# Lead Engineer
**Company:** [Xero](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/xero)
As a Lead Engineer at Xero, you'll drive AI transformation and technical excellence across a global accounting software platform. You'll lead a high-performing engineering team through agentic AI integration into development workflows and customer-facing products, balancing hands-on technical execution with strategic leadership while modernizing legacy systems in C# and .NET environments. This role offers the opportunity to influence technical strategy, mentor engineers, and build scalable distributed systems at a scale impacting millions of small businesses worldwide.
**Role:** Engineering Manager
**Seniority:** Lead
**Locations:** AU: Melbourne: (260 Burwood Rd)
**Salary:** 160000–220000 AUD
[Apply](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/976e7e1d-2d13-48d6-be07-8dd143290959)
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/jobs/xero/lead-engineer-976e7e1d
---
## Responsibilities

- Drive AI and Modernization Initiatives: Lead technical design and implementation of agentic AI systems integrated into both internal development workflows and customer-facing products. Balance legacy code modernization in C# and .NET environments with cutting-edge AI integration, establishing best practices for LLM and autonomous AI agent deployment across the platform.
- Guide System Architecture and Technical Design: Design and simplify complex distributed system architectures for scalability. Make pragmatic technical trade-off decisions, establish architectural patterns that support the AI transformation roadmap, and ensure systems remain resilient while handling rapid evolution.
- Champion Engineering Excellence and Quality: Establish and enforce modern quality assurance strategies, comprehensive testing frameworks, and code review standards. Optimize CI/CD deployment pipelines, reduce deployment friction, and implement monitoring solutions that maintain system resilience across millions of concurrent users.
- Lead Incident Management and Reliability: Participate in on-call rotations, lead incident response efforts for production issues, and facilitate thorough post-mortems. Recognize failure patterns, implement preventative measures, and build a culture of reliability awareness across the engineering team.
- Mentor and Develop Engineering Talent: Actively coach and mentor engineers at all levels, establishing a psychologically safe and inclusive team environment. Facilitate continuous learning opportunities, conduct technical interviews, and develop career growth plans that build team capability and technical depth.
- Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration: Build strong relationships with product, design, operations, and other engineering teams. Break down operational silos, influence technical roadmaps across the organization, and ensure alignment between engineering decisions and broader business goals.
- Establish Technical Vision and Strategy: Define multi-quarter engineering roadmaps, set team technical objectives aligned with company goals, and communicate clear rationales for technology choices. Balance strategic initiatives with tactical execution, ensuring team velocity doesn't compromise long-term system health.

## Requirements

### education

- {"name":"Computer Science or Related Field (Optional)","description":"A formal Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related degree is not mandatory. Xero prioritizes real-world hands-on experience, demonstrated technical mastery, and proven ability to solve complex engineering problems over formal credentials."}

### technical

- {"name":"Advanced C# and .NET Proficiency","description":"Deep expertise in C# and .NET ecosystems with proven ability to architect and implement scalable backend systems. Experience with modern .NET practices including async/await patterns, dependency injection, and Entity Framework. Alternatively, mastery of similar object-oriented languages like Java with demonstrated ability to quickly adapt to .NET environments."}
- {"name":"Distributed Systems and Cloud Architecture","description":"Hands-on experience designing, building, and operating distributed systems at scale. Proficiency with cloud platforms such as AWS, with knowledge of microservices patterns, eventual consistency models, event-driven architectures, and horizontal scaling strategies."}
- {"name":"AI and LLM Integration","description":"Practical experience leveraging AI tools, large language models (LLMs), and agentic AI systems. Understanding of prompt engineering, vector databases, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and autonomous agent frameworks. Demonstrated ability to evaluate and integrate AI capabilities into existing systems responsibly."}
- {"name":"Modern Frontend Development","description":"Solid understanding of React-based frontend development, component architecture, and state management patterns. Ability to collaborate effectively with frontend engineers and make informed architectural decisions affecting customer-facing user experiences."}
- {"name":"DevOps and CI/CD Mastery","description":"Expertise in continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines, infrastructure-as-code practices, containerization technologies, and automated testing frameworks. Experience optimizing deployment velocity while maintaining reliability and observability."}
- {"name":"System Resilience and Observability","description":"Deep knowledge of monitoring, logging, and tracing systems in production environments. Experience implementing alerting strategies, building dashboards for system health, and designing for graceful degradation and circuit-breaker patterns."}

### experience

- {"name":"Technical Leadership at Scale","description":"Minimum 5-7 years of progressive engineering experience with at least 2-3 years in a formal or informal technical leadership capacity. Track record of successfully mentoring engineers, making high-impact architectural decisions, and delivering complex multi-quarter initiatives."}
- {"name":"Legacy System Modernization","description":"Demonstrated experience navigating and modernizing complex legacy codebases while maintaining business continuity. Success in balancing pragmatic refactoring with new feature delivery in regulated or high-availability environments."}
- {"name":"High-Velocity Technical Environments","description":"Background working in fast-paced technical sectors such as fintech, banking, SaaS, or consulting. Proven ability to deliver under tight timelines, handle complex technical challenges, and adapt to rapidly evolving business requirements."}
- {"name":"Cross-Functional Influence","description":"Experience collaborating effectively with product, design, operations, and other technical teams. Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions, communicate trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders, and break down organizational silos."}
- {"name":"Incident Response and Reliability Culture","description":"Hands-on experience with production incidents, on-call rotations, and post-mortem facilitation. Track record of building reliable systems and fostering blameless post-mortem cultures that drive continuous improvement."}

## Skills

### required

- {"name":"C# and .NET Development","description":"Professional proficiency in C# with deep understanding of .NET runtime, memory management, and ecosystem tooling. Ability to architect and review production systems."}
- {"name":"Distributed Systems Design","description":"Understanding of eventual consistency, CAP theorem, distributed consensus, and patterns for building highly available systems across geographic regions."}
- {"name":"Technical Leadership and Mentorship","description":"Ability to guide engineers through complex technical decisions, provide constructive feedback, and foster a learning-oriented team culture with psychological safety."}
- {"name":"Architecture and System Design","description":"Capability to design scalable systems considering performance, reliability, security, and operational complexity. Strong communication of architectural rationales and trade-offs."}
- {"name":"Cloud Platform Operations","description":"Hands-on experience with AWS or equivalent cloud providers, including infrastructure provisioning, networking, security, and cost optimization."}
- {"name":"Problem-Solving and Pragmatism","description":"Adaptable thinking and resourcefulness in solving complex technical challenges. Ability to balance perfectionism with pragmatic delivery of business value."}

### preferred

- {"name":"Agentic AI and Autonomous Systems","description":"Experience building or integrating autonomous AI agents, multi-step reasoning systems, or AI-powered workflows. Familiarity with frameworks for managing agent behavior and output reliability."}
- {"name":"React Frontend Architecture","description":"Hands-on experience with React, component design patterns, state management, and ability to make informed full-stack architectural decisions affecting frontend performance and user experience."}
- {"name":"SaaS and B2B Platform Experience","description":"Background building multi-tenant SaaS platforms serving millions of users, with understanding of scalability, security, and compliance considerations in B2B contexts."}
- {"name":"Fintech, Accounting, or Regulated Industry Experience","description":"Prior experience in highly regulated sectors including financial services, accounting software, or compliance-heavy industries. Understanding of audit trails, data integrity requirements, and compliance frameworks."}
- {"name":"AI Engineering and LLM Operations","description":"Practical experience with prompt engineering, vector search implementation, fine-tuning strategies, or operational considerations of LLM-powered systems in production environments."}
- {"name":"Testing Automation and Quality Practices","description":"Expertise in comprehensive testing strategies including unit testing, integration testing, contract testing, and chaos engineering. Leadership in establishing quality culture and reducing deployment risk."}
- {"name":"Open Source Contribution","description":"Active engagement in open-source projects demonstrating ability to write quality code, collaborate remotely, and contribute to larger technical communities."}

## Tech stack

### tools

- {"name":"AWS (Amazon Web Services)","description":"Primary cloud platform. Proficiency in EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, VPC, and infrastructure-as-code tools essential for designing scalable distributed systems."}
- {"name":"Git and GitHub/GitLab","description":"Version control and collaboration. Deep understanding of branching strategies, code review workflows, and CI/CD integration essential for engineering leadership."}
- {"name":"CI/CD Platforms (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)","description":"Automation and deployment orchestration. Experience designing and optimizing CI/CD pipelines for speed, reliability, and observability."}
- {"name":"Docker and Kubernetes","description":"Containerization and orchestration technologies. Familiarity with containerizing .NET applications, managing deployments, and scaling services."}
- {"name":"Monitoring and Observability (DataDog, Prometheus, ELK Stack)","description":"Production monitoring, logging, and distributed tracing. Ability to instrument systems for visibility and create actionable alerts."}

### others

- {"name":"LLM and AI Integration Platforms","description":"OpenAI APIs, LangChain, vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate), or similar tools for integrating agentic AI capabilities into applications."}
- {"name":"Agile and Scrum Methodologies","description":"Experience leading engineering teams using agile practices, sprint planning, and iterative delivery while maintaining technical standards."}
- {"name":"Incident Management Tools","description":"PagerDuty, Opsgenie, or similar platforms for on-call management, incident routing, and post-mortem tracking."}
- {"name":"Test Automation Frameworks","description":"xUnit, NUnit, Moq, and testing libraries. Expertise in unit testing, mocking, and test-driven development practices for reliability."}

### databases

- {"name":"SQL Server","description":"Primary relational database at Xero. Experience optimizing queries, managing transactions, and ensuring data integrity in large-scale financial systems."}
- {"name":"PostgreSQL","description":"Alternative relational database with growing adoption. Knowledge of advanced features and performance optimization beneficial."}
- {"name":"Redis","description":"In-memory caching layer for performance optimization. Experience implementing distributed caching strategies and session management."}

### languages

- {"name":"C#","description":"Core backend language at Xero. Deep expertise in C# syntax, runtime behavior, async patterns, and modern language features required for architectural leadership."}
- {"name":"JavaScript/TypeScript","description":"Frontend language for React-based customer-facing products. Understanding necessary for full-stack architectural decisions and mentoring frontend engineers."}
- {"name":"Python","description":"Increasingly used for AI/ML integration, data processing, and scripting. Helpful for leading agentic AI initiatives and data engineering efforts."}

### frameworks

- {"name":".NET Core and .NET Framework","description":"Primary backend framework for Xero platform. Leadership experience with modern .NET Core patterns, Entity Framework, and middleware architecture essential."}
- {"name":"React","description":"Frontend framework for customer-facing UI. Understanding of component lifecycle, hooks, state management, and performance optimization necessary for full-stack leadership."}
- {"name":"ASP.NET Core","description":"Web framework for building RESTful APIs and web services. Experience with middleware, dependency injection, and authentication/authorization patterns required."}

## Benefits

### benefits

- {"name":"Flexible Hybrid Work Model","description":"Balance between remote work and in-person collaboration at Xero offices in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. Work autonomously from home while maintaining team connection through regular in-office days tailored to your team's needs."}
- {"name":"Professional Development and Learning","description":"Access to continuous learning resources, technical training budgets, conference attendance opportunities, and mentorship from senior leadership. Support for skill development in emerging technologies including AI and cloud architecture."}
- {"name":"Inclusive and Psychologically Safe Culture","description":"Work environment that prioritizes psychological safety, welcomes diverse perspectives, and encourages respectful challenge. Commitment to creating space for personal wellbeing alongside professional growth."}
- {"name":"Global Impact and Scale","description":"Lead technical initiatives that directly impact millions of small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers worldwide. Influence product strategy and engineering practices across a global fintech platform trusted by major enterprise customers."}
- {"name":"Competitive Compensation Package","description":"Comprehensive total rewards including base salary, performance-based bonus, and equity participation in Xero's publicly listed company. Package reflects market rates for senior technical leadership roles in Australia."}
- {"name":"Health and Wellbeing Support","description":"Comprehensive health insurance coverage, mental health and wellness programs, fitness benefits, and employee assistance programs supporting overall wellbeing."}
- {"name":"Collaborative Engineering Culture","description":"Work alongside talented engineers across distributed teams with transparent communication and collaborative decision-making. Influence technical direction and build systems with significant technical complexity."}

## Compensation

- **max:** 220000
- **min:** 160000
- **currency:** AUD
- **stockOptions:** true

## Interview process

### steps

## Full description
At Xero, our purpose is to make running a business beautiful. By delivering smart, efficient tools to millions of small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers worldwide, we empower communities and help build a stronger global economy.

As a **Lead Engineer**, you will model the standard for engineering excellence at Xero. You will balance hands-on technical execution with strategic engineering leadership—guiding technical design, mentoring a high-performing team, and delivering multi-quarter product and platform goals.

This is a unique opportunity to lead a team through a significant **AI transformation**. You will lead the charge in harnessing **agentic AI** to optimize software development workflows while embedding intelligent, agentic features directly into our customer-facing products.

### **What You’ll Do**

* **Drive AI & Modernization Initiatives:** Lead technical design and implementation, balancing legacy code modernization (C# / .NET, React) with cutting-edge agentic AI integration across internal workflows and customer features.
* **Hands-on Technical Leadership:** Guide system architecture, simplify complex technical designs, and write clean, scalable, maintainable code.
* **Elevate Engineering Excellence:** Identify technical blockers, champion modern quality and testing strategies, optimize CI/CD deployment pipelines, and maintain system resilience.
* **Incident Management & Reliability:** Recognise failure patterns, participate in the team on-call roster, lead incident responses, and facilitate post-mortems.
* **Mentor & Lift Team Capability:** Actively coach and mentor engineers, establishing a psychologically safe, inclusive, and high-performing culture focused on continuous learning.
* **Cross-Functional Collaboration & Strategy:** Build strong cross-functional relationships, break down operational silos, and influence technical roadmaps to achieve wider organizational goals.

### **What You’ll Bring**

We value problem-solving ability, adaptable thinking, and hands-on capability over rigid formal checklists.

* **Technical Expertise:** Strong background in C# and .NET environments is preferred (or expertise in similar OO languages like Java with a language-agnostic mindset and quick adaptability).
* **Distributed Architecture & Scale:** Proven experience designing, building, and maintaining scalable distributed systems and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS).
* **AI Enthusiast / Forward-Thinker:** Genuine interest or hands-on experience in leveraging AI tools, LLMs, or agentic AI systems to transform engineering workflows and user experiences.
* **Diverse Environmental Exposure:** Experience navigating complex codebases, legacy modernization, or fast-paced technical environments (e.g., consulting, fintech, banking, SaaS, or regulated sectors).
* **Pragmatic Leadership:** A track record of coaching engineers, managing technical trade-offs, and resolving complex technical challenges with clear communication.
* Note: A formal Computer Science degree is **not mandatory**—we prioritize real-world experience, skills, and impact.

### **Where & How You'll Work**

We offer a flexible **hybrid working model** designed to balance autonomy, focus, and connection. You can split your time between working remotely from home and collaborating in-person with your team at our vibrant offices in **Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane**.

### **Why Join Xero?**

At Xero, we live by our core values:

* **We make it beautiful:** Create experiences that customers love.
* **We make it happen:** Move fast on the right things and value progress over perfection.
* **We make it human:** Care personally, challenge respectfully, and prioritize wellbeing.
* **We make it together:** Collaborate transparently to build trust and achieve shared goals.

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