What is the type of contract for this position?

The contract for this position is a Full-time contract

What's the salary range for the Design Operations Principal position?

The suggested salary for this position is $152,100-$185,900*

Is telecommuting possible for this position?

Yes, telecommuting is possible for this position

Design Operations Principal job at Xero

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.

How you’ll make an impact

The goal for our global Design team is to continue to develop the World Class Design culture at Xero. The Design Operations Principal will play a critical role in helping to establish and drive the future direction of Design Operations at Xero. You will be responsible for evangelizing our design system, practices and processes that enable our people to create #beautiful customer experiences. You will work closely with the GM – Design and Research Operations and other key members of the Design Leadership Team to identify, define, prioritise and own key initiatives that will sustain a great team culture and work experience, and bring efficiency and effectiveness to our fast scaling 185+ Product Design organization.

What You'll Do

Design Operations Practice and Thinking

Work with the GM – Design and Research Operations and Design Operations Director to define initiatives which help to continually evolve and improve the Design Ops and Product Design Practices.
Own key initiatives to establish and maintain foundational tools and processes that deliver measurable efficiencies across the Design Team
Develop onboarding practices that ensure new team members are equipped with the information, connections and tools to quickly establish their foundations that will set them up for success at Xero.
Collect team feedback routinely and undertake internal research to understand the current or changing climate, culture and needs of our scaling team.
Partner with design and research leaders to evolve practices and mechanisms that enable our team to continue to scale in a sustainable way.
Mentor and support other team members, enabling them to develop their skills and expertise in the Design Operations space.
Collaborate with peers across the Design organisation and Operations teams to identify opportunities to innovate or improve practices and create solutions in an integrated way.

Relationship Management

Influence, help prioritise and focus efforts on the most impactful work.
Build strong collaborative partnerships across the Product Design and Research org, Legal, Procurement, CX, Marketing and broader Ops teams to align on and embed consistent quality of practice.
Interface with legal, security, and procurement teams where needed to onboard and pay vendors, including by facilitating statements of work and negotiating business terms and budget
Provide Design Leaders and stakeholders with visibility and updates of current initiatives, resource use and team performance
Promote the value of design and collaborative practice across spheres of influence and participation

Success looks like

You’re a key member of the Research and Design team
You’re helping drive the way we do things across Design organisation through your contribution in Design, Research and Ops forums
You’re collaborating and communicating well with all Xero colleagues, especially Design and Research teams and Operations teams across the business.

What you’ll bring with you - Critical Competencies

Extremely organized and detailed self-starter. Ability to work across multiple requests in a fast-paced environment.
Comfortable with some ambiguity and the foresight to create a plan B before it’s needed.
Strategic acumen and the foresight to anticipate complex, cross functional problems
Active listening and systems-thinking; heading off issues as we scale.
Passion for effective and timely internal and external communication.
Great people skills
An optimistic get-stuff-done mindsetTop notch writing skills

What you’ll bring with you - Experience

Expert in establishing best practices for Design Operations and managing tools
Successful track record in managing cross functional initiatives with many stakeholders within design and outside, across different disciplines and business units
Experience in procurement & change processes including negotiating budget, scope & terms of business.
Systems thinker with excellence in process analysis and track record of improving processes as a team scales, resulting in greater operational efficiency and team productivity

About Xero?

Diversity of people brings diversity of thought, and we like that. A collaborative and inclusive environment is important to us. Working at Xero will provide you with a diverse and inclusive environment alongside people who will respect, challenge and support you to have fun while you do the best work of your life. We are a place where personal development, innovation, and well-being are not just inspired but celebrated.

We value our people and offer a wide range of compelling benefits and perks, including Xero shares and great parental leave policies. Xero’s collaborative culture is underscored by our values - #Ownership, #Challenge, #Beautiful, #Human and #Team - which empower us to understand and serve customers, attract top talent and continuously innovate. From the moment you step through our doors, you’ll feel welcome and supported to do the best work of your life.

Please note that we currently require all employees and contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to work from a Xero office, or engage in any face-to-face Xero business. Xero will work with anyone who is not vaccinated, or prefers not to disclose their vaccination status, to determine if any reasonable accommodations can be provided to ensure their role can be performed safely whilst the restriction is in place.

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Design Operations Principal