VP Engineering

Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use cloud based platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive. 

Diversity of people brings diversity of thought, and that is core to driving Xero’s mission. Supporting a culture of inclusion is something we’re immensely proud of. We know that a diverse workforce is a strength that enables businesses, including ours, to better understand and serve customers, attract top talent and innovate successfully. A part of that is to support many types of flexible working arrangements that allow you to balance your work, your life and your passions. So, from the moment you begin your journey with Xero, we will constantly strive to ensure you’ll feel welcome and supported to do the best work of your life.

How you’ll make an impact

The VP Engineering - Money provides strategic and technical oversight across Xero’s Engineering Money - teams to ensure alignment with the overall Xero strategy and product team requirements to drive the execution of key projects, owning the communication with stakeholders around the globe, and building empathy for and understanding of your users, customers, and markets.

You'll help set the standard for engineering excellence at Xero and educate teams on what those standards are, how to recognise them and how to reach them. You'll explain and promote what great engineering looks like, and help us build a world-class engineering team at Xero where people can do the best work of their lives.

What you’ll do

• Develop a technology strategy and roadmap in collaboration with EVP Engineering, Product Managers and internal stakeholders to meet Xero’s strategic objectives
• Regularly review this strategy, updating it to reflect changes in company strategy, market changes, and lessons learned from customers and initiatives
• In collaboration with Product and wider Technology teams, transform engineering practice ideas into actionable concepts, timelines, and projects while maintaining a serious consideration of the financial implications and the overall objectives of the business
• Work with our engineering teams and other teams within Xero to create a framework of quantitative metrics that demonstrate the adoption and success of Engineering Practice initiatives
• Be accountable for the commercial success of the capabilities you create and you are responsible for
• Define, own and communicate the product roadmap and prioritization (including development of business cases)
• Ensure the roadmaps produced by the Directors of Engineering and Product Managers are data-informed, based on research, have clear objectives and KPIs, balance functional and nonfunctional work and are realistic
• Build and lead effective engineering teams that continually improve and deliver value to our customers
• Work closely with your peers to deliver quality software and standards that solve real product team problems
• Remain up to date with software engineering and technology changes and trends and continually grow a knowledge of how they may benefit Xero
• Apply and share your knowledge of modern software delivery practices to facilitate adoption of these practices across the Engineering organization
• Establish and maintain good working relationships throughout the wider organization, particularly Product and Platform Engineering

Success looks like

• Creating, communicating, and continuously improving a technology vision and roadmap for the Money portfolio that delivers value for Xero customers
• Developing and executing a plan to deliver value while simplifying our tech stack
• Collaborating with senior leadership across Xero to ensure everyone is informed, consulted and understand all major initiatives driven from your function, why they are important, and how they’ll be delivered
• Attracting and retaining the best talent to maintain a global, world-class team
• Cultivating a fun, rewarding, high-performance and results-driven culture

What you’ll bring with you

• Ownership and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
• Building of effective relationships across all levels of the business
• Advocate for building quality software/standards and guidance that enables product teams
• Ability to break down complex problems, deliver pragmatic solutions and able to manage changing priorities
• Strong understanding of platform solutions
• Broad knowledge of technology and software development and delivery
• Previous experience in leading people leaders and forming high-performing teams
• Proven experience collaborating with a diverse stakeholder group to realize commercial outcomes
• Solid track record of addressing customer needs through innovative use of technology
• Proven ability to influence outcomes and drive transformation at all levels
• Extensive experience working with software development projects at scale
• Demonstrated experience in defining technology roadmaps and planning

At Xero we embrace diversity and inclusion and value a #challenge mindset. Research has shown that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single competency or experience . If you are excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be just the right person for a role at Xero. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application and throughout the interview process.