Capability Development Partner (Product & Technology)

Xero; City of Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Boost days

Hybrid work model

Office spaces in AU/NZ

Job summary

Xero seeks a leadership role to establish and run capability development for Product & Technology, partnering with engineering, product, design, security, and data science to grow talent and accelerate careers.

The role focuses on building frameworks to improve delivery velocity, retention, internal mobility, and time-to-productivity, embedding growth into operations and culture.

Qualifications

• Experience building or leading capability programmes or skill development initiatives in tech, SaaS, or high-growth orgs.
• Ability to partner with senior technical leaders and translate capabilities into measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead capability development in Product & Technology, partnering with engineering, product, design, security and data science teams.
• Architect frameworks enabling specialists to grow, improve delivery velocity, retention, and internal mobility.
• Define and execute upskilling programmes, including AI/ML and emerging technologies, aligned to OKRs.

Skills

Capability development

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

AI/ML knowledge

Go-fast mindset

Strategic thinking

Job description

The role and its impact

This newly created role establishes and leads capability development in Product & Technology, working alongside our engineering, product, design, security, and data science teams. You'll partner with leaders to architect frameworks that enable specialists to evolve their skills ahead of industry trends - solving a real business challenge: helping our 2,600+ P&T professionals grow faster, stay engaged, and accelerate their careers.

Through close collaboration with leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, you'll build a high-performance capability culture aligned with our company strategy. You'll move beyond standard training delivery, focusing instead on measurable outcomes like delivery velocity, retention, internal mobility, and how quickly new hires reach full capability. In doing this, you'll serve as a competitive advantage and embed growth directly into how we operate.

The team and how they connect

You'll join the Product & Technology Learning and Development team, a small, agile group within our broader Organisation Development function. The team fosters an inclusive environment built on psychological safety, transparency, and curiosity. You'll partner closely with other Product & Technology L&D specialists and collaborate with senior leaders across Product, Design, Engineering, and People Experience to identify capability gaps and design solutions that stick.

The team is currently working on

• Building the Capability Framework for Product & Technology, mapping technical and behavioural skills aligned with business OKRs
• Designing upskilling programmes around AI/ML and emerging technologies - staying ahead of what the tech stack demands
• Creating internal mobility pathways that help talent progress across different teams, disciplines, and career stages
• Establishing success metrics beyond completion rates: delivery velocity, internal mobility rate, retention, time-to-productivity, and eNPS

Where and how you can work

This hybrid role can be based in Australia (Sydney or Melbourne preferred) or New Zealand. We work flexibly - some time in office based on work to be delivered. You'll have access to office spaces in Sydney, Melbourne, as well as Auckland and Wellington. You'll interact regularly with teams across these regions, with most of our engineering talent based in Auckland, Wellington, and Melbourne. We offer boost days twice a week, to bring teams together when it matters most.

Here are some of the things we're looking for

• You bring solid experience building or managing capability programmes, frameworks, or skill development initiatives - ideally within tech, SaaS, or high-growth organisations where you've seen programmes scale
• You understand the technical landscape enough to partner effectively: software development lifecycle, engineering trajectories, product management disciplines, AI/ML, and emerging tech all make sense to you
• You can influence without authority; build trust quickly with technical stakeholders; and navigate competing priorities with strong interpersonal skills and strategic thinking
• Your approach is grounded in data and outcomes: you measure what matters (velocity, retention, mobility, time-to-productivity, eNPS), not just participation rates, and connect learning interventions to real business impact
• You Go Together by partnering effectively across functions - collaborating with senior technical leaders, People Experience, and Group OD to build cohesive capability strategies
• You bring genuine curiosity about how emerging technologies shape capability needs, with a Go Fast mindset that balances rigorous programme design with agility to iterate based on feedback

At Xero, we hire based on your skills, passion, and the unique perspective you can bring to enhance our culture and team.