Senior Engineer

Xero; Wellington; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Xero in Wellington is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to tackle scalable engineering challenges and influence architecture across distributed systems. You will mentor engineers, drive design decisions, and raise the technical bar for the platform.

You will work in a modern stack with AWS, C#, React, and Kubernetes, embracing agile practices, code reviews, and pair programming to deliver high-quality software that users rely on daily.

Qualifications

• Experience building high-quality, scalable software and distributed systems.
• Strong background in technical design and architectural decision making.
• Mentoring and coaching teammates within an agile environment.

Responsibilities

• Own major design decisions and contribute to engineering standards.
• Refactor monolithic architectures into scalable distributed systems.
• Improve TDD and automated testing capabilities and CI/CD pipelines.

Skills

Distributed systems

Software design

Mentoring

CI/CD

Agile practices

Tools

AWS

C#

React

Kubernetes

Job description

The role, your impact

As a Senior Engineer, you will tackle engineering problems at scale and play a key role in the architecture and implementation of distributed systems. You will contribute directly to refactoring complex systems to ensure we continue delivering high-quality, scalable software solutions that make a real difference for our users.

In this position, you will own major code design decisions, contribute to overall engineering standards, and help shape the future of our technical platform. Beyond building great software, you will act as a mentor and role model within the team, helping grow the technical capabilities of fellow engineers.

The team & how they connect

Our engineering team brings together passionate problem solvers who thrive on technical excellence, continuous learning, and open collaboration. We work closely together using modern agile practices, regularly engaging in code reviews and pair programming to support one another. The team actively partners across functions to ensure our solution designs align with broad product goals and technical standards.

The team is currently working on:

• Refactoring monolithic architecture into scalable, modern distributed systems
• Evolving our tech stack using languages and frameworks across AWS, C#, React, and Kubernetes
• Enhancing test-driven development (TDD) practices and automated testing capabilities
• Optimising our CI/CD pipelines to streamline deployment workflows

Where and how you can work

We offer flexible working options designed to help you balance your personal and professional life. Depending on your location, you can work through a hybrid approach combining working from home with time spent in one of our vibrant office spaces during collaborative boost days, or explore remote arrangements tailored to the team's setup.

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

• Experience building high-quality, scalable software and working with distributed systems
• Strong familiarity with modern tech stacks, test-driven development, and CI/CD tooling
• Proven background in contributing to technical design solutions and making architectural decisions
• A growth mindset paired with a genuine enthusiasm for mentoring and coaching team members
• Comfort collaborating in an agile environment and engaging in thoughtful code reviews