Senior/Applied Scientist - AI Products

Xero Limited; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Xero Limited, a Melbourne-based AI Products team, builds intelligent services that solve real small business problems. You’ll craft data-driven solutions, move between experimentation, prototyping and robust deployment, and help raise scientific capability across Xero.

The team focuses on applying NLP, computer vision, and ML to tangible product challenges at scale, with a flexible hybrid working model blending office collaboration and remote work.

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in software engineering with testable, maintainable code.
• Experience applying NLP and computer vision to real product challenges.
• Proficiency in data wrangling and building data pipelines.
• Ability to shape loosely defined problems into research directions.
• Comfort collaborating with product, design and engineering partners.

Responsibilities

• Solve real business problems using experiment-based science.
• Choose the right ML approach per problem: heuristic, ML model, or an LLM.
• Write testable Python code and build robust data pipelines.
• Evaluate and measure experiments to drive evidence-based decisions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and uphold coding standards.

Skills

Python

NLP

Computer vision

Data pipelines

ML fundamentals

Probability/Linear algebra/Calculus

Tools

Python

Job description

The role and its impact

You'll turn tough, ambiguous problems into elegant, data-driven products and services, moving between experimental design, prototyping, evaluation and more rigorous implementation depending on what the problem calls for. Some days that means a simple heuristic, others a traditional ML model, and others the latest in LLMs, and part of the job is judging which is genuinely right for the problem in front of you.

Working closely with cross-functional peers and holding coding standards high, your work will help ideas move smoothly from theory into real-world deployment. You'll also help lift scientific capability across Xero, contributing to a culture of intellectual rigour, healthy scepticism and mutual respect, Going Further by making evidence-based thinking part of how Xero builds.

The team and how they connect

You'll join AI Products, a close-knit team of seven based in Melbourne, building intelligent services that make a real difference for small businesses. The team balances business priorities with research demands to solve tangible customer problems, and works together to match each one to the right approach rather than reaching for complexity by default.

The team is currently working on

• Solving real business problems through experiment-based science, from framing the question through to rigorous implementation




• Choosing the right approach for each problem, whether that's a heuristic, a traditional ML model, or an LLM-based solution




• Writing testable, maintainable, reusable code in Python, building robust data pipelines alongside engineering peers




• Applying techniques such as NLP and computer vision to genuine product challenges at Xero's scale

Where and how you can work

Xero offers a flexible hybrid working model designed to blend the collaboration of office life with the autonomy of remote work. You will have access to our modern office spaces, with expectations around office days and collaborative 'boost days' aligned to help your team connect and ship great code effectively.

Here are some of the things we're looking for, for this role

• Scientific curiosity sits alongside solid software engineering fundamentals, so you can write code that's testable, maintainable and built to last.




• Probability, linear algebra and calculus aren't just theory to you, they're tools you reach for when applying machine learning to real product problems.




• You've genuinely applied techniques like NLP or computer vision to live product challenges, not just studied them.




• Data wrangling and pipeline work are familiar ground, and you know what good evaluation, measurement and experimentation look like in practice.




• Faced with a loosely defined business problem, you can shape it into a clear research direction, working closely with product, design and engineering partners along the way.




• You hold yourself to high standards of integrity and ownership, and you pair confidence in your work with a healthy dose of scepticism about it.

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.