---
title: 'Lead Engineer - Acc Core at Xero'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-engineer-acc-core-xero-san-mateo-eajgj6wa9bk4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Lead Engineer - Acc Core at Xero

- **Company:** [Xero](https://feeny.ai/companies/xero)
- **Location:** San Mateo, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/0b67a53e-9f63-471c-8f1a-b06fad21b506

## Job description

Team: Accounting Core Location / work arrangement: San Francisco, San Mateo, Seattle & Vancouver (Canada) Employment type: Full Time

## About the Role

Xero’s ledger is the source of truth for millions of businesses, and every product we ship is built on top of it. We are rebuilding this integrity layer for the next 20 years, and we are standing up the Vancouver engineering hub around it from day one. As Lead Engineer, you will make the architectural decisions that set the course for the platform and the team, and you will see those decisions reach every customer who depends on Xero to get their numbers right.

The Technical Challenges

- Correctness at scale. Accounting data has to be consistent, auditable, and immutable. There is no “close enough,” and every change to the ledger has to preserve that guarantee across regions and regulations.
- Evolving a mature system. We are adding real-time expectations to a platform that millions of businesses depend on daily. That means strengthening service boundaries and clarifying data contracts without compromising reliability.
- Durable, high-throughput services. We use durable execution (for example, Temporal) to keep long-running financial workflows accurate and recoverable under load.
- AI-ready data. We are structuring accounting data so it can power AI-native experiences while maintaining trust in the numbers.

Impact

- First six months: You understand the ledger and its consumers, align the team on service boundaries and data contracts, and ship a first modernization increment with no loss of data integrity.
- First twelve months:
- You have set the architecture for the core accounting capabilities (general ledger, journals, chart of accounts, multi-currency).
- The Vancouver engineering team has clear ownership and quality standards, thanks in part to your leadership and role modeling.
- Your work reaches customers through every product built on the ledger, and the decisions made now will shape Xero for years.

Ownership You will own the technical direction for your area of the accounting platform, from design through production and on-call. You will make architectural decisions on service boundaries, data contracts, and technology choices without needing sign-off, and you will be accountable for reliability and data integrity end to end. You will also help set hiring, quality, and ownership practices for an early and growing team, which will compound over time.

Who You’ll Work With Bernardo Farah is the Director of Engineering for Accounting Core. He has over 10 years of SaaS software experience, including six years building platforms and growing teams at Samsara.

## What You Bring

Must-have:

- You set the standard for your team in AI-assisted development, operational excellence, and flexible architecture.
- A track record delivering highly available, distributed backend systems and designing high-throughput services under production constraints.
- Depth in system architecture, API design, and both SQL and NoSQL databases
- Proficiency in a modern backend stack such as C#, Java, Go, or C++, plus cloud-native platforms like AWS.
- You demonstrate strong ability in breaking down complex problems into clear, actionable solutions while driving agile execution to deliver results.

Nice to have:

- Experience with financial, ledger, or accounting systems, or other domains where data integrity is critical
- Experience with durable execution or workflow engines such as Temporal
- Experience modernizing a mature system without disrupting customers

## How We Work

Process is a tool for impact and we adjust accordingly. We use an agile approach to ship outcomes, not to follow ceremony. Code and design reviews are where we trade ideas and hold the quality bar, and we are figuring out how to use LLMs to reduce how much code humans have to write and review by hand. Our on-call rotation draws on a healthy pool of engineers and turns incidents into learning through postmortems. Decisions are made at every level, and we make sure everyone has the strategic context to raise proposals and drive innovation.

Our Hiring Process

- Stage 1: Real World coding assessment, 45 Mins
- Stage 2: Systems Design assessment, 45 Mins
- Stage 3: Technical Deep dive, 60 Mins
- Stage 4: Values/ Future Proof, 60 Mins
- Stage 5: Leadership interview, 60 mins

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. We are also tech stack agnostic, so please apply if you've worked with adjacent technologies.

## Compensation & Total Rewards

At Xero, we value the impact and skills you bring to the team. We don’t just hire for a role; we invest in people. We believe in a Total Package philosophy - which means your value isn't just a single number on a paycheck. While base salary is a core component, we look at your compensation through a holistic lens that includes equity, performance incentives, and world-class benefits. The expected base salary range for this role in:

- California: $206,000 USD

Individual pay is determined by various factors, including geography, level of experience, and the specific skills you bring to the role. In addition to base pay, Xero’s roles are eligible for the following forms of variable compensation:

- Variable Pay: Permanent employees are eligible to participate in our annual bonus and equity (RSU) programs. You may also be eligible for performance-based cash or equity (RSUs) incentives depending on your role level, and company performance.
- Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, and 21 days PTO, 10 days of Wellbeing leave, 5 days of Xtra Leave, 1 volunteer day, 12 paid holidays, paid parental leave. Further information included on our [Xero Perks](https://careers.xero.com/inside-xero/benefits-wellbeing/) page.

Xero uses AI to help screen applications based on job-related qualifications. These tools assist our recruiters but do not make automated hiring decisions. A human recruiter reviews all candidates before any hiring action is taken.

## 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

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- [Engineering Manager - Cloud Networks](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-cloud-networks-xero-melbourne-8gqw69bv1r7w) — Melbourne, Australia
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- [Financial Accountant](https://feeny.ai/job/financial-accountant-xero-wellington-0bjk26repmzk) — Wellington, New Zealand
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- [Solutions Consultant](https://feeny.ai/job/solutions-consultant-xero-brisbane-rj5t374ksh02) — Brisbane, Australia
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