform upgrades, on-premise to cloud transitions, or architectural transformations in complex environments."} - {"name":"Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management","description":"Track record of successfully managing relationships across technical and non-technical stakeholders, driving alignment on complex initiatives, and navigating organizational change with strong communication and influence skills."} ## Skills ### required - {"name":"Database system architecture and design","description":"Strong architectural thinking for designing scalable, reliable database systems, including schema design, performance optimization, and capacity planning for systems serving millions of users."} - {"name":"Infrastructure project delivery and execution","description":"Ability to break down complex infrastructure projects into executable phases, manage dependencies, estimate timelines, and deliver results within scope and quality standards."} - {"name":"Team leadership and mentoring","description":"Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop experienced technical engineers, identify growth opportunities, provide constructive feedback, and foster psychological safety within high-performing teams."} - {"name":"Stakeholder management and influence","description":"Strong communication skills to navigate complex organizational dynamics, build consensus across technical and non-technical stakeholders, and drive adoption of new technologies and practices."} - {"name":"Incident response and reliability engineering","description":"Deep understanding of incident response frameworks, root cause analysis, observability and monitoring strategies, and operational practices for building resilient systems."} - {"name":"Strategic technical thinking","description":"Ability to think strategically about technology decisions, balance technical debt with feature velocity, and align database infrastructure strategy with broader organizational objectives."} ### preferred - {"name":"PostgreSQL and Aurora Postgres expertise","description":"Hands-on experience with PostgreSQL or AWS Aurora Postgres, including operational management, performance tuning, and migration planning from legacy relational database systems."} - {"name":"AWS cloud platform experience","description":"Familiarity with AWS services including RDS, Aurora, and related database tooling, with understanding of cloud cost optimization and managed service trade-offs."} - {"name":"AI and machine learning operations","description":"Experience or demonstrated interest in applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to infrastructure automation, incident prediction, or operational decision-making systems."} - {"name":"SaaS or multi-tenant platform operations","description":"Background operating or managing infrastructure for SaaS platforms serving thousands to millions of customers, with appreciation for compliance, security, and scalability requirements."} - {"name":"Continuous improvement and automation mindset","description":"Demonstrated track record of continuously improving operational processes, reducing manual toil through automation, and building measurement and monitoring frameworks."} ## Tech stack ### tools - {"name":"Database observability and monitoring tools","description":"Monitoring, alerting, and observability platforms for database performance management, query optimization, and health tracking of database systems at scale."} - {"name":"Infrastructure automation and IaC tools","description":"Infrastructure as Code tools like Terraform for managing database infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management in cloud environments."} - {"name":"Incident management platforms","description":"On-call scheduling, alerting, and incident coordination tools for managing database incidents and improving mean time to recovery."} ### others - {"name":"AI DBA platform and agentic systems","description":"Emerging artificial intelligence and agentic tooling for automating database administration tasks, incident response automation, and embedding institutional knowledge into operational systems."} - {"name":"Database migration and modernization tools","description":"AWS Database Migration Service (DMS), schema conversion tools, and validation frameworks for planning and executing large-scale database platform migrations."} - {"name":"AWS partnership and ecosystem","description":"Strategic partnership with AWS for database platform support, optimization, and access to emerging database technologies and managed services."} ### databases - {"name":"PostgreSQL/Aurora Postgres","description":"Modern open-source and AWS-managed relational database system serving as target platform for database modernization initiatives."} - {"name":"Microsoft SQL Server","description":"Legacy relational database platform currently in use at Xero, requiring migration planning and transition to modern cloud-managed alternatives."} - {"name":"AWS RDS","description":"AWS-managed relational database service supporting various database engines including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle for cloud-native database operations."} ### languages - {"name":"SQL","description":"SQL for database query design, optimization, and performance tuning across relational database systems, essential for managing complex database operations."} - {"name":"Python or Go","description":"Programming language experience for automation scripting, infrastructure tooling, or backend services supporting database operations and incident automation."} ### frameworks - {"name":"AWS RDS framework","description":"Cloud-managed relational database services and related AWS ecosystem for database operations, migration, and infrastructure management."} - {"name":"Incident response frameworks","description":"Structured incident management methodologies, post-mortem processes, and on-call rotation management for database reliability and incident coordination."} ## Benefits ### benefits - {"name":"Competitive salary package with equity","description":"Attractive compensation aligned with ANZ market rates for senior technical leadership, including stock options reflecting Xero's public company status and growth trajectory."} - {"name":"Flexible work arrangements","description":"Flexible working policies supporting remote and hybrid arrangements, with expectation of regular collaboration with direct reports and partner teams based in Australia and New Zealand."} - {"name":"Professional development and learning opportunities","description":"Investment in continuous learning, conference attendance, certification programs, and access to training resources for staying current with evolving database technologies and leadership practices."} - {"name":"Health, wellness, and financial benefits","description":"Comprehensive health insurance coverage, wellness programs, superannuation/KiwiSaver contributions, and financial planning support."} - {"name":"Mentoring and career development","description":"Structured career development programs, executive coaching opportunities, and mentorship from senior leadership to support your growth as an engineering manager."} - {"name":"Impact-driven work at scale","description":"Opportunity to influence infrastructure decisions impacting millions of Xero customers globally, with visibility into direct business outcomes of your team's work."} - {"name":"Collaborative culture and community","description":"Inclusive, collaborative engineering culture with opportunities to contribute to open-source projects and participate in industry communities and technical conferences."} ## Compensation - **max:** 200000 - **min:** 140000 - **currency:** NZD - **stockOptions:** true ## Interview process ### steps - {"name":"Initial screening and background review","description":"Xero talent team reviews your resume, cover letter, and professional background to assess alignment with database reliability engineering experience, management track record, and technical depth."} - {"name":"Behavioral and technical phone screening","description":"Discussion with hiring manager covering your approach to team leadership, experience with infrastructure modernization, and your philosophy on database reliability engineering and team development."} - {"name":"Technical deep-dive interview","description":"In-depth conversation with database engineering team members or principal engineers covering database architecture decisions, technology strategy questions, and your approach to solving complex infrastructure challenges at scale."} - {"name":"Stakeholder management case study","description":"Discussion around managing complex cross-functional projects, navigating stakeholder disagreements, and driving organizational alignment on technology decisions and change management."} - {"name":"Team leadership and coaching interview","description":"Conversation focused on your leadership philosophy, mentoring approach with experienced engineers, handling performance issues, and building high-performing technical teams."} - {"name":"Final executive interview","description":"Conversation with senior engineering or operations leadership to discuss strategic vision, organizational fit, and longer-term career aspirations and growth opportunities."} ## Full description ## **The role & its impact** We're looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Database Reliability Engineering teams and drive a critical modernisation agenda at scale. You'll oversee two specialised teams working across Australia and New Zealand, managing the infrastructure that powers millions of customer transactions daily. Your primary focus will be delivering our AI DBA platform to break the reactive firefighting cycle, whilst coaching engineers to shift towards strategic consulting and enabling product teams to own their own databases more effectively. This is a role where your decisions have downstream impact across the entire organisation. You'll work with experienced engineers on complex infrastructure challenges, guide their development towards modern technologies like Aurora Postgres, and help reshape how the team approaches problem-solving in a high-scale environment. ## **The team & how they connect** The Database Engineering team owns all databases at Xero, including our core infrastructure supporting millions of customers and hundreds of engineers across dozens of product teams. We provide tools, observability, and expertise to help product teams manage their own data whilst reducing dependency on our direct support. The team is split across two specialist groups: the first team providing frontline support, incident response, and strategic consulting whilst the second team leads our migration to cloud-managed services. ## **The team is currently working on or initially, you will focus on** * Delivering our AI database administrator platform to embed team knowledge into an agentic tool that handles incident response and automates routine support * Completing global database migrations to RDS (XeroDB migration complete; moving other critical databases in coordination with product teams) * Modernising our database technology from Microsoft SQL Server to Aurora Postgres through ongoing experimentation and partnership with AWS * Building the operational and cultural foundations for teams to shift from reactive incident response to proactive strategic consulting on database architecture and performance ## **Where and how you can work** This is role can be based either in Australia (Melbourne or Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland or Wellington), reflecting where our database engineering teams are distributed. We support flexible working arrangements, with the expectation that you'll collaborate regularly with your direct reports and partner teams. ## **Here are some of the things we're looking for** * You bring a deep understanding of database architecture and relational database systems, with familiarity across different database technologies (relational, non-relational, cloud-managed services) and a genuine interest in learning new approaches * Your track record shows you've managed large-scale infrastructure projects or led engineers through significant technical transformations, with the delivery mindset to break down complex work into executable steps * You're someone who thrives on coaching and mentoring experienced engineers, identifying their strengths and helping them grow, especially when pushing them to adopt new technologies or ways of working * You've built strong relationships across technical and non-technical teams, comfortable navigating stakeholder complexity and bringing people on the journey when change is needed * You go bold by embracing modern technology directions and [_Go Further_](https://careers.xero.com/inside-xero/) by thinking strategically about how your team evolves alongside organisational needs * Postgres experience is preferable, but what matters more is your ability to learn alongside your team and facilitate their growth in emerging technologies 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.