---
title: 'Head of Payroll - APAC at Xero'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-payroll-apac-xero-sydney-5f72qkycw5g6'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-19'
---

# Head of Payroll - APAC at Xero

- **Company:** [Xero](https://feeny.ai/companies/xero)
- **Location:** Sydney, Australia
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-19
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/d9fedaac-0893-4682-8435-c454d4d59f8e

## Job description

## The role / impact

As the Senior Payroll Manager for the APAC region, you will lead the operational excellence of our payroll function, ensuring precision and efficiency for our people across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Working closely with the GM of Payroll, you will navigate a rapidly changing legislative landscape to ensure every deliverable meets the highest standards of compliance.

Your focus will be on moving the team away from manual data entry and toward a sophisticated validation model by leveraging automation and AI. You will play a vital role in championing payroll governance and strategic regional growth, ensuring our processes remain robust as we continue to scale as a global SaaS company.

The team / how they connect You will lead a capable and diverse team of payroll professionals across Melbourne and New Zealand, fostering a culture of coaching, empowerment, and psychological safety. This role acts as a critical partner to our People Experience and Finance teams, ensuring the end-to-end employee journey is supported by timely and accurate information.

The team is currently working on / Initially, you will focus on

- Stabilising and refining the recently implemented Ramco payroll system to eliminate teething issues and improve process effectiveness.
- Preparing our systems and people for the transition to 'payday super' legislation and other evolving Fair Work and ATO requirements.
- Implementing automated integration solutions, potentially using AI, to streamline data flow between Workday and our payroll engines.
- Enhancing process documentation and issue registers to drive maturity and reduce recurring operational bottlenecks.

Where and how you can work We embrace a hybrid working model that balances the flexibility of remote work with 'boost days' in the office to collaborate, connect, and nurture our team culture.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

- You bring a deep understanding of Australian payroll legislation, including Fair Work rules, long service leave, and superannuation requirements.
- A natural ability to lead and coach other leaders, with a focus on human-centric management and supporting team growth.
- You possess a mindset geared toward automation and systems integration, looking for ways to use technology to solve complex manual challenges.
- Experience navigating the fast-paced environment of a global organisation, ideally within the SaaS or technology sector.
- Your communication style allows you to distill intricate technical payroll or tax information into clear, actionable insights for diverse stakeholders.
- You value partnership and collaboration, building strong relationships across Finance and People teams to ensure seamless delivery.

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/)

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