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Xero is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead and grow the Internal AI Accelerator team as it scales from a proof-of-concept phase into a fully formed engineering squad. You will own the strategy, delivery, and roadmap for designing and delivering agentic AI workflows that eliminate manual work, accelerate decision-making, and generate measurable productivity gains across Xero's business units.
In this role, you will partner directly with business leaders across G&A, Finance, P&C, and IT functions to co-build reusable AI patterns and governance frameworks. You will shape how Xero thinks about AI delivery long-term, building playbooks and reference architectures that other teams can adopt and scale. Your team's work goes into production where real people depend on it—you will set the pace, unblock obstacles, and hold your team accountable to shipping.
The Internal AI Accelerator is a small, high-impact crew of engineers embedded across Xero's business units, operating with a direct line to senior stakeholders and a genuine mandate to move fast. The team is expanding across multiple workstreams, and your initial priorities will include: scaling agentic AI delivery across finance, HR, support, and operations; building reusable patterns, platforms, and governance frameworks; designing technical architecture for enterprise AI deployments; and establishing best practices for AI safety, evaluation, and operations at scale.
You will work in a hybrid model based in Sydney with core collaboration days in the office. Xero supports flexible working arrangements, with regular "boost days" bringing ANZ teams together for connection and planning.
Qualifications & Requirements:
- Solid engineering credibility from shipping production software at scale, enabling sound technical decisions and team respect without coding day-to-day
- Pragmatic approach to strategy: ability to move fast without all answers, turning vague problems into clear scope, and pivoting when situations change
- Leadership style that goes bold: giving team ownership, pushing back on processes that slow progress, and creating space for innovation alongside delivery
- Genuine curiosity about people and commitment to coaching them up; leaving your team knowing more than when they joined
- Comfort bridging technical and non-technical worlds, translating between engineers and business stakeholders without losing nuance
- Note: Xero encourages applications even if experience isn't a perfect match, hiring based on skills, passion, and unique perspective
