Lead Engineer, Xero Ecosystem

At Xero, we're here to help you supercharge your business by automating routine tasks, surfacing actionable insights and connecting businesses with the right data, advisors and apps. We're building a stronger economy by helping small businesses thrive.

The Ecosystem is a central part of Xero's success, connecting millions of users to a global network of app partners. The engineering function within the Ecosystem is comprised of four teams, each with about six engineers, working on a shared mission. We're accelerating our pace and fostering a culture of innovation and agility as we build powerful new features for our platform.

As a Lead Engineer, you will be embedded within one of these teams and also be a key member of the technical leadership group that collaborates across the entire Ecosystem. You'll drive initiatives within your team and influence the technical direction across all four teams.

We own the Xero App Store, empower thousands of developers through our developer portal, and are pursuing embedded applications, a brand new Xero MCP server, and AI agent integrations. This is your chance to bring your drive and agility to shape major initiatives, take ownership, and help us move faster.

This isn't just a leadership role; you're a builder at heart. As a Lead Engineer, you'll be at the center of our most ambitious projects. We need a leader who can drive technical strategy, write code, and accelerate the entire team. You'll have the freedom to make key architectural decisions and the support to see them through to production. If you thrive on turning big ideas into reality and want to ship products that millions will use, this is the role for you.

This is a hands-on role where you will not only lead and mentor but also contribute to the codebase, tackle complex technical challenges, and champion a culture of speed and engineering excellence.

Please note: This is a senior Individual Contributor (IC) role focused on technical leadership, mentorship, and driving key initiatives. This role does not have people management responsibilities, which distinguishes it from our Team Lead role.

• Lead from the front: Provide hands-on technical leadership and mentorship, fostering a culture of high-velocity, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Be a hands-on coder: Actively write code and contribute to the codebase, tackling our most complex technical challenges.
• Drive our technical direction: In collaboration with other lead engineers and our principal engineer, shape the architecture and define the long-term technical vision for our most critical and innovative projects.
• Raise the bar: Champion high standards for code quality through thoughtful PR reviews, and by improving our testing, CI/CD, and security practices.

• A strong capability for technical leadership and full-stack engineering, with the ability to guide complex software projects from concept to launch.
• Proficiency in modern web technologies. Our stack is primarily C# on the backend and TypeScript/React on the frontend. More than specific tool experience, we value your strong engineering fundamentals and your drive to master new technologies as they emerge.
• Deep capability in cloud architecture and system design, with the ability to build and operate scalable, resilient microservices-based systems on AWS.
• A bias for action and a result-oriented approach. You excel at balancing technical investment with product priorities to deliver impactful outcomes, fast.
• A passion for multiplying your impact. You're a coach and a mentor who knows that your success is measured by the team's success. You clear roadblocks and empower other engineers to build amazing things.
• An obsession with improvement. You constantly seek out and champion new tools and approaches—like AI-powered coding—to make the whole team more productive.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

We offer generous paid leave, dedicated time off for wellbeing and family, and an Employee Assistance Program for mental health care. Health insurance, life insurance, and income protection are provided. We also offer wellbeing and sports programmes, employee resource groups, 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, an Employee Share Plan, flexible working, career development, and other benefits that reflect our human value.

You'll do the best work of your life at Xero