Role overview

Xero is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead and expand the Internal AI Accelerator team as it grows 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 reduce manual work, accelerate decision-making, and create measurable productivity improvements across the organization. Your work will directly influence how Xero approaches AI delivery across business units including Finance, HR, support, and operations.

Key responsibilities

Lead the growth and development of the Internal AI Accelerator team, expanding its engineering capability across multiple business domains and workstreams.
Partner directly with business leaders across G&A, Finance, P&C, and IT to co-design reusable AI patterns and governance frameworks that can be adopted by other teams.
Own the technical strategy and architecture for scaling agentic AI delivery, including designing systems for enterprise-wide AI deployment.
Establish best practices for AI safety, evaluation, and operations at scale across the organization.
Build playbooks and reference architectures that enable other engineering teams to implement and run AI workflows independently.
Unblock your team, set the pace for delivery, and hold the squad accountable to shipping production systems that real people depend on.
Translate between technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring clear communication between engineers and business leaders.

Requirements

Solid engineering credibility demonstrated through shipping production software at scale, with the ability to make sound technical decisions and earn team respect.
Pragmatic approach to strategy: ability to move quickly with incomplete information, convert vague problems into clear scope, and adapt when circumstances change.
Strong commitment to coaching and developing people, with a genuine interest in your team members’ growth and development.
Comfort operating in hybrid environments and bridging technical and non-technical worlds without losing nuance in translation.
Leadership style that emphasizes team ownership, challenges processes that create unnecessary friction, and creates room for innovation alongside delivery.

What makes this role worth considering

The Internal AI Accelerator team operates with a direct line to senior leadership and a genuine mandate to move fast, shipping AI workflows in weeks rather than months. You will shape foundational thinking about how Xero approaches AI delivery for years to come, building lasting frameworks that influence the entire organization. Based in Sydney with hybrid flexibility and regular team collaboration days, this role offers the opportunity to lead high-impact work at a critical inflection point for AI adoption at scale.