Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Mid · Full Time · Remote

NZ: Remote Worker · RemoteNZD 100k – 140k1mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

Xero seeks a Software Engineer to join the Practice Tools division, a core team serving accountants and bookkeepers through robust, scalable platform development. This role emphasizes modernizing legacy systems using C# and React, with direct impact on the onboarding lifecycle and infrastructure resilience. You will collaborate with product and engineering leadership to deliver quality-first solutions that automate manual processes and accelerate value delivery across the platform.

Responsibilities

  • Sprint Development & Feature Delivery: Contribute to sprint cycles and build scalable software solutions utilizing C# and React, delivering features that directly serve accountants and bookkeepers. Participate in estimation, planning, and iterative development processes with the Practice Tools team.
  • Legacy System Modernization: Refactor and modernize legacy codebases using pattern-based architecture, micro-frontend events, and architectural accelerators. Transform inherited systems into maintainable, performant solutions aligned with current engineering best practices.
  • Production Support & On-Call Response: Join the team's on-call roster, familiarizing yourself with system components to confidently handle production incidents and interrupts. Participate in incident responses, triaging development issues, and ensuring platform resilience during critical situations.
  • Infrastructure & Full-Stack Debugging: Debug and troubleshoot across the complete technology stack, including frontend, backend, cloud infrastructure, and deployment pipelines. Collaborate with infrastructure and platform teams to maintain system reliability and performance.
  • Code Quality & Collaborative Development: Participate actively in code reviews, maintaining a quality-first mindset through test-driven development and trunk-based development practices. Share technical knowledge with the team and contribute to establishing engineering standards and best practices.
  • AI-Assisted Development & Tooling: Leverage modern development tools including GitHub Copilot, Cloud Code, and emerging AI agents to enhance coding productivity and efficiency. Stay current with engineering productivity innovations and integrate them into the development workflow.
  • Technical Problem-Solving & Design: Take high-level requirements, independently research architectural options, and deliver clear technical recommendations. Design robust, scalable applications that solve complex engineering problems while making data-driven decisions for feature releases.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with the Engineering Manager, Lead Engineer, and Product Manager daily to align technical delivery with product vision. Communicate technical concepts effectively, participate in design discussions, and ensure technical excellence across the Practice Tools platform.

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • C# and .NET Framework

    Proficiency building and maintaining backend services and APIs using C# and the .NET ecosystem. Experience with async/await patterns, dependency injection, and enterprise application architecture is highly valuable.

  • React JavaScript Framework

    Solid experience building interactive user interfaces and components using React. Familiarity with state management, hooks, and modern frontend development workflows is essential for the UI layer of this role.

  • Full-Stack Debugging & Troubleshooting

    Ability to debug across multiple layers of the technology stack, from frontend JavaScript to backend C# services to cloud infrastructure. Experience with debugging tools, log analysis, and root cause analysis is critical.

  • Cloud Infrastructure & Deployment

    Foundation in managing cloud resources, understanding deployment pipelines, and working with cloud platforms. Experience with containerization, orchestration, or infrastructure-as-code will strengthen your candidacy.

  • Test-Driven Development & Testing Practices

    Demonstrated experience with test-driven development methodologies, unit testing frameworks, and integration testing. Proficiency in writing maintainable test suites and ensuring code quality through automated testing.

  • Version Control & Trunk-Based Development

    Strong proficiency with Git and modern version control workflows, including trunk-based development, continuous integration, and code branching strategies. Experience with feature flags and continuous deployment practices is beneficial.

  • AI Development Tools & Assistants

    Comfort exploring and leveraging AI-powered development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cloud Code, Windsurf, or similar code assistants. Ability to evaluate and integrate new productivity tools into your development workflow.

Education

  • Computer Science or Software Engineering Degree

    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field. Equivalent demonstrated experience through work history is also valued, particularly for candidates with strong self-taught backgrounds.

  • Continuous Learning Commitment

    Demonstrated commitment to professional development through certifications, online courses, technical blogs, open-source contributions, or attendance at engineering conferences. Xero values engineers who invest in staying current with industry trends.

Experience

  • Production Software Development

    2-5 years of professional software engineering experience building and maintaining production systems. Experience working in agile team environments with established code review processes and continuous delivery practices.

  • Legacy System Modernization

    Experience refactoring, maintaining, or modernizing existing codebases. Familiarity with architectural patterns and approaches to gradually improving legacy systems without complete rewrites is valuable.

  • On-Call & Incident Response

    Experience participating in on-call rotations and handling production incidents. Comfort with production monitoring tools, alerting systems, and incident communication during critical situations.

  • Collaborative Team Development

    Track record of working effectively in cross-functional engineering teams with strong code review cultures. Experience engaging with product managers, engineering leadership, and domain experts to shape technical decisions.

Skills

Required

  • C# Backend Development

    Production-grade expertise building and maintaining C# and .NET services, APIs, and business logic layers for scalable applications.

  • React Frontend Development

    Professional experience building interactive React components, managing component state, and implementing responsive user interfaces for complex applications.

  • Full-Stack System Debugging

    Proficiency diagnosing and resolving issues across frontend, backend, and infrastructure layers using appropriate debugging tools and techniques.

  • Test-Driven Development

    Strong practice of writing unit tests before implementation, maintaining high code coverage, and ensuring application quality through automated testing strategies.

  • Technical Communication & Collaboration

    Clear articulation of technical concepts, active participation in code reviews, and ability to discuss architectural decisions with team members and stakeholders.

Preferred

  • Micro-Frontend Architecture

    Nice to have

    Experience implementing or working with micro-frontend patterns, event-driven communication between frontend modules, and federated component systems.

  • Cloud Infrastructure Management

    Nice to have

    Background deploying applications to cloud platforms, configuring infrastructure, managing deployments, or using infrastructure-as-code tooling.

  • GitHub Copilot & AI Development Tools

    Nice to have

    Hands-on experience leveraging GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cloud Code, or similar AI-assisted development tools to accelerate engineering productivity.

  • SaaS Platform Experience

    Nice to have

    Prior experience working on Software-as-a-Service platforms, particularly in fintech, accounting, or similar regulated industries with complex compliance requirements.

  • Agile & Lean Development Methodologies

    Nice to have

    Experience working in sprint-based environments with agile ceremonies, continuous integration/deployment pipelines, and data-driven release decisions.

  • Pattern-Based Architecture

    Nice to have

    Familiarity with architectural patterns such as CQRS, event sourcing, repository patterns, or domain-driven design applied to modernizing legacy systems.

Tech stack

Languages

C#JavaScript/TypeScriptSQL

Frameworks

.NETReact

Databases

Relational Databases

Tools

GitHubGitHub CopilotCloud CodeWindsurf

Other

Automated Testing & CI/CDCloud Platform InfrastructureIncident Response & MonitoringMicro-Frontend Architecture

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·NZD 100,000 – 140,000

Benefits

  • Flexible Work Arrangements

    Remote and hybrid work options based in New Zealand, providing flexibility to work from home while maintaining team connection and collaboration.

  • Work-Life Balance Support

    Autonomous work management structures and tools that support maintaining focus, managing workload, and achieving healthy work-life balance.

  • Professional Development

    Access to learning resources, training opportunities, and support for staying current with engineering technologies and industry best practices.

  • Collaborative Engineering Culture

    Team environment emphasizing constructive communication, knowledge sharing, code reviews, and technical excellence within the Practice Tools division.

  • Modern Development Tools & Infrastructure

    Access to contemporary development tools, AI-powered assistants, automated testing infrastructure, and cloud platforms for efficient, high-quality software development.

  • Inclusive Hiring Philosophy

    Xero hires based on skills, passion, and unique perspective; experience doesn't need to be a perfect match. Strong emphasis on bringing diverse viewpoints to enhance culture and team dynamics.

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Application Review

    Your resume, portfolio, and application answers will be reviewed against the role requirements. Xero evaluates skills, passion, and the perspective you bring rather than requiring perfect experience matches.

  2. 02

    Initial Screening Conversation

    A conversation with a member of the recruiting team to understand your background, motivations for joining Xero, and initial assessment of technical fit with the Practice Tools division.

  3. 03

    Technical Assessment or Code Interview

    Assessment of your proficiency with C#, React, or full-stack development. This may include live coding, technical problem-solving, or reviewing past project examples to evaluate your engineering approach.

  4. 04

    Engineering Team Interview

    Conversations with the Engineering Manager, Lead Engineer, and potentially other team members to assess collaboration style, problem-solving approach, and cultural fit within the team.

  5. 05

    Product & Cross-Functional Discussion

    Engagement with the Product Manager or cross-functional stakeholders to discuss how you approach product understanding, feature prioritization, and balancing technical excellence with business needs.

  6. 06

    Final Offer Stage

    Comprehensive discussion of compensation, benefits, work arrangements, and any final questions about the role, team structure, or organizational expectations.

Full posting

Original listing.

The role / impact

You will play a central role in creating and delivering beautiful software to our partners, accelerating value delivery across our products. By designing robust, scalable applications, you will help build software that solves engineering problems at scale and automates manual processes. You will make data-driven decisions to release improvements early, ensuring our platform provides seamless and quality-first experiences.

Your efforts will directly influence the modernization of systems critical to the onboarding lifecycle, ensuring internal and external tools remain resilient. By triaging development issues and proactively participating in incident responses, you will safeguard the infrastructure that allows businesses to operate without interruption.

The team & how they connect

As a core part of the Practice Tools division, this team functions as the heart of our platform for accountants and bookkeepers, managing practice provisioning, subscription setups, and lifecycles. You will collaborate closely each day with the Engineering Manager, Lead Engineer, and Product Manager to align technical delivery with product vision. Together, the team maintains an exceptional standard of technical excellence to ensure partners navigate their day-to-day operations seamlessly.

Initially, you will focus on

  • Contributing to sprint work and building software utilizing our core tech stack of .NET (C#) and React.

  • Familiarising yourself with our components to confidently join the team on-call roster and handle production interrupts.

  • Modernising legacy systems and codebases using pattern-based architecture, micro-frontend events, and accelerators.

  • Collaborating with engineering productivity tools, including automated testing setups and AI development agents like GitHub Copilot.

Where and how you can work

This can be a remote/ hybrid position based in New Zealand, offering you the flexibility to work from home while remaining connected to your team. You will have access to the necessary tools and support structures to ensure you can collaborate effectively, maintain focus, and manage your work-life balance autonomously.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

  • Proficient capabilities in software engineering using C#/.NET and React to design high-quality, scalable solutions.

  • A natural drive to independently take high-level instructions, research options, and deliver clear technical options.

  • Comfort exploring and utilising AI tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cloud Code, or Windsurf to enhance engineering efficiency.

  • A strong foundation in infrastructure support, including debugging across a full technology stack and managing cloud infrastructure.

  • Great collaborative communication skills, with a focus on constructive conversations, sharing knowledge, and participating in code reviews.

  • A quality-first mindset reflected in regular practice of test-driven and trunk-based development methods.

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

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