Senior Security Engineer - Cloud Platform

Xero; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Xero, a leading cloud accounting platform in New Zealand, is seeking a Senior Engineer for the Cloud Platform Access team to design and operate identity and access controls at scale across AWS, GCP, and Azure.

You will mentor engineers, drive automation, and build guardrails that enable teams to ship quickly with secure-by-default practices, balancing security with developer productivity in a hybrid NZ-based role.

Qualifications

• Solid experience securing at least one public cloud environment (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Experience designing and maintaining reusable Terraform modules and IAM guardrails at scale.
• Proficiency in scripting (Python or similar) and automation-focused delivery practices.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and lead technical design discussions.

Responsibilities

• Design and operate identity and access controls across AWS, GCP, and Azure at scale.
• Build reusable Terraform modules and policy guardrails to standardise secure access patterns.
• Lead technical design discussions, mentor teammates, and improve reliability and delivery quality.
• Collaborate with security, platform, and product teams to enable rapid, secure delivery.

Skills

Identity & Access Management

Cloud Security

Terraform Modules

Python scripting

Technical leadership

Tools

Terraform

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

As a Senior Engineer in our Cloud Platform Access team, you'll design and operate identity and access controls at scale across AWS, GCP, and Azure. This is high-leverage platform security work where you'll shape secure access as a product rather than simply processing requests. You'll combine hands-on technical leadership with deep expertise to build guardrails that enable teams to ship quickly without creating excessive privilege or long-lived credentials.

You'll mentor engineers on the team, foster psychological safety, and role-model modern engineering practices. The work sits at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, security, developer experience, and automation - solving genuine problems that unlock productivity across the organisation.

The team / how they connect

The Cloud Platform Access team owns cloud-native identity, access management, and policy enforcement across our public cloud environments. We work collaboratively with platform, security, and product teams to integrate secure-by-default controls early in delivery. The team values psychological safety, thoughtful automation, and engineering excellence - we ship sustainably by removing toil and enabling others to succeed.

The team is currently working on

Understanding the services, risks, and gaps in our current IAM setup across AWS, GCP, and Azure Closing critical identity handover gaps and taking ownership of bounded IAM, Workload Identity Federation, or self-service improvements Establishing KPI baselines and contributing to design reviews, operations, and mentoring within the team Evolving reusable Terraform modules, policy frameworks, and internal tooling to standardise secure access patterns.

Where and how you can work

This role can be based in Auckland or Wellington, offering a hybrid working model that balances local team presence with a global scope of work. You will have the flexibility to work from home while connecting with your colleagues in our modern office spaces during designated boost days.

Here are some of the things we are looking for

You bring solid experience securing at least one public cloud environment - AWS, GCP, or Azure - with genuine willingness to learn the others. You understand Identity and Infrastructure as Code fundamentals.

You've designed and maintained reusable Terraform modules and automation that codify IAM controls and policy guardrails at scale.

Strong software engineering foundations run through your work: you think automation-first, have proficiency in at least one scripting language like Python, and follow modern delivery practices.

You lead technical design conversations, make sound engineering trade-offs, and aren't afraid to mentor others. You can lift standards, improve reliability, and keep delivery quality high.

You approach problems collaboratively, building trust across security, platform, and product teams to enable rapid, secure delivery.

You're curious about thoughtful AI applications and open to exploring how it might accelerate engineering workflows or solve real problems for the team.

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