Lead Engineer – Payments Platform

Xero

Staff / Lead Engineer shaping the technical foundation for money movement capabilities at Xero. Guiding design and development of secure services that impact small businesses globally.

Posted 7/24/2026full-timeVancouver • 🇨🇦 CanadaSenior💰 CA$186,000 - CA$236,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in designing and developing high-throughput, distributed backend systems, with a strong focus on API design and cloud-native platforms. Proven ability to lead technical direction, mentor engineers, and translate complex business needs into effective engineering solutions.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Backend System DesignAPI DesignCloud-Native PlatformsLeadership in EngineeringAI Integration

ATS Keywords

Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills

C#JavaGolangC++SQL DatabasesNoSQL DatabasesSystem ArchitectureHigh-Throughput ServicesAgile ExecutionProof-of-Concept Development

Soft Skills

Problem-SolvingMentoringCollaborationInclusive Culture BuildingCommunication

Tools & Technologies

AWSAI ToolsPayment PlatformsFraud Detection SystemsOrchestration Tools

Industry Keywords

Financial TechnologyMoney MovementOperational ExcellenceSmall Business SolutionsCross-Functional Collaboration

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSCloudGoJavaNoSQLSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

In this role, you will help shape the technical foundation for money movement capabilities while unlocking new product lines globally.
You will guide the design and development of reliable, scalable, performant, and secure services for the platform, ensuring operational excellence and direct business outcomes.
This is a rare chance to join an early-stage initiative, make foundational architectural decisions, and have a visible impact on the future of small businesses.
By contributing directly to production code and proof-of-concepts, you will solve complex financial technology challenges at a massive scale.
The Payments Platform team is the engine powering money movement across the entire ecosystem, collaborating closely with product, security, risk, and operations.
Together, we work cross-functionally to translate complex business needs into resilient engineering solutions that support millions of subscribers.
Designing and building out payment platform capabilities, such as orchestration, risks & fraud, multi-providers, to accelerate various payment products development and improve operational posture.
Building out a global bill payment product to streamline how small businesses manage their cash flow.
Developing core high-throughput platform services.
Integrating and championing artificial intelligence capabilities to accelerate engineering productivity and enhance developer workflows.

Requirements

What you’ll need

You bring a proven track record of delivering highly available, distributed backend systems and designing high-throughput services under real-world constraints.
A deep understanding of system architecture, API design, and both SQL and NoSQL databases is essential.
Your background includes proficiency in modern backend stacks such as C#, Java, Golang, or C++, alongside cloud-native platforms like AWS.
You are passionate about staying hands-on contributing directly to production code, proof-of-concepts, and technical deep dives.
You possess strong leadership capabilities, with a passion for setting technical direction, mentoring engineers, and fostering an inclusive culture.
You demonstrate strong ability in breaking down complex problems into clear, actionable solutions while driving agile execution to deliver results.
You are a strong partner to Product, Design, and other cross-functional teams to translate complex business needs into resilient engineering solutions.
You are a champion of advanced usage in AI tools and practices across the team to accelerate development workflows.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Variable Pay: Eligibility commissions or equity based on role and performance.
Comprehensive Benefits: World-class health, wellness, and retirement programs.
Xero Perks: __Inside Xero__ Explore our full suite of benefits, from wellbeing initiatives to professional development.