Lead Product Designer

Our Purpose 

At Xero, we're here to help you supercharge your business. We do this by automating routine tasks, surfacing actionable insights and connecting businesses with the right data, advisors and apps. When that happens, we're not only making life better for small business, we'll be building a stronger economy that can change the world.

About the role

As a Lead Product Designer, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the product strategy, vision and end-to-end experiences for your product area, driving meaningful outcomes for Xero and its customers. You'll be a trusted leader and influencer, guiding the evolution of Xero's products while fostering a culture of design excellence. Working on your own or mentoring others, you'll bring renewed focus on elevating and crafting world-class experiences and leading with vision across the organisation. Your expertise will drive measurable impact, contributing to Xero's success and reimagining the future of accounting software for small businesses and advisors.

This role is a permanent Individual Contributor (IC) role and will report into a Product Design Director. Please include a portfolio in your application to be considered for this position.

About the team

This role is in our Merchandising, Purchasing, and Subscription portfolio. The team is split into two streams: one focused on the front-door experience for new customers (evaluation, purchase, and onboarding) and another that helps existing customers and partners manage and upgrade their subscriptions. We help our small business customers and partners grow with Xero by making it easy to manage or upgrade their subscriptions, and empower them to select and provision plans for their clients.

• Design Excellence & Innovation: You'll drive design best practices and uphold our standards, creating high-quality, customer-centric experiences that achieve business goals. You'll also craft compelling product visions, tackle cross-portfolio design challenges, and foster a culture of collaboration and innovation.
• Strategic Research & Insights: In partnership with researchers and product managers, you'll lead advanced quantitative and qualitative research. You'll use these insights to make evidence-based design decisions and inform product direction.
• Project Leadership & Planning You will plan and lead complex initiatives across multiple teams and stakeholders. This includes building clear project plans, proactively identifying and mitigating risks, and adapting your approach to meet business objectives.
• Product Strategy & Systems: With a deep understanding of Xero's strategy, you'll actively contribute to the future vision of your product area. You'll partner with product and engineering to design complex systems and drive our product vision forward.
• Mentorship & Influence: You'll provide design leadership, influencing cross-functional stakeholders to shape the future product vision for your area. You will also proactively mentor other designers to foster a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration.

• A portfolio of work that demonstrates ownership and impact across a range of product design facets; from visual and interaction design, through to research and prototyping
• A degree, or training in design or a related field
• Proven experience coaching and mentoring design teams, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and influence product strategy. 
• A deep understanding of user-centred design principles and a passion for creating intuitive and engaging experiences.

Why Xero? 

Offering very generous paid leave to use however you'd like (plus statutory holidays), dedicated paid leave to care for your physical and mental wellbeing as well as an Employee Assistance Program to access mental health care for you and your family. Health insurance, life insurance, and income protection.

We offer wellbeing and sports programmes, employee resource groups, 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, an Employee Share Plan, beautiful offices, flexible working, career development, and many other benefits that reflect our human value.

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