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.
The Xero design function
Xero is incredibly user centric, which means design plays a vital role in all of our product development. Globally there are 130+ Product Design and Design Research practitioners across NZ, AU, UK, US and Canada. We are all one team and work cross functionally with our product and development teammates to create beautiful, enabling and meaningful experiences for our customers.
About the role
You will be managing a team of Product Designers, providing mentoring and coaching, so that they can do their best work and continue to develop their skills and expertise.
Managers work closely with their Design Directors to share in the strategy work and conversations. You'll actively support the work of the designers in your team, applying your knowledge and skills and building strong relationships with engineering leads and product managers to help influence prioritisation of work and roadmap items.
As part of the wider leadership team you'll also share a responsibility for aspects of making the design team better, such as: Helping deliver the team's professional development programme, and creating better processes across the team like continuously improving ways we work with development teams
Day to day you will
Work closely with our engineering and product teams
Offer design critique to all Designers, sharing your thoughts and domain knowledge in a useful and constructive way
You will be responsible for developing your teams careers and enabling them to be the best they can be at Xero
You'll align your team to the overall strategy of Design, reviewing your teams performance, and managing resource requests for your portfolio of work
You'll present design and design strategy to a variety of internal and external groups, from product colleagues to C-level executives
At Xero we're always growing! This means you'll also be responsible for the recruitment, onboarding, engagement and management of new team members.
What you need for this role:
You're a designer first and foremost - you'll have a strong background in Product Design or Experience Design, backed by a portfolio that demonstrates high-quality design outcomes, contributing to user experience and business value
You've seen and done it all! - You'll be experienced in the entire design process, from uncovering customer needs and pain points, to executing elegant interfaces
You have hands on experience managing a team of designers
You're a collaborator! You'll have have heaps of experience working closely with developers and other designers in cross functional teams
And of course… you're passionate about supporting, enabling and empowering other designer
*To be considered for this role you must submit a portfolio of work.
Why work at Xero?
Working at Xero will provide you with a diverse and inclusive environment alongside people who will respect, challenge, support and mentor you. Who says you can't have fun while you do the best work of your life?
We see the value in work-life balance, many of us take full advantage of our flexible working arrangements, so whether you like to get a surf in before work, like to head home in time to pick up the kids or you just like working from the comfort of your own home now and then, we want to support you.
We trust you to build your career to the best of your ability and we will support your hunger to learn with training and career mentorship, to help you flourish. Our facilities and PX teams work hard to give us great workspaces with all the tech company perks so join us and experience our awesome culture!
Xero is an NZ Immigration Accredited Employer and Rainbow Tick certified too.
Please include a cover letter in your application, telling us why you're a great fit for this position.
