Lead/Staff Software Engineer (Acc Core)

Xero; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Xero is seeking a Staff Engineer to shape the architecture of our global platform. You will influence distributed, high-scale systems while mentoring teams and setting engineering standards.

You will balance technical excellence with coaching, participate in code reviews, and ensure robust delivery across squads. The role supports hybrid work with 2–3 onsite days in San Mateo, CA, and collaboration with teams in Australia and New Zealand.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering large-scale distributed systems.
• Mentor engineers and raise technical bar across teams.
• Strong background in modern engineering practices like CI/CD and TDD.

Responsibilities

• Refactor monolithic systems into distributed architectures.
• Lead major architectural decisions and set technical direction.
• Collaborate with product, design, and cross-functional teams to ship scalable solutions.
• Drive CI/CD maturity and code quality programs.

Skills

Distributed systems

Code reviews

Mentorship

CI/CD practices

TDD

High-scale software

Tools

.NET

C#

React

AWS

Kubernetes

Job description

• You will focus on solving engineering problems at scale, moving beyond feature delivery to influence the architecture and implementation of distributed systems. By refactoring complex, monolithic systems and building high-quality, scalable software, your work ensures our platform remains robust and reliable for millions of global users
• As a Staff level engineer, you will have the autonomy to make major code design decisions and contribute to global engineering standards. You will balance technical excellence with mentorship, acting as a role model and coaching others through complex technical challenges to help them grow
• You will join a collaborative environment where engineers, product owners, and designers work together using agile and delivery practices to ship meaningful code. The team prioritises continuous learning and mastery, frequently participating in code reviews and knowledge-sharing sessions to maintain a high bar for technical craft
• Modernizing systems by refactoring monolithic components into distributed, scalable architectures
• Enhancing the developer experience through the maturation of CI/CD concepts, tooling, and TDD practices
• Building and maintaining a diverse tech stack that includes C#, .Net, React, AWS, and Kubernetes
• Developing and implementing technical solution designs that align with long-term engineering frameworks
• This position is open to applicants based in the San Mateo, California State (2-3 days onsite). Because this role requires close cross-functional collaboration with our teams in Australia and New Zealand, working within the Pacific time zone helps align our schedules for essential catch-ups. You will also have the flexibility to balance your remote focus with in-person connection during team alignment days and local hub events. This position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship

A deep care for technical excellence and a drive to solve large-scale engineering challenges motivates your daily work. You enjoy mentoring other engineers and helping them grow their technical skills through supportive coaching. Experience with modern engineering practices like automated testing, refactoring, and agile delivery is key to your success. You bring a growth mindset and a passion for proactively maintaining and sharing technical knowledge with your peers. A background in designing and building high-quality software within a range of languages and tools is essential. Proven experience delivering and operating complex, large-scale systems (distributed/high-availability environments), with strong fundamentals and the ability to ramp quickly across adjacent technologies (we’re tech-stack agnostic). You possess the ability to lead major code design decisions and contribute to wider technical solutioning.