Senior Engineer

Xero5 days ago

Location

CAN: VAN (333 Seymour St)

Type

Full Time

Salary

CAD 155,000 – 205,000

Level

Senior

Role

Senior Engineer

Posted

Jul 9, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

Senior Engineer at Xero is a strategic technical leadership role focused on architecting and refactoring distributed systems at scale while mentoring engineers across a modern tech stack. This position offers the opportunity to influence engineering standards, design high-availability solutions for millions of global users, and drive modernization initiatives including monolithic system decomposition and CI/CD maturation within a collaborative, agile environment.

What you'll do

Distributed Systems Architecture: Design and refactor complex monolithic systems into scalable, distributed architectures that serve millions of global users. Lead architectural decisions for high-availability and fault-tolerant environments, ensuring platform reliability and performance at scale.

Code Design Leadership: Make major code design decisions and establish technical standards across the engineering organization. Contribute to global engineering frameworks and standards, setting the bar for technical excellence and code quality across teams.

Technical Mentorship: Coach and mentor junior and mid-level engineers through complex technical challenges, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical mastery. Conduct code reviews, lead knowledge-sharing sessions, and act as a role model for engineering best practices.

CI/CD and Developer Experience: Enhance developer experience through maturation of continuous integration and continuous deployment practices. Improve tooling, testing infrastructure, and delivery pipelines to accelerate development velocity while maintaining code quality.

Technical Solution Design: Develop and implement technical solution designs aligned with long-term engineering frameworks and business objectives. Participate in strategic technical planning and contribute to architectural decisions that impact the platform's future direction.

Engineering Practices Implementation: Drive adoption of modern engineering practices including test-driven development, automated testing, and agile delivery methodologies. Champion refactoring initiatives and technical debt reduction to improve system maintainability and reliability.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with engineers, product owners, and designers in an agile environment. Participate in delivery practices and contribute to meaningful technical solutions that align with product roadmaps and business outcomes.

What we look for

Technical

Distributed Systems & High-Availability ArchitectureProven experience designing, implementing, and operating complex, large-scale distributed systems in high-availability environments. Deep understanding of distributed computing principles, fault tolerance, scalability patterns, and system reliability.

Full-Stack Development ProficiencyStrong experience delivering production-quality software across multiple programming languages, frameworks, and technology stacks. Demonstrated ability to rapidly ramp up and contribute effectively with adjacent technologies.

Modern Engineering PracticesHands-on expertise with automated testing, test-driven development (TDD), continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and agile delivery methodologies. Experience refactoring legacy systems and improving engineering workflows.

System Design & ArchitectureAbility to lead technical solution design processes and make major architectural decisions. Experience designing high-quality, maintainable software systems that balance immediate business needs with long-term engineering excellence.

Cloud & Container TechnologiesPractical experience with cloud platforms (AWS) and container orchestration (Kubernetes). Understanding of microservices architecture, infrastructure as code, and modern deployment strategies.

Code Quality & Best PracticesStrong commitment to technical excellence, code quality standards, and refactoring practices. Experience with code review processes, establishing technical standards, and maintaining clean architecture principles.

Education

Bachelor's Degree or EquivalentComputer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating mastery of fundamental computer science principles and software development practices.

Experience

Senior-Level Software Engineering ExperienceMinimum 5-7+ years of professional software development experience with proven track record of delivering complex, production-grade systems. Demonstrated progression into senior technical roles with scope and impact.

Large-Scale Systems DeliverySubstantial experience building and operating systems at scale, serving millions of users or handling significant transaction volumes. Exposure to the complexities of distributed systems, performance optimization, and reliability engineering.

Technical Leadership & MentorshipDemonstrated ability to mentor and coach other engineers, guide technical decisions, and influence engineering practices within teams. Experience contributing to technical strategy and architectural evolution.

Monolithic to Distributed MigrationExperience refactoring or migrating legacy monolithic systems into modern, distributed architectures. Understanding of the trade-offs, challenges, and best practices involved in system modernization.

Skills

Required skills

C#/.NETStrong proficiency in C# and the .NET framework for backend system development, microservices architecture, and enterprise-scale application development.

AWS (Amazon Web Services)Hands-on expertise with AWS services including compute, storage, databases, networking, and monitoring. Experience designing cloud-native architectures and infrastructure automation.

KubernetesProduction experience with Kubernetes for container orchestration, including deployment, scaling, networking, and operational management of containerized applications.

ReactProficiency in React for building modern, scalable frontend applications. Understanding of component architecture, state management, and integration with backend services.

Distributed Systems DesignDeep knowledge of distributed computing concepts including consistency models, fault tolerance, data replication, and eventual consistency patterns. Ability to design systems that operate reliably at scale.

Test-Driven Development (TDD)Expertise in test-driven development practices, writing comprehensive unit and integration tests, and maintaining high code coverage. Experience with automated testing frameworks and strategies.

CI/CD Pipeline DevelopmentHands-on experience building and maintaining continuous integration and deployment pipelines using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or similar platforms for automated testing and deployment.

Agile Development MethodologiesPractical experience working within agile teams using Scrum or Kanban frameworks, sprint planning, daily standups, and iterative delivery practices.

Nice to have

Monolithic System RefactoringExperience decomposing monolithic applications into microservices or distributed components, including strategies for gradual migration, service boundaries, and maintaining backward compatibility.

Performance OptimizationExperience profiling, analyzing, and optimizing system performance at scale. Knowledge of caching strategies, database optimization, and distributed tracing tools.

Database ArchitectureUnderstanding of both relational and NoSQL databases, database design patterns, sharding, replication, and optimization techniques for large-scale applications.

System Reliability Engineering (SRE)Familiarity with SRE principles, including incident management, observability, monitoring, alerting, and maintaining service level objectives (SLOs).

Infrastructure as CodeExperience with tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or Helm for automating infrastructure provisioning and configuration management in cloud environments.

Message Queuing & Event StreamingExperience with asynchronous communication patterns using message queues (RabbitMQ, SQS) or event streaming platforms (Kafka) for decoupling system components.

Technical Documentation & Knowledge SharingExperience creating comprehensive technical documentation, architecture decision records (ADRs), and leading technical discussions to foster organizational learning.

Accounting Domain KnowledgeFamiliarity with accounting software, financial systems, compliance requirements, or fintech industry experience. Understanding of accounting principles and regulatory considerations is beneficial.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

CAD 155,000 – 205,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Interview process

1
Initial Screening & Application Review — Xero's recruiting team reviews your application, resume, and portfolio to assess alignment with senior engineering requirements, technical background, and relevant experience with distributed systems and leadership.
2
Technical Screening Interview — Conversation with an engineering leader or technical hiring manager covering your experience with large-scale systems, architectural decisions, technology choices, and approach to technical challenges. Discussion of your mentorship philosophy and code quality standards.
3
System Design Interview — Deep-dive technical interview focused on your ability to architect scalable, distributed systems. You'll be asked to design solutions for handling scale, reliability, and performance while explaining trade-offs and decision-making process.
4
Technical Problem-Solving Session — Hands-on coding exercise or technical challenge demonstrating proficiency with core technologies (C#/.NET, distributed systems concepts). Assessment of code quality, testing approach, and ability to communicate technical reasoning.
5
Team & Culture Fit Interview — Meeting with team members, engineering manager, or director to assess collaboration style, mentorship approach, communication skills, and alignment with Xero's engineering culture and values.
6
Leadership & Mentorship Discussion — Conversation focusing on your experience mentoring engineers, contributing to technical standards, and influencing team practices. Discussion of your approach to technical decision-making and knowledge sharing.
7
Executive or Final Round Interview — Potential final discussion with senior engineering leadership covering strategic technical vision, long-term career goals, and how you'll contribute to Xero's platform evolution and engineering excellence.