Principal Engineer (API Platform)

Xero3 days ago

Location

CAN: VAN (333 Seymour St)

Type

Full Time

Salary

CAD 227,600 – 284,600

Level

Principal

Role

Principal Engineer

Posted

Jun 26, 2026

Full TimePrincipal

The role

Summary

Principal Engineer at Xero's Product Platform team, responsible for designing and stewarding the long-term technical vision of Xero's API platform that serves external partners, internal product teams, and AI-driven automation workflows. This senior individual contributor and technical leadership role sits at the intersection of platform engineering and AI, shaping how millions of small businesses experience Xero's accounting capabilities through a coherent, well-designed API layer and developer platform built on modern technologies like C#, Go, and Java.

What you'll do

Define & Drive Technical Vision: Establish and execute the long-term technical strategy for Xero's API platform, determining how accounting capabilities are exposed to external partners and internal product teams while balancing developer experience with platform stability and scalability.

API Design & Platform Architecture: Design and evolve external-facing APIs and SDKs with attention to lifecycle practices including versioning, deprecation, backward compatibility, and strong typing to ensure stable contracts and coherent interfaces.

AI & Agentic Architecture Integration: Guide API and event design decisions that support AI-driven automation and autonomous agents accessing Xero's financial workflows, ensuring safety, reliability, and model quality for LLM-powered features.

Event-Driven Architecture Leadership: Lead design and implementation of event-driven systems including webhooks, message queues, pub/sub patterns, and idempotent consumer strategies that prioritize failure recovery and distributed system resilience.

Cross-Team Technical Leadership: Shape technical direction across Xero's broader engineering community by facilitating design reviews, conducting RFC processes, and aligning multiple stakeholders (product management, AI/ML teams, developer relations, engineering squads) on platform strategy.

Platform Developer Experience: Deliver and steward the developer platform providing seamless integration from domain models to running APIs with CI/CD and production runtime support, consolidating technical stack through Supergraph model adoption.

Legacy System Modernization: Drive legacy burndown initiatives replacing expensive back-channel endpoints with coherent, strongly-typed interfaces and stable API contracts to improve maintainability and developer productivity.

Engineering Mentorship & Community Building: Coach individual engineers and build communities of practice around platform and API design thinking, growing engineering capability across teams and establishing technical excellence standards.

What we look for

Technical

Backend/Platform Engineering at ScaleDeep background designing and operating backend systems in multi-tenant SaaS or distributed systems environments with demonstrated experience managing systems serving millions of users or transactions.

Modern Programming LanguagesStrong proficiency in C#, Go, Java, or similar modern languages used in production platform engineering with capability to evaluate and guide technology choices across teams.

External-Facing API DesignProven track record designing, evolving, and maintaining public-facing APIs and SDKs with expertise in versioning strategies, deprecation policies, and backward compatibility management.

Event-Driven ArchitectureDemonstrated experience with webhooks, message queues, pub/sub patterns, and building idempotent consumer systems that handle distributed system failures and guarantee reliable event processing.

gRPC & Graph TechnologiesFamiliarity with gRPC frameworks and graph technologies for building scalable APIs and data access patterns across microservices.

API Versioning & Lifecycle ManagementExpertise in managing API evolution including versioning schemes, graceful deprecation, contract stability, and client migration strategies.

LLM & Agentic System ArchitectureExposure to LLM-powered products, agentic architectures, or AI-driven automation with understanding of API design implications for model safety, reliability, and governance.

Distributed Systems PatternsDeep understanding of distributed systems design patterns including consensus, eventual consistency, failure recovery, and observability for complex backend infrastructure.

Education

Computer Science or Related FieldDegree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating deep technical foundation in distributed systems and software architecture.

Experience

Complex Cross-Team Technical Initiative LeadershipTrack record leading major technical initiatives spanning multiple teams with ability to shape technical strategy, facilitate collaborative design decisions, and align diverse stakeholders without losing execution momentum.

API Platform EvolutionExperience growing or refactoring API platforms to improve developer experience, consistency, and scalability while managing backward compatibility and migration of existing consumers.

Multi-Tenant ArchitectureBackground building or maintaining multi-tenant SaaS systems with understanding of isolation, resource management, and operational complexity at scale.

Developer Advocacy & Community BuildingDemonstrated ability to mentor engineers, build developer communities, establish best practices, and advocate for developer experience improvements across organizations.

AI/ML Product DevelopmentExperience collaborating on AI or ML-powered product features with understanding of how infrastructure and API decisions impact model quality and safety.

Skills

Required skills

API Design & ArchitectureExpert-level capability in designing scalable, maintainable APIs with strong understanding of REST, gRPC, and other API paradigms with deep knowledge of versioning and deprecation strategies.

Backend Engineering LeadershipSenior-level backend engineering expertise with ability to architect systems, mentor engineers, and drive technical decisions across large-scale distributed platforms.

C#, Go, or JavaProduction-grade proficiency in at least one of these modern backend languages with ability to evaluate trade-offs between technology choices.

Event-Driven System DesignDeep expertise building event-driven architectures including messaging systems, pub/sub patterns, webhooks, and asynchronous communication patterns at scale.

Developer Experience MindsetGenuine commitment to understanding and improving the developer experience of API consumers with ability to balance internal constraints with external developer needs.

Technical Strategy & LeadershipAbility to articulate technical vision, facilitate design reviews, lead RFC processes, and align multiple stakeholders on technical direction.

Distributed Systems ThinkingStrong conceptual understanding of distributed systems including consensus, consistency models, failure modes, and recovery patterns.

Cross-Functional CollaborationTrack record working effectively across product management, ML/AI teams, and engineering squads to drive coherent platform strategy.

Nice to have

gRPC & GraphQL ExperienceExperience with gRPC frameworks or graph query technologies for building modern, scalable API layers and federation patterns.

LLM & Agent ArchitectureFamiliarity with large language models, autonomous agents, and AI safety considerations in designing APIs for AI-powered workflows.

Multi-Tenant SaaS at ScaleBackground operating multi-tenant platforms serving millions of users with deep understanding of isolation, resource management, and operational complexity.

Open Source Community ContributionExperience contributing to or maintaining open source projects, particularly in APIs, platform technologies, or developer tools.

Financial Software DomainPrior experience in fintech, accounting software, or financial services providing domain context for understanding accounting workflows and compliance requirements.

CI/CD & DevOps PracticesSolid understanding of continuous integration and deployment practices, infrastructure as code, and production operations for platform services.

API Gateway & Management ToolsExperience with API gateway solutions, developer portal platforms, and API management tools for monitoring and governance.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

CAD 227,600 – 284,600 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Performance Incentives

Eligible for annual bonus programs and performance-based cash incentives tied to company performance and individual role level.

Equity Compensation

Participate in equity (RSU) programs and performance-based equity incentives depending on role level and company performance metrics.

Comprehensive Health & Wellness

World-class health, wellness, and retirement programs including medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Wellbeing Days

Dedicated paid days for personal wellness and mental health focused on employee wellbeing.

Generous Leave Policies

Competitive paid time off and leave benefits to support work-life balance and personal commitments.

Professional Development Budget

Dedicated annual budget for training, certifications, conferences, and continuous learning opportunities.

Xero Perks

Comprehensive benefits package including exclusive discounts, wellness programs, and employee recognition initiatives.

Interview process

1
Initial Screening & Application Review — Human recruiter reviews application and qualifications. Xero uses AI-assisted screening to support initial filtering, but all candidates are reviewed by human recruiters before any hiring decisions are made.
2
Recruiter Phone Screen — Initial conversation with recruiter to discuss background, role expectations, compensation alignment, location preferences, and overall fit with the Principal Engineer position at Xero.
3
Technical Leadership Interview — Detailed technical conversation with engineering leadership covering API design philosophy, experience with distributed systems, approach to technical decision-making, and vision for platform evolution.
4
Architecture & Strategy Discussion — In-depth discussion with platform team leads exploring your approach to designing systems that balance developer experience with operational complexity, handling legacy modernization, and driving cross-team technical alignment.
5
AI/LLM & Product Impact Interview — Conversation exploring your understanding of agentic architectures, AI safety considerations, and how API design decisions impact model reliability and financial workflow automation.
6
Cross-Functional Stakeholder Interview — Meetings with product managers, developer relations, and other engineering teams to assess collaboration skills, ability to align stakeholders, and vision for supporting diverse internal and external audiences.
7
Team Fit & Values Discussion — Final conversation exploring mentorship philosophy, approach to growing engineering teams, commitment to developer experience, and cultural fit with Xero's engineering values.