---
title: 'Engineering Manager - AI Workflows at Xero'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-ai-workflows-xero-sydney-mtgpdhf6aesb'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Engineering Manager - AI Workflows at Xero

- **Company:** [Xero](https://feeny.ai/companies/xero)
- **Location:** Sydney, Australia
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/ad759cb7-dde3-40d9-b5e7-fb73c907a668

## Job description

Engineering Manager - Applied AI

## The role and its impact

You will lead and grow the Internal AI Accelerator team as it expands from its current core to a fully formed engineering squad. You will own the strategy, delivery, and roadmap for how Xero designs and delivers agentic AI workflows that eliminate manual toil, speed up decision-making, and generate measurable productivity gains. This means working directly with business leaders across G&A, Finance, P&C, and IT functions to co-build reusable AI patterns and governance frameworks that last. You will shape how Xero thinks about AI delivery long after your tenure, building playbooks and reference architectures that other teams can pick up and run with. What your engineers build goes into production and real people rely on it. One month you are partnering with finance, the next you are embedded in IT. You set the pace, you unblock the path, and you hold your team accountable to shipping.

The team and how they connect The Internal AI Accelerator team is a small, high-impact crew of engineers embedded across Xero's business units. They partner directly with product, engineering, and business teams to design and ship AI workflows in weeks, not months. The team operates with a direct line to senior stakeholders and a genuine mandate to move fast. Together, you are genuinely curious about what works and what doesn't, learning openly from every project and sharing what you discover.

The team is currently working on The team is expanding from a proof-of-concept phase into building at scale. You will focus on growing the engineering capability across multiple workstreams. Initially, your priorities will be:

- Scaling agentic AI delivery across multiple business domains (finance, HR, support, operations)
- Building reusable patterns, platforms, and governance frameworks that other teams can adopt
- Designing and implementing the technical architecture for enterprise AI deployments
- Establishing best practices for AI safety, evaluation, and operations at scale

Where and how you can work This role is based in Sydney. You will work in a hybrid model with core collaboration days in the office. Xero supports flexible ways of working, and regular "boost days" bring our ANZ teams together for connection and planning.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

- You bring solid engineering credibility, ideally from shipping production software at scale, so you can make sound technical decisions and earn your team's respect without needing to code day-to-day.
- Your approach to strategy is pragmatic: you can move fast without all the answers, turning vague problems into clear scope, and pivoting when the situation changes.
- You will Go Bold in how you lead: giving your team ownership, pushing back on processes that slow you down, and creating space for innovation alongside delivery.
- You demonstrate genuine curiosity about your people and a commitment to coaching them up. You leave your team knowing more than when they joined.
- You show comfort bridging technical and non-technical worlds, translating between engineers and business stakeholders without losing nuance on either side.

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.

## About Xero

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Xero provides cloud-based accounting and financial management software for small businesses, serving over 4.9 million customers worldwide.
- **Entity Type**: Public (ASX: XRO, S&P/ASX 200 component)
- **Headquarters**: Wellington, New Zealand
- **Founded**: July 6, 2006
- **Founders**: Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Cloud accounting software (SaaS)
- **Target customers**: Small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers (B2B)
- **Mission**: To make life better for small businesses globally by automating routine tasks and delivering actionable insights.

## Products & Services
- **Xero Accounting Software**: Cloud-based platform for invoicing, bank reconciliation, expense tracking, payroll, and financial reporting. Sold by subscription (Starter, Standard, Premium tiers).
- **JAX – AI Finance Partner**: An AI-powered assistant integrated into Xero that automates routine tasks and provides insights to help businesses grow.
- **Xero Ecosystem**: Over 1,000 third-party app integrations via the Xero App Store, covering payments, inventory, CRM, and more.
- **Xero for Nonprofits**: Discounted subscriptions (25% off) for eligible nonprofit and community organisations.
- **Xero for Purpose**: Social impact initiatives including financial literacy programmes (Unlock Your Numbers), sustainability tools (Sumday carbon app), and the Xero Beautiful Business Fund (NZ$750,000+ in funding annually).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed in provided sources (publicly traded with market cap available on ASX; latest data not included in search results).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue NZ$2.103 billion (FY2025); Net income NZ$227.8 million (FY2025).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Board Chair David Thodey; CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy. In June 2025, Xero announced an agreement to acquire Melio, a New York-based payments provider, for $2.5 billion.
- **Growth Signals**: Achieved Rule of 40 outcomes of 41.0% (May 2024) and 43.9% (Nov 2024). Customer base grew to 4.9 million. Headcount of 4,610 employees (2025). Expanding globally with offices in New Zealand, Australia, UK, US, Canada, South Africa, and Singapore.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Market leader** in cloud accounting across New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.
- **AI-first approach** with JAX, embedded directly into the core product to reduce manual work.
- **Extensive integration ecosystem** (1,000+ apps) creating high switching costs for customers.
- **Strong brand trust** built over 19 years with a focus on small business success.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI and automation**: Deepening AI capabilities (JAX) to deliver predictive insights and automate finance workflows.
- **Payments expansion**: Acquisition of Melio to strengthen payments capabilities for small businesses.
- **Sustainability**: Reducing carbon emissions (72% reduction in scope 1 & 2), offering free carbon accounting tools, and supporting small business sustainability.
- **Social impact**: Scaling programmes like the Beautiful Business Fund and financial literacy initiatives.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values-driven, human-centric organisation with a focus on making a tangible impact on small businesses globally.
- **Flexibility**: Emphasises a flexible environment and time for what matters most (remote/hybrid policy not explicitly stated but implied).
- **Perks & benefits**:
  - One paid day off per year for volunteering (Community Connect programme).
  - Free access to Sumday carbon accounting app for employees.
  - Financial literacy resources and mentorship programmes.
- **Engineering & innovation**: Dedicated Engineering and Data & AI teams (open roles visible on careers page). Global collaboration across 7+ countries.
- **Diversity & inclusion**: Indigenous inclusion initiatives (te ao Māori in NZ, Reconciliation Action Plan in Australia), support for Indigenous communities.
- **Sustainability focus**: Employees can contribute to environmental goals through company-wide initiatives.

## Sources
1. [Wikipedia – Xero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xero)
2. [Xero About Page](https://www.xero.com/au/about/)
3. [Xero Careers – Inside Xero](https://careers.xero.com/inside-xero/)
4. [Xero Careers – Teams](https://careers.xero.com/)
5. [Xero Homepage](https://www.xero.com/)

## Other roles at Xero

- [Customer Experience Specialist - Melio](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-experience-specialist-melio-xero-manchester-0apnfjtyx359) — Manchester, United Kingdom
- [Engineering Manager - Cloud Networks](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-cloud-networks-xero-melbourne-8gqw69bv1r7w) — Melbourne, Australia
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- [Senior Engineer - AI Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-engineer-ai-platform-xero-melbourne-wy84yt8bba9z) — Melbourne, Australia
- [Financial Accountant](https://feeny.ai/job/financial-accountant-xero-wellington-0bjk26repmzk) — Wellington, New Zealand
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