At Xero, we’re here to supercharge small businesses. By making small businesses more efficient every day, connecting them with big business technology and empowering a community behind them, their potential is limitless. When that happens, we’re not only helping small businesses, we’ll be building a stronger economy that can change the world.
The Role & ImpactThe Product Platform Engineering organisation sits at the heart of our tech strategy sits at the heart of Xero, building the shared platforms, APIs and core capabilities that power our customer-facing products. From Accounting Core, Bank Feeds and billing to ecosystem integrations, inventory and US products, the team is modernising critical technology and making it easier for product teams to move quickly, work independently and deliver trusted experiences for small businesses around the world
We’re at an exciting crossroads where we have a chance to rethink this core system to provide the efficiency and scalability needed by the business going into the next decade. We can leverage the latest in agentic tooling with a strong focus on great APIs to accelerate our ability to change while still preserving the core business logic that makes Xero unique.
As Senior Principal Engineer you will be operating at the highest level of technical leadership within Xero and reporting to the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Product Platforms. You will shape the long-term technical direction and architecture across the entire organisation, leading large-scale architectural initiatives, navigating industry paradigm shifts such as AI-native engineering at scale, and establishing the principles and frameworks that guide technical decision-making across Xero.
The Product Platforms team serves as the technical backbone for product engineering across Xero. Working alongside senior leaders, domain architects, and cross-functional teams, they focus on establishing unified platform standards and clear architectural pathways. Collaboration is built on high-speed feedback loops, transparent communication, and collective ownership to ensure developer autonomy while maintaining strong guardrails.
Initially, the role will focus on
Modernizing Core Architecture and decoupling Xero’s tightly bound core accounting monolith, extracting product-specific business logic, and establishing a unified, resilient API and middleware surface layer.
Taking an active, highly complex, mission-critical foundation and systematically reshaping it for higher throughput, extreme reliability, and long-term scalability without risking customer data integrity.
Driving architectural strategy starting with the invoicing workflow vertical slice, before expanding across Bank Feeds, Product Packaging & Subscriptions (PP&S), and core platform data flows.
Establishing the technical foundations, principles, and safety guardrails required to support safe agentic development, autonomous operations, and AI-native engineering workflows across all of Xero.
Defining company-wide engineering practices, architectural standards, and high-speed feedback loops that maximize developer autonomy while maintaining systemic guardrails.
Proven track record operating at the highest levels of technical authority, shaping long-term strategy, and influencing technical direction across large engineering organizations (1,000+ engineers).
Deep experience evolving massive, business-critical legacy architectures into modern, decoupled product platforms, unified API layers (e.g., GraphQL/REST), and distributed microservices.
Exceptional ability to align senior stakeholders, C-suite executives, and cross-functional VP leadership around bold architectural bets using clear technical vision, strategic diplomacy, and inspirational storytelling.
Passion for building first-class APIs, shared libraries, and platform capabilities that abstract deep domain complexity for internal engineering customers while upholding strict data integrity standards.
Demonstrated vision in preparing platform architecture for AI-native engineering, automated software delivery, and advanced reliability paradigms at global scale.
This position offers a flexible hybrid working model, balancing the autonomy of remote work with purposeful, collaborative time spent in our modern office spaces. You will participate in regular boost days designed to bring teams together for strategic alignment, creative brainstorming, and connection. Specific location arrangements and remote options can be discussed based on your region.
Skills Required
- Proven track record operating at highest technical authority and shaping long-term strategy across large engineering organizations (1,000+ engineers).
- Deep experience migrating massive legacy architectures into decoupled product platforms and unified API layers (GraphQL/REST) and distributed microservices.
- Demonstrated ability to modernize core accounting or similarly mission-critical systems without compromising data integrity.
- Experience defining company-wide engineering practices, architectural standards, and platform capabilities (shared libraries, middleware).
- Proven ability to align C-suite and senior leadership around large architectural initiatives using strategic communication and stakeholder management.
- Vision and experience preparing platform architecture for AI-native engineering, automated software delivery, and advanced reliability at global scale.
Xero Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — The U.S. package lists 21 days of annual leave, 10 days of wellbeing leave, five “Xtra” days, three year‑end company holidays, and a paid volunteer day. Global materials also point to 20+ days of annual leave and additional wellbeing time across regions, indicating broad coverage beyond the U.S.
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Parental & Family Support — Primary caregivers can receive up to 26 weeks of fully paid parental leave, with six weeks of paid partner leave. Family‑forming benefits (e.g., Carrot) and counseling/coaching access for employees and immediate family further strengthen support.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical (Cigna and Kaiser options), dental (Cigna PPO), and vision (VSP) are complemented by life, AD&D, and short/long‑term disability coverage. Modern Health mental‑health support and a funded ThrivePass wellbeing account add depth to the health offering.
Xero Insights
What We Do
Xero is small business accounting software that provides a platform on which businesses can build a fully integrated solution. It’s designed to make life better for people in small business, their advisors, and communities around the world. Xero minimises tedious admin by automating routine tasks, delivers valuable insights when needed, and brings together business data, trusted advisors, and powerful apps in one intuitive platform. By alleviating pain points, Xero empowers small business owners to supercharge their business, simplifying the complex and freeing up time from manual admin so they can focus on what really matters to build the business they’ve always envisaged.
Why Work With Us
Xero is a human-centric organization where you’ll have a tangible impact on the success of small businesses and their communities, globally. Our team of energised, forward-thinkers work to make life better for our customers and each other every day. We’re also always committed to supporting you with a flexible environment.
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Xero Teams
Xero Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Join us from home or at one of our beautiful workspaces. Xero has offices in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Singapore, and South Africa.
