---
title: 'Lead Engineer - Front End Platform & Design System at Xero'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-engineer-front-end-platform-design-system-xero-melbourne-ta856ftw3dzv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Lead Engineer - Front End Platform & Design System at Xero

- **Company:** [Xero](https://feeny.ai/companies/xero)
- **Location:** Melbourne, Australia
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/xero/e2fa65b0-a7e2-4d97-9d26-d50b70a3ee3e

## Job description

## The role and it’s impact

You'll help shape the technical direction of our Front End Platform, working across multiple teams to deliver the shared tools, systems and standards that make front end development at Xero faster, safer and more consistent. This is a role for someone who enjoys tackling open-ended, multi-team problems, and who can move comfortably between hands-on technical work and broader strategic influence.

You'll build deep relationships across engineering, product and design, breaking down silos and helping teams reach the best outcome regardless of level or title. You'll guide technical design, identify the technical gaps holding teams back, and champion modern front end practices, all while coaching engineers toward their next level.

The team and how how they connect The Front End Platform team builds and maintains the shared foundations, from component libraries and design systems to developer tooling, that product engineering teams across Xero rely on daily.

We work in close partnership with design, product engineering and infrastructure teams to keep what we build genuinely useful and well adopted. It's a team that thinks in multi-year horizons while staying grounded in the everyday realities of the teams we support.

Initially, you will focus on

- Leading the technical direction of Xero’s front end
- Guiding a modern front end stack (React, TypeScript, and associated tooling) across multiple teams
- Influencing CI/CD and delivery pipeline improvements at a platform level
- Shaping the longer term roadmap for front end performance, accessibility and developer experience
- Leveraging Harness Engineering to moderise legacy front end pages and components

Where and how you can work This role can be either hybrid or fully remote anywhere across the East Coast of Australia. For those that are looking for a hybrid role, we have beautiful offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. We come together in the office for connection, collaboration and our regular boost days, with flexibility to work from home the rest of the time.

Here are some of the things we're looking for, for this role

- Deep expertise in front end engineering, with the ability to pick up new languages and tools as needed
- Proven experience and genuine interest in large scale shared platforms and developer experience
- Solid grounding in CI/CD concepts, automated testing and TDD, and enjoy helping others build good habits around them
- Skilled at designing secure, scalable and maintainable systems, including distributed architectures
- You'll bring a track record of influencing roadmaps and technical direction across multiple teams, not just your own
- Comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands-on problem solving when a team needs it
- Experience coaching and mentoring engineers, with a genuine interest in helping others grow toward senior roles
- A collaborative approach to disagreement, able to work through different viewpoints to reach the best outcome for the wider team
- A track record of using AI tools and principles to work more efficiently and solve problems within a development team

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
- [Lead Engineer - Front End (React)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-engineer-front-end-react-xero-wellington-9sjxsd4a6d13) — Wellington, New Zealand
- [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
- [Lead Engineer - Front End (React)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-engineer-front-end-react-xero-melbourne-k9j5m5627ab0) — Melbourne, Australia
- [Accounting Professional? Discover a new career in SaaS Sales with Xero](https://feeny.ai/job/accounting-professional-discover-a-new-career-in-saas-sales-with-xero-xero-sd3m7hjzea5f) — Brisbane, Australia
- [Solutions Consultant](https://feeny.ai/job/solutions-consultant-xero-brisbane-rj5t374ksh02) — Brisbane, Australia
- [Engineer - Payments](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-payments-xero-vancouver-v6a1s8dc9eqt) — Vancouver, Canada
- [Data Engineer - Performance Insights](https://feeny.ai/job/data-engineer-performance-insights-xero-sydney-ndt7sgmv8xdm) — Sydney, Australia