Lead Engineer - API Platform

New Zealand
Permanent
Full-time

1 month ago

Our PurposeAt Xero, we're here to help you supercharge your business. We do this by automating routine tasks, surfacing actionable insights and connecting businesses with the right data, advisors and apps. When that happens, we're not only making life better for small business, we'll be building a stronger economy that can change the world.About the TeamAt the core of Xero's product innovation is the "Catalyst Engineering" portfolio, our dedicated platform engineering and developer enablement function. We are the engine that powers Xero's global engineering teams and our vibrant Partner Ecosystem. Our mission is to provide the platforms and toolchains that enable the rapid, secure, and robust development of products that delight Xero's customers. The Catalyst team is at the forefront of technology strategy and adoption at Xero, comprising some of the brightest technology leaders in the industry.This technical Lead Engineer role sits within our pivotal API Golden Pathways group, which is charged with creating a seamless, high-quality, and consistent API ecosystem. As a Lead Engineer, you will be instrumental in guiding an engineering pod dedicated to the Xero Gateway, the single, critical point of ingress for all inbound API traffic to Xero. You will drive the strategy and execution for advancing our API-first initiatives, focusing on ingress, versioning, security, documentation, and discovery to accelerate our speed to market.About the RoleAs a Lead Engineer, you will be the technical authority and mentor for the Xero Gateway pod. You will guide the team in designing, building, and maintaining the critical infrastructure that underpins our public-facing APIs. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will blend deep technical expertise with a passion for mentoring and a strategic vision for platform engineering. You will be empowered to make significant technical decisions, drive engineering excellence, and shape the future of how Xero connects with the world.What you'll do:

Provide technical leadership and strategic direction for the design, development, and operation of the Xero Gateway and associated API ingress solutions.
Mentor, coach, and develop a high-performing team of engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and engineering excellence.
Own the architectural vision and technical roadmap for your pod's domain, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, resilient, and align with Xero's broader technical strategy.
Champion and implement modern engineering principles, including infrastructure as code, comprehensive automation, and data-driven decision-making to enhance the effectiveness of Xero's platform.
Lead complex engineering projects, from initial concept through to delivery and ongoing operational support, solving challenging problems at scale.
Collaborate with product managers, architects, and other engineering leads to define priorities, influence cross-team initiatives, and ensure the successful delivery of our API platform strategy.
Act as a subject matter expert on cloud networking, API gateways, and infrastructure security, driving best practices across the engineering community.

What you'll bring:

Proven experience in a technical leadership role, with a track record of mentoring engineers and delivering complex, distributed systems.
Deep expertise in cloud networking and infrastructure, particularly with AWS, and a strong command of container orchestration using Kubernetes.
Extensive hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code, using tools like Terraform to build and manage production environments.
Strong software development fundamentals, with proficiency in languages such as C# or Typescript.
A strategic mindset with the ability to solve complex problems, assess technical trade-offs, and make data-informed decisions.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience with API gateways (such as Gloo Gateway or similar) and a strong understanding of API lifecycle management is highly desirable.

Why Xero?Offering very generous paid leave to use however you'd like (plus statutory holidays!), dedicated paid leave to care for your physical and mental wellbeing as well as an Employee Assistance Program to access mental health care for you and your family. Health insurance, life insurance, and income protection.We offer wellbeing and sports programmes, employee resource groups, 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, an Employee Share Plan, beautiful offices, flexible working, career development, and many other benefits that reflect our human value.You'll do the best work of your life at Xero!

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