Scale Engineer

Engineering Manager

Manager · Full Time

CAN: VAN (333 Seymour St)CAD 188k – 236k1mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

As an Engineering Manager at Xero, you will lead high-performing, inclusive teams while serving as a technical anchor overseeing system health, code quality, and predictable roadmap delivery. This Vancouver-based role balances driving product delivery velocity with operational excellence, requiring expertise in software architecture, agile delivery, technical modernization, and AI-native workflows. You'll champion engineering craft through coaching, mentoring, and decentralized decision-making while collaborating cross-functionally with Product and Design partners to resolve dependencies and eliminate complexity from the development experience.

Responsibilities

  • Lead High-Performing Engineering Teams: Direct and mentor a coordinated engineering team, fostering an inclusive environment built on trust, transparency, and diverse perspectives. Drive team productivity and accountability while creating a sustainable work environment that enables engineers to deliver their best work and continuously hone their engineering craft.
  • Champion AI Engineering Integration: Encourage and guide the team to inject artificial intelligence across the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC) to drive efficiency gains, reduce manual toil, and modernize workflows. Position the organization at the forefront of AI-native development practices.
  • Drive Engineering Throughput and Code Quality: Establish strong architecture patterns and code quality standards while decoupling legacy systems to increase engineering velocity. Remove architectural bottlenecks and ensure scalable, maintainable system design that supports rapid feature delivery.
  • Elevate Developer Experience: Identify and systematically remove the 'complexity tax' including operational toil, brittle testing environments, and friction points in the development workflow. Improve tooling, automation, and processes to enable engineers to focus on high-value work.
  • Scale System Health and Visibility: Implement observability practices and dashboards that make system health, product status, and technical debt actionable and discoverable. Ensure the team maintains informed visibility into operational metrics and can proactively address issues.
  • Execute Roadmaps with Predictability: Deliver software roadmaps reliably in agile environments while managing complex dependencies and coordinating with cross-functional partners. Balance business outcomes with technical sustainability and maintain momentum through disciplined planning and execution.
  • Foster Technical Leadership and Growth: Provide high-impact coaching and mentoring to develop your team's technical capabilities and career progression. Serve as a technical anchor, maintaining an informed opinion on system health and guiding the team through technical modernization initiatives.
  • Lead Through Influence and Collaboration: Build strong partnerships across Product and Design teams to align on shared goals, resolve dependencies early, and ensure engineering perspectives are represented in key decisions. Make fast, decentralized decisions while empowering team members to take ownership.
  • Drive Business Outcomes: Apply a bias for action to proactively redirect focus when work isn't moving the needle on business objectives. Balance technical excellence with product delivery velocity, ensuring engineering investments generate measurable business and customer value.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Software Architecture Expertise

    Deep understanding of software architecture patterns, system design principles, and the ability to guide teams through technical modernization. Experience designing scalable, decoupled systems that enable rapid iteration and reduce legacy system dependencies.

  • Agile and Modern Development Practices

    Proven experience delivering software roadmaps in agile environments, managing complex dependencies, and maintaining predictability. Familiarity with iterative development methodologies, CI/CD pipelines, and continuous deployment practices.

  • Code Quality and Engineering Standards

    Ability to establish and enforce code quality standards, implement effective code review processes, and foster a culture of technical excellence. Experience with testing strategies, refactoring, and technical debt management.

  • AI-Native Development Workflows

    Understanding of how to integrate AI tools and practices across the software development lifecycle to improve efficiency, reduce toil, and modernize engineering processes. Familiarity with AI-assisted coding, testing, and deployment techniques.

  • System Observability and DevOps Practices

    Experience implementing monitoring, logging, and observability solutions to track system health and performance. Comfort with DevOps principles, infrastructure as code, and operational excellence practices.

Education

  • Computer Science or Related Field

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline. Equivalent professional experience demonstrating strong technical foundation is acceptable.

  • Continuous Learning

    Commitment to staying current with software engineering practices, architectural patterns, AI-native development approaches, and industry trends. Demonstrated engagement in professional development and knowledge sharing.

Experience

  • Engineering Management

    Proven track record leading engineering teams of varying sizes, with demonstrated success in hiring, developing talent, and delivering technical results. Experience managing through influence, making decentralized decisions, and empowering team ownership.

  • Software Delivery in Complex Environments

    Background delivering high-quality software products in dynamic environments with complex technical challenges, multiple stakeholders, and dependencies. Experience balancing speed with quality and maintaining predictability in product delivery.

  • Technical Leadership and Modernization

    Experience guiding teams through significant technical initiatives including legacy system refactoring, architectural evolution, and technology adoption. Demonstrated ability to maintain technical credibility while managing organizational and people dynamics.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

    Track record of building strong partnerships with Product and Design teams, aligning on shared goals, and resolving dependencies early in the development cycle. Experience navigating matrix organizations and influencing without direct authority.

  • Developer Experience and Platform Engineering

    Background improving developer productivity through tooling, automation, and process improvement. Experience identifying friction points in development workflows and systematically removing barriers to engineering effectiveness.

Skills

Required

  • Engineering Leadership

    Proven ability to lead engineering teams effectively, mentor talent, and develop high-performing cultures. Demonstrated success in hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career development.

  • Software Architecture

    Deep expertise in designing scalable systems, understanding architectural trade-offs, and making decisions that balance technical sustainability with delivery velocity. Ability to communicate architectural concepts across technical and non-technical audiences.

  • Agile Delivery

    Strong experience managing software delivery using agile methodologies, coordinating across teams, and maintaining predictability. Comfort with sprint planning, backlog management, and release coordination.

  • Technical Decision Making

    Ability to maintain informed technical opinions, evaluate technology choices, and guide teams on technical direction. Strong judgment in balancing custom development, open-source solutions, and commercial tools.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

    Skilled at building partnerships with Product, Design, and other engineering teams. Ability to facilitate alignment, resolve dependencies early, and represent engineering perspectives in product decisions.

  • Code Quality and Engineering Excellence

    Understanding of code quality metrics, testing strategies, technical debt management, and continuous improvement practices. Ability to establish standards and foster a culture of engineering excellence.

  • Strategic Thinking

    Capability to translate business objectives into engineering strategy, prioritize technical investments aligned with business value, and maintain a bias toward actions that drive outcomes.

Preferred

  • AI and Machine Learning Understanding

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with AI/ML tools, AI-assisted coding platforms, and experience integrating AI into software development workflows. Understanding of how AI can improve developer productivity and reduce operational toil.

  • Cloud Architecture and DevOps

    Nice to have

    Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization, infrastructure as code, and modern deployment practices. Familiarity with cloud-native architecture patterns and serverless computing.

  • Legacy System Modernization

    Nice to have

    Track record of successfully leading modernization efforts, decoupling monolithic systems, and managing technical migration projects while maintaining product delivery.

  • Observability and Monitoring

    Nice to have

    Experience implementing comprehensive observability solutions including metrics, logging, and distributed tracing. Understanding of how to make system health and performance visible across organizations.

  • Open Source and Community Engagement

    Nice to have

    Involvement in open-source projects, speaking at conferences, or contributing to the engineering community. Demonstrated commitment to knowledge sharing and industry thought leadership.

  • Startup or Scale-up Experience

    Nice to have

    Background building or scaling engineering organizations in high-growth environments. Experience managing rapid team growth, evolving processes, and maintaining culture during organizational change.

Tech stack

Languages

Language-Agnostic Leadership

Frameworks

Modern Web Frameworks

Databases

Relational and NoSQL Databases

Tools

AI-Assisted Development ToolsCI/CD and DevOps ToolingProject and Team Management Tools

Other

Observability and Monitoring PlatformsRefactoring and Architecture Tools

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·CAD 188,000 – 236,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Equity Participation

    Eligible for Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) programs and performance-based equity incentives tied to company performance and role level, providing long-term wealth building opportunities.

  • Annual Performance Bonus

    Permanent employees participate in annual bonus programs with performance-based cash incentives determined by individual and company performance metrics.

  • Comprehensive Health and Wellness Coverage

    World-class health, dental, and vision insurance programs alongside wellness initiatives, mental health support, and preventive care services.

  • Retirement and Savings Programs

    Competitive retirement savings plans including employer matching or pension contributions, supporting long-term financial security.

  • Wellbeing Days

    Dedicated paid time off specifically for personal wellness, health appointments, and mental health support, in addition to standard vacation benefits.

  • Generous Leave Policies

    Competitive vacation, sick leave, and parental leave benefits supporting work-life balance and family needs.

  • Professional Development Budget

    Dedicated annual budget for training, certifications, conferences, and professional growth initiatives enabling continuous skill development and industry engagement.

  • Hybrid Work Flexibility

    Flexible working arrangements balancing remote work with designated 'boost days' in modern office spaces, enabling collaboration while maintaining work-life flexibility.

  • Xero Perks Program

    Access to comprehensive employee benefits platform including discounts, wellness programs, and lifestyle benefits curated to support employee wellbeing.

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Application Screening

    Initial application review using AI-assisted screening tools that evaluate job-related qualifications and relevant experience. All candidates advance to human review before hiring decisions are made.

  2. 02

    Recruiter Phone Screening

    Conversation with a Xero recruiter to discuss your background, the role expectations, career goals, and cultural fit. This is an opportunity to ask questions about the team, company, and position.

  3. 03

    Technical Leadership Assessment

    Conversation with current or peer engineering leaders at Xero exploring your technical decision-making, architecture philosophy, team leadership approach, and experience managing complex technical challenges.

  4. 04

    Management and Execution Interview

    Discussion focused on your approach to team development, delivery predictability, cross-functional collaboration, and how you balance velocity with technical excellence. May include scenario-based questions.

  5. 05

    Executive Alignment Conversation

    Final stage interview with engineering leadership or executive stakeholder to discuss strategic alignment, organizational impact, and long-term vision for the team and engineering organization.

  6. 06

    Offer and Reference Checks

    Upon successful completion of interviews, references are contacted to validate experience and leadership effectiveness before final offer is extended.

Full posting

Original listing.

The Role

The role / impact

As an Engineering Manager, you will drive the delivery of high-quality software by leading high-performing, inclusive teams. You won’t just manage the work; you will act as a technical anchor, maintaining an informed opinion on system health and code quality while ensuring your team’s roadmap is delivered predictably.

Your impact is defined by a delicate balance of driving product delivery velocity and upholding operational excellence. You will guide your team to hone their engineering craft, championing AI-native workflows and resolving complex technical challenges to deliver outcomes that align with business and customer goals.

The team / how they connect

You will lead a coordinated team where building trust through transparency and seeking diverse perspectives are core to how we work. By collaborating closely with cross-functional partners in Product and Design, you will resolve dependencies early and ensure your engineers have a sustainable environment to do their best work.

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

  • Championing AI Engineering by encouraging the team to inject AI across the entire SDLC to drive efficiency gains.

  • Driving high engineering throughput through strong architecture, code quality, and decoupling legacy systems.

  • Elevating the Developer Experience by identifying and removing the "complexity tax," such as toil and brittle environments.

  • Scaling system health and visibility to ensure product status and technical debt are actionable and discoverable.

You can find out more about the different engineering teams we hire for at Xero here.

Where and how you can work

This role is based in Vancouver, offering a hybrid working model that balances local team presence with a global scope of work. You will have the flexibility to work from home while connecting with your colleagues in our modern office spaces during designated boost days.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

  • You bring a proven track record of delivering software roadmaps in agile environments while managing complex dependencies.

  • A deep understanding of software architecture and the ability to guide teams through technical modernisation is something you possess.

  • You have a passion for providing high support through coaching, mentoring, and advocating for the career progression of your engineers.

  • Your approach to leadership involves making fast, decentralised decisions and empowering your team to take ownership.

  • You possess the ability to lead through influence, building strong partnerships across Product and Design to align on shared goals.

  • A bias for action is part of your DNA, allowing you to proactively redirect focus when work isn't moving the needle on business outcomes.

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. We are also tech stack agnostic, so please apply if you've worked with adjacent technologies.

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 $188,000 - $236,000 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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