Head of Engineering

Xero1 weeks ago

Location

AU: Melbourne: (260 Burwood Rd)

Type

Full Time

Salary

NZD 180,000 – 260,000

Level

Director

Role

Engineering Manager

Posted

Jun 19, 2026

Full TimeDirector

The role

Summary

Head of Engineering at Xero is a strategic leadership role overseeing multiple engineering teams responsible for delivering high-quality cloud-based accounting software to hundreds of thousands of small business customers globally. This position requires a technically-grounded executive who combines deep software architecture expertise with strong people leadership capabilities, driving technical modernization initiatives including AI-first methodologies, microservices adoption, and operational excellence across enterprise-scale systems.

What you'll do

Multi-Team Leadership and Organizational Development: Lead and scale multiple engineering teams within your product portfolio, establishing high-performance team culture grounded in psychological safety, inclusion, and continuous learning. Develop and mentor engineering leaders, define hiring strategies, and raise the talent bar across the organization while fostering clear career progression pathways for engineers at all levels.

Technical Strategy and Architecture Governance: Maintain informed perspective on system health, code quality, and architectural decisions across the portfolio. Drive technical modernization initiatives including migration from monolithic architectures to decoupled microservices, API-first integration patterns, and cloud-native design principles. Own technical debt management at scale and establish engineering excellence standards across teams.

AI-First Product Innovation and Delivery: Champion responsible AI architecture adoption and AI-powered workflow implementation to unlock productivity gains and accelerate time-to-value for small business customers. Drive product delivery velocity while ensuring AI initiatives maintain high reliability, security, and ethical standards aligned with Xero's customer-obsessed principles.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Alignment: Partner strategically with Product and Design leadership to balance customer needs, business objectives, and technical capabilities across the engineering portfolio. Navigate complex cross-departmental challenges, simplify organizational barriers, and establish clarity on enterprise-wide goals through proactive stakeholder management.

Program Execution and Risk Management: Execute complex, cross-team programs of work with clear accountability frameworks, proactive risk identification, and consistent delivery of reliable results. Lead technical programs spanning multiple teams with transparent communication on progress, dependencies, and impediments to senior leadership and stakeholders.

Operational Excellence and Production Reliability: Drive strong ownership of production service quality, focusing on system reliability, observability, and continuous improvement. Establish monitoring, alerting, and incident response standards ensuring services meet SLA commitments for hundreds of thousands of concurrent small business users globally.

What we look for

Technical

Software Architecture and Design at ScaleDeep understanding of distributed systems architecture, microservices patterns, API design, system scaling challenges, and trade-offs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Demonstrated experience architecting solutions for high-concurrency, multi-tenant SaaS platforms serving enterprise or mid-market customers.

Cloud Infrastructure and Modern DevOps PracticesStrong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipeline design, infrastructure-as-code principles, and observability/monitoring strategies. Understanding of scaling patterns, cost optimization, and disaster recovery strategies for mission-critical systems.

Technical Debt and Performance OptimizationProven ability to identify, prioritize, and systematically reduce technical debt without sacrificing feature velocity. Experience with performance profiling, optimization techniques, refactoring large codebases, and making data-driven decisions on modernization investments.

Security and Compliance GovernanceWorking knowledge of security best practices, data protection regulations (GDPR, SOC 2), secure coding principles, and compliance frameworks relevant to financial software. Ability to embed security considerations into architectural decisions and team practices.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or Related FieldFormal education in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent practical experience demonstrating mastery of computer science fundamentals including data structures, algorithms, and systems design.

Experience

Engineering Leadership (5-7 Years Minimum)Proven track record managing and developing multiple engineering teams with varying technical specializations. Demonstrated success hiring, onboarding, and scaling engineering talent. Experience establishing team processes, mentoring engineers toward senior/staff roles, and building inclusive team cultures with high psychological safety.

Large-Scale Product DevelopmentBackground delivering products to hundreds of thousands of concurrent users with uptime/reliability requirements. Experience in SaaS, fintech, or enterprise software environments where system reliability directly impacts business outcomes. Exposure to complex product roadmaps, multi-quarter planning, and cross-team dependencies.

Technical Modernization Program LeadershipTrack record leading significant technical transformation initiatives (e.g., monolith-to-microservices migrations, cloud platform migrations, architectural refactoring). Experience managing technical debt reduction programs while maintaining feature delivery velocity and team morale through change.

Cross-Functional Stakeholder ManagementDemonstrated ability collaborating effectively with Product Management, Design, Operations, and Finance stakeholders. Experience navigating competing priorities, building consensus across functional teams, and communicating technical context to non-technical audiences in accessible ways.

Skills

Required skills

People Leadership and Emotional IntelligenceHigh emotional quotient (EQ) with self-awareness, empathy, and interpersonal effectiveness. Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, motivate diverse teams, navigate conflict constructively, and foster inclusive, psychologically safe team environments where people do their best work.

Strategic Thinking and Decision-MakingAbility to translate complex business and technical challenges into actionable strategies. Strong bias for action combined with sound judgment to make high-quality decisions with incomplete information. Capability to think systems-level across organizational structures and technical architecture.

Technical CommunicationAbility to articulate sophisticated technical concepts to diverse audiences (engineers, product managers, executives). Skilled at writing clear technical documentation, architecture decision records (ADRs), and communicating trade-offs that inform strategic decisions.

Team Development and HiringProven expertise in recruiting senior engineering talent, conducting effective technical interviews, and onboarding new team members. Ability to identify high-potential engineers and create growth opportunities aligned with individual career aspirations and organizational needs.

Operational Excellence and AccountabilityCommitment to raising operational standards, establishing clear KPIs and ownership models, and driving continuous improvement through data-driven methodologies. Experience implementing OKR frameworks, performance monitoring dashboards, and incident post-mortems to drive learning.

AI/ML Literacy and Responsible AI LeadershipUnderstanding of AI/ML capabilities, limitations, and ethical considerations in enterprise software contexts. Ability to evaluate AI-powered solutions, establish guardrails for responsible AI deployment, and guide teams in leveraging AI to enhance product capabilities without compromising quality or introducing bias.

Nice to have

Financial Services or Accounting Software ExperienceBackground in fintech, accounting software, or regulated financial platforms provides valuable context for understanding Xero's customer base and domain-specific challenges around data accuracy, audit trails, regulatory compliance, and multi-jurisdiction support.

Experience with Distributed Systems at ScaleDeep hands-on or architectural experience with large-scale distributed systems, event-driven architectures, stream processing, or real-time data pipelines. Familiarity with challenges specific to multi-tenant SaaS platforms serving global customer bases.

Startup or Scaling Environment ExperienceBackground growing engineering organizations from early stage through rapid scaling phases. Experience establishing engineering processes, cultural foundations, and operational practices during periods of high organizational change and ambiguity.

Open Source Contribution or Community InvolvementActive participation in open source projects, technical speaking engagements, or professional community leadership. Demonstrates commitment to engineering excellence and passion for advancing the broader software engineering industry.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

NZD 180,000 – 260,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Hybrid Work Arrangement

Flexible hybrid working environment combining remote work flexibility with scheduled 'boost days' for in-office collaboration at Xero's modern office spaces. This arrangement supports work-life balance while fostering team connection, alignment on strategic priorities, and creative collaboration on complex technical challenges.

Equity Participation

As a senior leadership role, this position includes stock options or equity participation in Xero's publicly-traded company. This aligns leadership compensation with long-term company success and provides wealth-building opportunities tied to organizational performance.

Competitive Retirement and Savings Plans

Access to employer-matched retirement savings programs, KiwiSaver contributions (for New Zealand-based employees), and comprehensive financial planning resources supporting long-term wealth management for senior executives and their families.

Comprehensive Health and Wellness Benefits

Inclusive health coverage including medical, dental, and vision insurance. Access to employee wellness programs, mental health support services, fitness subsidies, and preventative health screenings supporting holistic employee wellbeing.

Professional Development and Learning

Generous annual learning budget for conferences, courses, certifications, and executive coaching. Access to leadership development programs, mentorship networks, and opportunities to participate in industry thought leadership activities.

Parental Leave and Family Support

Competitive parental leave policies for birth and adoption, partner/spouse leave, and family-friendly policies. Flexible scheduling and support for balancing career progression with family responsibilities.

Inclusive and Diversity-Focused Culture

Xero commits to building and maintaining an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and all employees can thrive. Active employee resource groups, diversity initiatives, and accountability for inclusive hiring and promotion practices.

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