Principal Engineer at Xero (Melbourne, Australia)
Xero· Melbourne, Australia·
Role details
Hybrid Working Model · Boost Days · Modern Office Spaces
Xero at a glance
Cloud accounting and financial-management software for small businesses and their advisors.
Xero is cloud-based accounting software for small businesses and the accountants and bookkeepers who serve them. It automates invoicing, bank reconciliation, bill and expense capture, reporting and cash-flow forecasting, and connects to more than 1,000 third-party apps. Its newer AI agent, JAX, automates routine tasks and answers plain-language questions about a business's finances.
Summary
Lead the technical strategy and architecture for Xero's product group, focusing on refactoring monolithic systems into cloud-native distributed architectures. Drive the adoption of DevOps practices, AWS, Kubernetes, and React while mentoring engineers and establishing engineering standards.
Job description
We are hiring a number of Principal Engineer roles across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to join multiple teams at Xero. As a Principal Engineer, you will drive technical excellence and lead the evolution of complex, distributed software systems that power critical experiences for millions of small businesses. You will shape architecture, solve intricate engineering challenges at scale, and set new technical standards across the organization.
Your impact extends far beyond code. You will serve as a technical guide and mentor across multiple teams, influencing strategic decisions, championing modern delivery practices, and elevating engineering quality to ensure our products remain reliable, secure, and scalable.
The team / how they connect You will join a collaborative engineering collective comprising cross-functional development teams, product managers, and architecture practice leaders. The team works together in a supportive environment focused on open communication, continuous learning, and shared technical governance. Together, you will bridge high-level product strategy with hands-on technical execution to deliver seamless digital tools.
The team is currently working on / Initially, you will focus on
- Designing, refactoring, and modernising monolithic architecture into highly scalable, resilient distributed microservices.
- Establishing foundational CI/CD practices, test-driven development methodologies, and robust automated testing frameworks across engineering groups.
- Working with AWS cloud infrastructure, C#, React, Kubernetes, and distributed event-driven systems.
- Defining architectural patterns and contributing to company-wide technical standards and best practices.
Where and how you can work We offer a flexible, hybrid working style that balances working from home with collaborative in-office connection across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. You will have access to modern office facilities designed for teamwork and innovation, with designated boost days that bring teams together in person to build culture, hold planning sessions, and collaborate on strategic initiatives.
Here are some of the things we are looking for
- You bring an extensive background in software engineering, with expertise in architecting, building, and operating complex distributed cloud applications.
- Your experience demonstrates a proven ability to make major system design decisions and refactor monolithic code bases into modular microservices.
- A deep mastery of modern engineering practices, including automated testing, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and domain-driven design, defines your approach.
- You bring strong leadership qualities alongside a genuine passion for coaching, mentoring, and lifting the technical capabilities of engineers around you.
- Broad familiarity with modern tech stacks, cloud platform architecture, and containerised deployments will set you up for success.
- Excellent communication skills allow you to articulate complex technical ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
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.
Why work at Xero
- 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.