Prinicipal Engineer

The role / impact

As a Principal Engineer, you will work in collaboration across multiple teams within our product group to help create and deliver world-class software to our customers, faster. You will help define the standard for engineering excellence, evolving our technical architecture in alignment with product strategy, and leading initiatives that grow the technical capabilities of our engineers.

Partnering closely with engineering leadership, you will influence group-level technical strategy, break down organizational silos, and drive data-driven architectural decisions that release value early to solve complex customer problems at scale.

The team / how they connect

You will join a collaborative product group where engineering practices are guided across multiple teams. The team works together to balance automation, performance, operational health, and deployment pipelines, maintaining a strong focus on security and data guidelines. By promoting Xero-wide quality standards and creating an inclusive environment, everyone connects to ensure high-performing and reliable outcomes.

Initially, you will focus on

• Guiding engineering practices across multiple teams and establishing portfolio-wide architectural direction.

• Contributing to the design of highly scalable, reliable, and performant cloud-native applications.

• Promoting Xero-wide quality standards, guiding teams in defining SLOs, and ensuring security guidelines are embedded across systems.

• Shaping frameworks to quantify technical debt and proactively preventing production issues through robust tooling.

Where and how you can work

Xero offers flexible working options designed to support your productivity and wellbeing. We blend working from home with time together in our collaborative office spaces, using boost days to connect, collaborate, and innovate in person.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

• Proven experience leading large, complex technical initiatives on cloud-native platforms, with a focus on scaling performance and reliability.

• Exceptional communication skills, with an ability to share complex technical concepts clearly with both technical teams and executive leaders.

• Demonstrated capability in contributing to long-term technical roadmaps and aligning engineering delivery with broader business strategy.

• Strong problem-solving abilities that allow you to deconstruct complex challenges into clear outcomes and navigate technical trade-offs.

• Experience implementing frameworks to quantify technical debt and prioritizing its strategic remediation alongside feature delivery.

• A genuine dedication to mentoring engineers, driving delivery practices, and nurturing an inclusive, collaborative culture.

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