Senior Software Engineer - AI

Xero; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Flexible working

Parental leave

Employee share plan

Job summary

Xero is seeking a Senior Software Engineer - AI to lead the development of our Internal AI orchestration platform in Sydney or Melbourne with hybrid working options. You will shape standards, design scalable solutions, and stay hands‑on as you enable teams to build and run AI agents safely at scale.

You will work with product, security and design teams to translate requirements into robust software, while exploring emerging AI technologies to push what's possible at Xero.

Qualifications

• Delivery of production‑grade software with hands‑on frontend experience in a modern framework (React).
• Experience designing, building, deploying and running APIs and backend services in containerised environments (Python/TypeScript).
• Strong CI/CD pipelines experience and automated testing across the stack.
• Secure authentication and authorisation patterns (OAuth/OIDC).
• Experience with agentic AI systems including agent loops and tool calling.
• Ability to translate trade‑offs into clear language for technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of Xero's Internal AI orchestration platform.
• Define standards and patterns keeping AI solutions aligned with goals and best practices.
• Translate complex requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions.
• Champion emerging AI technologies to advance capabilities at Xero.
• Collaborate with product, security, design and analytics teams.
• Contribute hands-on coding while guiding other engineers.

Skills

Frontend React

API design

CI/CD pipelines

OAuth/OIDC security

Agentic AI systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

React

Python

TypeScript

LangGraph

Pydantic-ai

Job description

The role and its impact

As a Senior Software Engineer - AI, you'll lead the development of Xero's Internal AI orchestration platform - the foundation that enables teams across Xero to build and run AI agents safely and at scale. This is where technical excellence meets real-world impact. You'll define the standards and patterns that keep our Internal AI solutions aligned with strategic goals and engineering best practices, all while staying hands-on. You'll translate complex functional requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions that other teams depend on, and you'll champion emerging technologies to help advance what's possible with AI at Xero.

The role and its impact

As a Senior Software Engineer - AI, you'll lead the development of Xero's Internal AI orchestration platform - the foundation that enables teams across Xero to build and run AI agents safely and at scale. This is where technical excellence meets real-world impact. You'll define the standards and patterns that keep our Internal AI solutions aligned with strategic goals and engineering best practices, all while staying hands-on. You'll translate complex functional requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions that other teams depend on, and you'll champion emerging technologies to help advance what's possible with AI at Xero.

The Team And How They Connect

Our team builds the AI platform and shared patterns that help teams across Xero work with AI safely and at scale - from internal tools that simplify everyday work to frameworks that enable other engineers to build faster. We're a collaborative group dedicated to delivering high-quality, trustworthy software through strong engineering practices and a culture of continuous learning. You'll work closely with product owners, business analysts, designers and security teams, sharing knowledge regularly and providing constructive feedback that lifts everyone around you.

The team is currently working on

• Internal AI platform architecture and agentic frameworks that enable cross-functional teams to build agents safely
• Secure agentic access patterns for data and tools across Xero
• Governance, cost tracking and evaluation tooling to build confidence in AI model quality
• Building the shared patterns and starter templates that help the wider engineering community ship faster with AI

Where And How You Can Work

This role is based in Sydney or Melbourne, with flexibility to work hybrid. We offer regular collaboration opportunities and team boost days to strengthen working relationships across the platform and our cross-functional partners.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

• You've spent considerable time delivering production‑grade software, with hands‑on frontend experience in a modern framework like React.
• You're comfortable designing, building, deploying and running APIs and backend services in containerised environments using languages like Python or TypeScript.
• You bring strong experience with CI/CD pipelines, modern Git workflows and automated testing across the full software stack.
• You've designed secure authentication and authorisation patterns for services - thinking through OAuth/OIDC and similar approaches.
• You have practical experience building with agentic AI systems, including agent loops, tool calling and frameworks like pydantic‑ai or LangGraph.
• You can translate technical trade‑offs into clear language for both technical and non‑technical stakeholders, and you stay curious about emerging technologies.

Why Xero?

At Xero, we recognise that diversity of thought drives better outcomes. We Go Together; knowing the direction and bringing the right people. Our human‑first culture of respect, fairness and inclusion is what helps us thrive at work and beyond. Research shows that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply unless they meet every single requirement. But you could be exactly the right person for this role.

We offer generous paid leave (plus statutory holidays), dedicated paid leave for physical and mental wellbeing with access to an Employee Assistance Program, health insurance and dental reimbursement with vision allowances, a healthcare spending account, fertility and family forming support, wellbeing and sports programmes, employee resource groups, 26 weeks of parental leave for primary caregivers, an Employee Share Plan, flexible working, career development, and beautiful offices with shared meals. You'll do the best work of your life here.

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.