Architect
Remote, NZ / Auckland, NZ / Wellington, NZ
Technology – Architecture & Integration /
Permanent /
Hybrid
Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive.
At Xero, our purpose is to make life better for people in small business, their advisors, and communities around the world. This purpose sits at the centre of everything we do. We support our people to do the best work of their lives so that they can help small businesses succeed through better tools, information and connections. Because when they succeed they make a difference, and when millions of small businesses are making a difference, the world is a more beautiful place.
What you’ll do
- You’ll be working alongside multiple teams in a product portfolio to define target state architectures to enable the product strategy. You’ll take a longer term view, with breadth over depth to create a vision and work tirelessly to get buy-in across the business. You will collaborate with teams through the full product development lifecycle from planning through to delivery. Solving complex technical problems with elegant solutions is what you do. The value you provide includes:
- Deliver visualized clarity - Create and distribute views of software and system architecture to stakeholders ensuring they are able to understand, evaluate, and reason about the architecture. Continuously monitor visual representations and update them as changes or additions are observed
- Frame the future - Define the architecture with future flexibility in mind whilst keeping things well bounded. Employ evolutionary architecture that supports guided, incremental change across a defined domain.
- Demystify complexity - Decompose the complexity of our domains into a manageable model that describes the boundaries of a system and exposes important details and significant constraints. Synthesize and translate complex ideas into actionable requirements and design solutions.
- Bridge between worlds - Act as an agent of change recognising that no change happens in isolation and must engage and work with a wide range of stakeholders. Use domain and technical knowledge to help facilitate sessions and achieve a desired outcome.
- Ensure systemic cohesion - Design architecture that brings clarity at a high level, how significant elements fit together, and identifies the key risks to be mitigated. Use quantitative measures to ensure the fitness of the architecture is aligned to our principles.
- Provide goldilocks governance - Champion a 'trust and verify' approach to governance that teams are operating within established principles & guardrails. Embrace Xero's decentralised approach to decision making and effectively communicate those decisions out
How you’ll do it
- You will consistently exhibit a well-rounded standard of technical judgement, innovation and execution to tackle open-ended problems. You’ll reach successful decisions despite conflicting perspectives, acting thoughtfully when considering the tradeoffs. You’ll employ the following competencies to deliver desired outcomes:
- Problem solving - Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions. Looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answers.
- Interpersonal savvy - Relates well to all kinds of people—up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization. Builds constructive and effective relationships using diplomacy and tact. Can defuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
- Business acumen - Knowledgeable in current and possible future policies, practices, trends, technology, and information affecting the Xero organization. Is aware of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace.
- Organisational agility - Knowledgeable about how Xero works and uses that to help get things done both through formal channels and the informal network. Understands the origin and reasoning behind key policies, practices, and procedures.
- Technical acumen - Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment. Is personally committed to and actively works to continuously learn new technologies and technical concepts. Understands that different situations and levels may call for different technical knowledge.
- Communication skills - Is able to write clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and styles. Can get messages across that have the desired effect. Encourages direct and tough debate but isn’t afraid to end it and move on.
- Dealing with ambiguity - Can effectively cope with change and make decisions without having the total picture. Is comfortable when things are up in the air handling any associated risk and uncertainty.
What you’ll bring with you
- Ideally you will have the following:
- Demonstrated experience designing large-scale web based applications or services.
- Strong grasp of target state architecture development and migration planning.
- Hands-on experience using models, diagrams and other techniques to communicate complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Excellent communication skills whether written or speaking. You can skillfully adapt the message for different audiences and resolve conflict when necessary
- Ability to rationalize technology choices, including options analysis and trade-offs.
- Broad exposure to multiple areas of technology including application development (.NET ideal), Cloud infrastructure (ideally AWS but also GCP or Azure), data-intensive systems, IT security and databases.
- Demonstrated experience working with stakeholders to manage concerns, create alignment and drive important decisions to a conclusion.
- Experienced working with or within teams to move solutions from planning into delivery - a working knowledge of Agile methodologies will serve you well..
- Experience working in a product-oriented company is a definite bonus as you’ll be working with passionate Product and Design folk (in addition to Technologists)
- Familiarity with data privacy and compliance requirements.
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, free medical insurance, 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.
Our collaborative and inclusive culture is one we’re immensely proud of. We know that a diverse workforce is a strength that enables businesses, including ours, to better understand and serve customers, attract top talent and innovate successfully. At Xero we embrace diversity and inclusion and value a #challenge mindset.
Research has shown that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single competency or experience . If you are excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be just the right person for this role and Xero. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application and throughout the interview process.
Xero is an NZ Immigration Accredited Employer and Rainbow Tick certified too.
