Lead Engineer (API)

Xero • Vancouver, BC

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

As a hands-on Lead Engineer and technical authority in our Product Platform division, you will shape the technical direction for Xero’s API and SDK surfaces. You will treat APIs as first-class products, balancing external developer experience with internal platform consistency to build a reliable foundation for the future of our accounting services. Your work will directly enable external partners to embed Xero capabilities into their own systems and unlock intelligent automation through AI-ready interfaces. By designing composable and safe APIs, you will help create experiences that allow small businesses to thrive in a more efficient, automated economy. You will join our new API Platform team in Vancouver, which focuses on positioning APIs as Xero’s core product surface. We work together to deliver the API pillar of our technical strategy that supports AI, mobile, and ecosystem use cases. Our current technical stack includes an open source graph technologies powered by gRPC, and backend services built in modern languages like C#, Go, or Java. We are standing up a developer platform to provide a seamless path from domain models to running APIs integrated with CI/CD and production runtimes. You will help deliver across core accounting and tax domains using the Supergraph model to consolidate our technical stack and developer experience. The team is beginning a legacy burndown to replace or front expensive back-channel endpoints with coherent, strongly-typed interfaces and stable contracts.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in backend and platform engineering at scale, particularly within multi-tenant SaaS or high-throughput environments.
• Background in designing external-facing APIs and SDKs.
• Proficiency in modern backend stacks like C#, Go, or Java.
• Commitment to driving and evolving best practices.
• Ability to champion modern engineering principles.
• Authentic passion for coaching and mentoring other engineers.
• Ability to build strong partnerships across different product and engineering domains.
• Curiosity about AI and agentic architectures.

Nice To Haves

• Understand how to create interfaces that are discoverable, composable, and easy for other humans to use.
• Ability to build high-availability services and experiment with new tools when they add value.
• Design API contracts that are ready for the future of intelligent automation and LLM orchestration.

Responsibilities

• Shape the technical direction for Xero’s API and SDK surfaces.
• Treat APIs as first-class products, balancing external developer experience with internal platform consistency.
• Build a reliable foundation for the future of Xero's accounting services.
• Enable external partners to embed Xero capabilities into their own systems.
• Unlock intelligent automation through AI-ready interfaces.
• Design composable and safe APIs.
• Deliver the API pillar of the technical strategy that supports AI, mobile, and ecosystem use cases.
• Help deliver across core accounting and tax domains using the Supergraph model.
• Consolidate the technical stack and developer experience.
• Replace or front expensive back-channel endpoints with coherent, strongly-typed interfaces and stable contracts.

Benefits

• World-class health, wellness, and retirement programs.
• Xero Perks including Wellbeing days, generous leave, and dedicated professional development budgets.
• Annual bonus and equity (RSU) programs.
• Performance-based cash or equity (RSUs) incentives.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed