# Principal Engineer - Reporting & Insights
**Company:** [Xero](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/xero)
Principal Engineer leading Xero's Reporting & Insights platform through a multi-year technical transformation to support agentic AI, financial accuracy, and high-throughput distributed systems. This role requires setting 3-year architecture strategy across reporting products serving millions of small businesses, evolving correctness-critical systems without breaking trust, and building foundations for AI-native financial insights at scale. Lead a newly formed Vancouver engineering team while collaborating with cross-functional leaders and platform teams.
**Role:** Principal Engineer
**Seniority:** Principal
**Locations:** US: Washington Remote Worker
**Salary:** 287000–320000 USD
[Apply](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/76f6f6b9-a821-4ea8-a776-7bec15991324)
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/jobs/xero/principal-engineer-reporting-insights
---
## Responsibilities

- Define Multi-Year Technical Architecture: Establish a 3-year technical strategy and target architecture across Reporting & Insights that consolidates modern services and legacy systems. Design for high throughput, low latency, and resilience to scale with Xero's largest and most complex customers while modernizing the data platform foundation.
- Lead System Evolution with Data Integrity: Direct the evolution of data foundations supporting approximately 150 financial reports across team and organizational boundaries. Ensure correctness-first approach where accountants file tax returns from these numbers, maintaining customer trust while implementing architectural improvements sequentially.
- Architect AI-Native Reporting Platform: Define foundational capabilities for AI-native reporting and insights, including safe agent-based queries on financial data, grounded and explainable answers that reconcile to the ledger, and production-ready correctness verification at scale. Establish frameworks that enable cross-Xero teams to build AI-integrated financial products.
- Build and Mentor Engineering Leadership: Hire and develop the first Reporting & Insights engineers in the Vancouver office, growing Lead and Senior Engineers into expanded roles. Raise the technical bar across the group through mentorship, code review, and collaborative problem-solving on foundational challenges.
- Drive Cross-Functional Alignment: Own the senior technical voice for Reporting & Insights, making architectural decisions that cross team and domain boundaries. Shape the roadmap with the General Manager and Product leadership, allocate investment in foundational capabilities, and align distributed teams behind unified technical direction.
- Execute Hands-On Technical Leadership: Remain deeply hands-on with reference implementations, foundational frameworks, and the highest-impact architecture problems. Contribute direct technical work on critical systems while maintaining strategic oversight of the broader platform evolution.
- Enable Organizational Learning and Communication: Translate complex technical strategy into clear, actionable decisions through clear written communication. Foster a culture of pragmatic execution that delivers incremental value while advancing long-term architectural goals.

## Requirements

### education

- {"name":"Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Related Field","description":"Formal education in computer science, software engineering, mathematics, or equivalent field providing foundational knowledge in algorithms, data structures, and system design principles."}

### technical

- {"name":"Distributed Systems Architecture & High-Throughput Design","description":"Deep expertise in architecting high-throughput, low-latency, resilient distributed systems with proven experience at scale. Must demonstrate understanding of data flow optimization, system resilience patterns, failover strategies, and performance engineering in correctness-critical environments."}
- {"name":"Large-Scale System Evolution & Refactoring","description":"Extensive track record leading the evolution of large, high-traffic systems across organizational boundaries without breaking existing functionality. Experience managing technical debt, planning phased migrations, and maintaining backward compatibility during major platform transitions."}
- {"name":"Data Platform & Analytics Architecture","description":"Advanced understanding of data platform design, analytics query optimization, and reporting infrastructure. Experience with modern data warehousing concepts, data pipeline orchestration, and ensuring data consistency and correctness across distributed systems."}
- {"name":"AI/LLM Integration & Agent Architecture","description":"Proven ability to connect external technology shifts to product and architecture strategy. Demonstrated expertise understanding where LLMs and AI agents belong in a system, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), prompt engineering considerations, and grounding AI responses to authoritative data sources."}
- {"name":"Financial Domain & Correctness-Critical Systems","description":"Experience building systems where accuracy is non-negotiable and audit trails are essential. Understanding of financial reporting requirements, reconciliation patterns, and how to maintain data integrity while evolving systems that support critical business decisions."}

### experience

- {"name":"3+ Years Setting Technical Strategy at Principal Level","description":"Demonstrated ability to set technical strategy for a domain or product portfolio across a 2-3 year horizon and successfully align multiple distributed teams behind that vision. Evidence of influencing roadmap decisions and securing organizational investment for architectural initiatives."}
- {"name":"Large-Scale System Leadership in Mission-Critical Context","description":"Led the evolution of large, high-traffic, correctness-critical systems where failures have significant business impact. Experience managing technical decisions that affect millions of users and coordinating changes across multiple teams and organizational domains."}
- {"name":"Technical Leadership & Engineering Management","description":"Proven track record mentoring Lead and Senior Engineers into progressively larger roles. Experience building high-performing technical teams, conducting effective code reviews, and establishing engineering standards that raise the technical bar across organizations."}
- {"name":"Cloud-Scale Systems & Modern Architecture Patterns","description":"Hands-on experience with cloud-native architectures, microservices patterns, and modern distributed system design. Ability to balance architectural purity with pragmatic delivery, making appropriate technology choices based on business context."}

## Skills

### required

- {"name":"Strategic Architecture & Roadmapping","description":"Ability to define multi-year technical vision, evaluate architectural tradeoffs, and create phased execution plans that deliver incremental value while advancing long-term goals."}
- {"name":"Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence","description":"Strong capability to influence without direct authority, align teams across organizational boundaries, and drive consensus on complex technical decisions in matrix environments."}
- {"name":"Distributed Systems Design","description":"Expert-level understanding of consistency models, replication strategies, failure modes, and performance optimization in distributed computing environments."}
- {"name":"Data Integrity & Correctness Verification","description":"Expertise ensuring accuracy in systems where mistakes have significant consequences, including audit logging, reconciliation patterns, and correctness validation at scale."}
- {"name":"AI/LLM Systems Architecture","description":"Understanding of how to safely integrate AI and language models into production systems, including grounding answers to authoritative data, preventing hallucinations, and maintaining explainability."}
- {"name":"Technical Communication & Documentation","description":"Exceptional ability to write and communicate complex technical strategies in clear, actionable language that enables engineers and product teams to execute effectively."}
- {"name":"Hands-On Technical Execution","description":"Continued ability to contribute directly to code, architecture design, and problem-solving on critical technical challenges while maintaining strategic oversight."}

### preferred

- {"name":"Financial Services & Accounting Domain Experience","description":"Background in fintech, accounting software, or financial systems providing understanding of regulatory requirements, reporting standards, and business-critical accuracy expectations."}
- {"name":"Production LLM & Agent Implementation","description":"Direct production experience building systems with large language models and AI agents, including handling edge cases, performance optimization, and user experience considerations."}
- {"name":".NET & C# Proficiency","description":"Strong expertise with .NET and C# ecosystems, understanding of async patterns, performance tuning, and integration with modern cloud platforms."}
- {"name":"AWS Cloud Architecture","description":"Deep experience architecting and operating systems on Amazon Web Services, including understanding of managed services, cost optimization, and multi-region considerations."}
- {"name":"Community Presence & Thought Leadership","description":"Active participation in the wider tech community through technical conference talks, published writing, open-source contributions, or industry recognition, demonstrating commitment to continuous learning and knowledge sharing."}
- {"name":"Analytics & Data Warehouse Platforms","description":"Experience with modern data warehouse solutions, BI tools, and analytics query optimization in large-scale environments."}

## Tech stack

### tools

- {"name":"AWS Services","description":"Cloud infrastructure, including compute (EC2, Lambda), storage (S3), databases (RDS), and managed services for operating Xero's reporting platform at scale."}
- {"name":"Kubernetes & Container Orchestration","description":"Container-based deployment and orchestration for managing microservices workloads in production environments."}
- {"name":"Monitoring & Observability Platforms","description":"Tools for distributed tracing, metrics collection, and logging in complex systems to ensure visibility into reporting pipeline health and performance."}
- {"name":"CI/CD Pipelines","description":"Continuous integration and deployment infrastructure enabling rapid, safe iteration on reporting and insights features."}

### others

- {"name":"Large Language Models (LLMs) & AI Frameworks","description":"OpenAI, Anthropic, or other LLM providers and frameworks for integrating AI-native query capabilities into financial reporting and insights."}
- {"name":"Agent-Based AI Systems","description":"Agentic architectures and frameworks for building AI systems that can safely query financial data and provide grounded, explainable insights."}
- {"name":"Data Governance & Compliance Frameworks","description":"Understanding of data governance, audit trails, compliance requirements, and correctness verification in regulated financial systems."}

### databases

- {"name":"SQL Server","description":"Xero's primary transactional database for financial data storage, requiring expertise in query optimization, indexing strategies, and ensuring ACID compliance for correctness-critical operations."}
- {"name":"Data Warehousing Solutions","description":"Understanding of analytical databases, dimensional modeling, and reporting-specific database design patterns that differ from transactional systems."}
- {"name":"Redis / Caching Layers","description":"In-memory caching for high-throughput scenarios, reducing latency for frequently accessed financial metrics and reporting data."}

### languages

- {"name":".NET / C#","description":"Primary backend technology platform at Xero. Deep understanding of modern .NET, async/await patterns, and C# language features for building scalable financial systems."}
- {"name":"SQL","description":"Essential for designing efficient data queries, understanding query performance optimization, and working with financial data warehouses and reporting databases."}
- {"name":"Python","description":"Useful for data analysis, AI/ML integration, and scripting within analytics and reporting pipelines."}

### frameworks

- {"name":"ASP.NET Core","description":"Modern web framework for building scalable APIs and services that power Xero's reporting and insights platform."}
- {"name":"Event-Driven Architecture Patterns","description":"Event sourcing, CQRS, and message-driven systems for handling high-throughput financial data updates and maintaining consistency across microservices."}
- {"name":"Microservices Architecture","description":"Designing and operating distributed microservices systems that balance scalability, resilience, and operational complexity at Xero's scale."}

## Benefits

### benefits

- {"name":"Comprehensive Health Coverage","description":"Medical, dental, and vision insurance providing comprehensive healthcare coverage for you and your family."}
- {"name":"Retirement Planning","description":"401(k) matching program to help you save for retirement with employer contribution."}
- {"name":"Generous Paid Time Off","description":"21 days of Paid Time Off plus 10 days of Wellbeing leave, 5 days of Xtra Leave, 1 volunteer day, and 12 paid holidays for work-life balance and community involvement."}
- {"name":"Parental Leave","description":"Paid parental leave supporting new parents returning to work."}
- {"name":"Hybrid Work Flexibility","description":"Flexible hybrid work arrangement blending remote work with in-office collaboration through designated boost days in modern office spaces."}
- {"name":"Equity Participation","description":"Eligible to participate in company RSU (Restricted Stock Unit) programs, aligning your financial success with company growth."}
- {"name":"Performance-Based Incentives","description":"Annual bonus and performance-based cash or equity incentives depending on role level and company performance."}

## Compensation

- **max:** 320000
- **min:** 287000
- **currency:** USD
- **stockOptions:** true

## Interview process

### steps

- {"name":"Talent Specialist Phone Screen","description":"45-minute initial conversation with your Talent Specialist to discuss your background, career motivations, understanding of the role, and alignment with Xero's culture. Focus is on learning your story and assessing cultural fit before technical evaluation."}
- {"name":"Technical Assessment Suite","description":"Two-part technical evaluation through a third-party independent provider based on real-world scenarios: (1) Coding assessment testing implementation skills and problem-solving ability, (2) Systems design assessment evaluating architectural thinking and ability to design scalable, resilient systems."}
- {"name":"Technical Deep Dive Interview","description":"45-60 minute conversation with a Principal Engineer and the hiring team. You'll walk through a significant past project you led, covering your strategic thinking, execution approach, how you handled complexity, team leadership, and key decisions. Focus is on understanding your technical depth and leadership approach."}
- {"name":"Values & AI Fluency Assessment","description":"45-minute interview evaluating how you demonstrate Xero's core values including adaptability, ownership, customer thinking, and AI fluency in your day-to-day work. Assesses your ability to thrive in Xero's culture and contribute to the organization's future-proof capabilities."}
- {"name":"Leadership Principles Interview","description":"45-60 minute conversation focused on LEADership—real examples of how you lead, influence, and deliver results in ambiguous, fast-changing environments. Evaluated against Xero's specific leadership principles for Principal-level contributors."}

## Full description
## **About the Role**

Millions of small businesses and their advisors use Xero reports and insights to decide what to do next. AI is changing how people understand their finances faster than any shift since the cloud, and Reporting & Insights is where Xero meets that change. Over the next few years we’re evolving reporting and insights for the agentic era, where customers ask an AI about their numbers as often as they open a Balance Sheet. As the senior technical leader for Reporting & Insights, you’ll set the multi-year technical direction, from the reports businesses file to the insights that tell them what to do next. You’ll also help hire the first Reporting & Insights engineers in Vancouver and decide how they work.

## **The Technical Challenges**

**Set a 3-year architecture across Reporting & Insights.** Reporting and Xero Analytics run on a mix of modern services and systems that have grown with Xero over many years. You’ll define one target state across both, decide how they build on Xero’s data platform, and secure the investment to get there. You’ll design for high throughput, low latency and resilience, so reporting and insights scale with Xero’s largest and most complex customers.

**Evolve the platform without breaking trust.** Accountants file tax returns from these numbers, so correctness comes first. You’ll lead the evolution of the data foundations behind about 150 reports, sequenced across teams and organisational boundaries. Customers keep the numbers they trust, on foundations built for what comes next.

**Make reporting and insights AI-native.** AI changes what reporting and insights can be: answers to plain-language questions, insights that reach customers where they work, and analysis that once took an accountant hours. Every answer still has to reconcile to the ledger. You’ll define the foundations: how agents query financial data safely, how answers stay grounded and explainable, and how we prove correctness at scale. We want teams across Xero to build on what you create.

## **Impact**

In your **first six months** you’ll own the Reporting & Insights architecture and set a direction for the data platform and the evolution of both products that engineering, Product and leadership back.

**At twelve months you will have:**

* Set a multi-year technical strategy for Reporting & Insights
* Delivered new foundations for the first major report families, setting Reporting & Insights up for its next phase of growth
* Opened Reporting & Insights to bigger businesses, with performance that scales to our largest customers
* Put shared foundations for AI-native reporting and insights into production
* Grown the Lead and Senior Engineers around you and raised the technical bar across the group

Beyond year one, you’ll shape where Reporting & Insights goes next, and help steer Xero’s wider data and AI direction alongside the leadership team.

## **Ownership**

You’re the senior technical voice for Reporting & Insights. You own the multi-year technical strategy and target architecture, and you make the calls that cross team and domain boundaries. You shape the roadmap with the GM and Product, decide where we invest in foundational capabilities, and align teams across regions behind one direction. You stay hands-on where it counts: reference implementations, foundational frameworks and the hardest architecture problems

## **Who You’ll Work With**

You’ll report to the GM of Engineering. You’ll partner with the engineering managers and teams across Reporting & Insights, who know these products and their data in depth. You’ll shape the product and AI roadmap with the Reporting & Insights Product leads. You’ll also work with Principal Engineers and platform teams across Xero, including the accounting core and data platform teams that own systems we depend on.

## **What You Bring**

**Must-have:**

* You’ve set technical strategy for a domain or portfolio over a 2 to 3 year horizon, and aligned multiple teams behind it.
* You’ve led the evolution of a large, high-traffic, correctness-critical system across organisational boundaries.
* You have depth in high-throughput, low-latency, resilient distributed systems and data-heavy architecture, and you still contribute hands-on where it matters.
* You connect external shifts, AI above all, to product and architecture strategy, and you know where LLMs and agents belong in a system.
* You grow leaders. You’ve mentored Lead and Senior Engineers into bigger roles, and your writing turns complex direction into decisions people act on.

**Nice to have:**

* Financial, reporting or analytics domain experience
* LLM or agent-based features in production
* .NET and AWS
* A presence in the wider tech community through talks, writing or open source

## **How We Work**

We’re bold in our vision and pragmatic in execution, delivering useful improvements along the way rather than waiting for a large rewrite. We invest in AI to learn faster and focus effort on higher-value problems, while engineers stay accountable for what they ship. We use shared frameworks to avoid reinvention, leaving teams room to innovate. Engineers own their work, including quality, reliability, and on-call. Leaders set context and priorities, and engineers help shape the solutions.

## **Where We Work**

We offer a hybrid model that blends the flexibility of working from home with the collaboration of the office, including designated boost days in our modern office spaces. **This role is open to hybrid candidates in Vancouver, British Columbia, or San Mateo, California.** We also welcome applications from candidates across Canada interested in relocating to Vancouver, and from remote candidates in Seattle, Washington.

## **Our Hiring Process**

1. **TX phone screen** (45 minutes): a conversation with your Talent Specialist about your background, motivations and the role.
2. **Technical assessments:** a coding assessment and a systems design assessment, run through an independent third-party provider and based on real-world scenarios.
3. **Technical deep dive** (45–60 minutes): with a Principal Engineer and the hiring team. You'll walk through a past project you led, covering how you thought about it, executed it and led through its complexity.
4. **Values / Future Proof Xero** (45 minutes): how you show up day to day, aligned with Xero's values and capabilities such as adaptability, ownership, customer thinking and AI fluency.
5. **LEADership** (45–60 minutes): real examples of how you lead, influence and deliver in ambiguous, fast-changing environments, assessed against Xero's leadership principles

## 

## **Compensation & Total Rewards**

At Xero, we value the impact and skills you bring to the team. We don’t just hire for a role; we invest in people. We believe in a Total Package philosophy - which means your value isn't just a single number on a paycheque. While base salary is a core component, we look at your compensation through a holistic lens that includes equity, performance incentives, and world-class benefits.

The expected base salary range for this role in:

* Washington, WA & San Mateo, CA: **$287,000 - $320,000 USD**

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:** Medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, and 21 days PTO, 10 days of Wellbeing leave, 5 days of Xtra Leave, 1 volunteer day, 12 paid holidays, paid parental leave. Further information included on our[ **Xero Perks**](https://careers.xero.com/inside-xero/benefits-wellbeing/) page

_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._