Lead/Staff Software Engineer
Xero · United States · $206,000–$260,000 (stated in the posting)
Team: Accounting Core
Location / work arrangement: San Francisco, San Mateo and Seattle (Hybrid)
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 Philosophy
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 base salary range for this role in $206,000 to $260,000 USD
Please note that this range represents base salary only. We believe in rewarding our people for their total contribution, which is why we look at compensation through a holistic lens. In addition to base pay, your total package may include:
Variable Pay: Eligibility commissions or equity based on role and performance.
Comprehensive Benefits: World-class health, wellness, and retirement programs.
Xero Perks: Inside Xero Explore our full suite of benefits, from wellbeing initiatives to professional development.
Individual pay is determined by various factors, including geography, level of experience, and the specific skills you bring to the role
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.