Business Operations Manager

Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive.

At Xero, our purpose is to make life better for people in small business, their advisors, and communities around the world. This purpose sits at the centre of everything we do. We support our people to do the best work of their lives so that they can help small businesses succeed through better tools, information and connections. Because when they succeed they make a difference, and when millions of small businesses are making a difference, the world is a more beautiful place.

**How you’ll make an impact**

You will be part of the nervous system which links our large and geographically distributed teams together. You will take Xero to the next level by helping to design, implement and optimise the way that we plan and operate within Product & Technology at Xero. You will make an impact by supporting Xero to deliver value to our customers and users by supporting Product & Technology teams to better measure and prioritise the performance of their investments, increasing the speed and effectiveness of delivery.

**What you’ll do**

The Business Operations Manager role will be expected to be flexible in operating either within the central planning team or aligned with specific areas of the Product & Technology business.

**Aligned with specific areas of the business - “Business Unit COO”**
- The role will align closely with divisions or functions across Product & Technology to build expertise and trust within specific parts of our Product or Technology business, acting as a ‘business unit COO’. As a member of relevant product or technology leadership teams you will be a critical execution partner to the GMs and EGMs, shaping and influencing key business process activities.
- Work with leaders and key stakeholders to set OKRs that are measurable and align to Xero’s long term strategy and short term needs
- Ensure accuracy of roadmapping and planning artefacts
- Implement key planning activities to ensure we have the right resources in the right places in each portfolio, align this to our overall resourcing / budgeting / hiring plans, providing business case support where needed
- Be an evangelist for planning at Xero to ensure buy-in across product and technology - supporting an effective and efficient Xero planning process
- Help facilitate and guide divisions to effectively measure and report on the value of our investments, working closely with Insights & Analytics and the relevant finance business partner
- Deliver reporting into the operational cadence of the division/function to drive accountability (team meetings, QBRs, board packs etc)
- Provide strategic analysis and interpretation of divisional analytics to support commercially sound decision making, identifying growth opportunities where appropriate
- Take leadership in connecting commercial return from Xero’s product and technology investments into the regional GTM plans, working continuously to improve the regional interlocks
- Support teams to more effectively forecast returns from planned investments, alongside the relevant finance business partner
- Ensure forecasts are accurately reflected in Xero’s long term planning mechanisms
- Be flexible and nimble in your ability to support projects/areas of focus outside your dedicated portfolio as required by the team

**Supporting the central planning and commercial operations team**
- The role will be part of a ‘central’ team of operations professionals with complete oversight across what Product & Technology is focused on at any point in time, helping define good process and playing a critical role in rolling out planning.
- Support the design and implementation of the systems and processes to ensure this plays out across all Divisions and Domains, balancing the benefits of consistency with the operating nuances of different divisions and/or functions
- Ensure we have best-in-class tools, systems, and artefacts to run efficient roadmapping and planning across Product & Technology
- Coordinate the planning and execution of key cross-portfolio Product initiatives
- Lead the central analysis of planning data, seeking insights as to how teams can operate more effectively, disseminating data back to product and technology teams as well as upward to SLT and XLT to support more effective capital allocation decisions
- Work closely with Product Insights & Analytics and finance to ensure they efficiently contribute to the planning process at Xero
- Define and recommend ‘what good looks like’ in terms of the operational cadence that our product division and tech domains should aspire to operate by (team meetings, QBRs etc)

**What you’ll bring with you**

**Experience**
- Minimum 6+ years in operations or strategy roles, with technology sector experience preferred
- Strong understanding of technology products and the product development process
- Prov