Software Engineer - Database

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

Job summary

Xero is seeking a Software Engineer for the Database Reliability Team to balance software development with database reliability. You will build internal tooling to improve fleet management and streamline how Xero's database platform is managed, half your time on code and half on reliability.

You will join a collaborative team that owns the database platform powering Xero’s core products, focusing on observability, performance, and AI-driven workflows to enhance engineering quality and

Qualifications

• Experience across .NET, C#, and AWS environments or backend software engineering with a language-agnostic mindset.
• Practical knowledge of database platforms like SQL Server, Amazon RDS, or PostgreSQL, with drive to expand into platform engineering.
• Experience building scalable backend tools and automating manual processes.
• Strong grasp of system observability, database performance tuning, and responding to production issues.
• Ability to design resilient software while leveraging AI tools to optimise workflows.
• Collaborative mindset with a passion for continuous learning, sharing knowledge, and mentoring peers.

Responsibilities

• Split time roughly 50% software engineering and 50% on database reliability.
• Build internal tooling to improve fleet management and streamline managing Xero's database platform.
• Contribute to platform reliability and modern engineering practices, including AI-driven workflows.
• Support observability, performance tuning, and resilience of backend systems.

Skills

Backend engineering

AWS environment

C#/.NET

System observability

AI tooling

Mentoring peers

Tools

SQL Server

Amazon RDS

PostgreSQL

Job description

The role / impact

Join Xero's Database Reliability Team as a Software Engineer with a focus on database reliability. In this role, your time will be split roughly 50% on software engineering and 50% on database reliability, building internal tooling that improves fleet management and makes managing Xero's database platform more efficient.

The Team / How They Connect

You will join a fun, collaborative team that owns the database platform powering Xero's core products. The team shares knowledge, solves complex technical challenges together, and works alongside engineering teams across Xero to ensure backend systems scale smoothly as demand grows. Together, they focus on continuously improving platform reliability and integrating modern engineering practices, including AI-driven workflows.

The team is currently working on

• Evolution of the database platform, migrating from self-managed SQL Server to Amazon RDS and transitioning towards PostgreSQL.


• Internal tooling enhancements to streamline fleet management, automate processes, and boost developer efficiency.


• Platform observability and performance engineering to identify bottlenecks, support load balancing, and improve resilience.


• Integration of AI tools into daily workflows to enhance engineering quality and productivity.

Where And How You Can Work

At Xero, we offer flexible working arrangements tailored to support productivity and connection. You can work using a hybrid setup with dedicated boost days in the office to collaborate in person with your team, supported by modern remote working facilities.

Here are some of the things we're looking for

• Experience across .NET, C#, and AWS environments, or strong proficiency in backend software engineering with a language-agnostic mindset.


• Practical knowledge of database platforms like SQL Server, Amazon RDS, or PostgreSQL, paired with a drive to expand into platform engineering.


• Expertise in building scalable backend tools, writing clean code, and automating manual processes.


• A strong grasp of system observability, database performance tuning, and responding to production issues.


• Capability to design resilient software solutions while leveraging modern development tools, including AI tools, to optimise workflows.


• A collaborative mindset with a passion for continuous learning, sharing knowledge, and mentoring peers.