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.

As part of our global Legal leadership team, you will lead a team responsible for Xero’s Regulatory and Compliance advisory function, ensuring Xero is empowered to adhere to relevant regulatory obligations across Xero global operations. You will provide leadership and strategic oversight to evolve and maintain the global management of Xero’s regulatory and compliance frameworks.

You will lead a team tasked with partnering proactively with the business; ensuring robust and commercially acute legal advice is provided, and regulatory and compliance matters affecting the organisation are managed effectively. Embedding a culture of regulatory compliance and identifying opportunities to increase knowledge around regulatory and compliance matters within the business will be a passion for you. This role will see you working closely with the wider global Legal team, external advisors, and stakeholders to support and own Xero’s legal function across areas under your purview.

∙ Provide strategic leadership to build and maintain an effective regulatory and compliance framework at Xero

∙ Drive a proactive approach towards the identification of and advice on management of regulatory and compliance risk and potential impacts to Xero across the global business.

∙ Lead the function responsible for advising on most regulatory areas relevant to Xero, such as financial services, privacy/data protection, antitrust, data access, and emerging regulation.

∙ Establish and lead a “second line” regulatory compliance function with a particular focus on understanding and supporting compliance obligations as Xero explores expanded participation in financial services workflows

∙ Provide direction and support to ensure advice and problem solving is informed by a strong understanding of strategy and commercial drivers within the business

∙ Advise senior management and the Board on key regulatory and compliance issues.

∙ To allow for maximum scalability, lead the creation of global standards, approaches and education (to the extent appropriate and with regional variations as necessary)

∙ Be a trusted strategic adviser to not only the Legal function, but within the wider Xero business; supporting your team to identify and proactively manage Xero’s regulatory obligations and risks while finding ways to facilitate business key deliverables

∙ Foster cross-functional, cross-regional collaboration and sharing of learnings to help align structure and tactics and standardise approaches

∙ Keep abreast of changes to law globally within the role’s purview, ensuring the Chief Legal Officer and relevant EGMs and legal team members are informed of relevant matters, particularly where projects and resources will be required to implement legislative requirements

∙ In collaboration with the government relations team, support Xero’s response to external regulatory advocacy and regulatory policy matters, including supporting advocacy with government and regulatory bodies for change and contributing to or leading submissions on proposed changes to the law relevant to Xero’s business

The successful candidate will possess more than 15 years PQE with at least 5 of those years spent in-house. It will be necessary for you to possess a relevant law degree and ideally with a current practising certificate in any number of the jurisdictions Xero is domiciled. Critical to your ability to succeed in this role will be your significant experience leading a high performing regulatory and compliance function and advising global, growth focussed businesses (ideally with a technology/SaaS focus). You will be an expert in dealing with regulatory bodies, confident in your management of regulators and have a track record of proactive and creative approaches to problem solving. Experience in, or qualification in, financial services regulation and/or privacy would be advantageous as would knowledge of AML/CTF compliance obligations.

This role presents an outstanding opportunity to embed a Regulatory and Compliance team that is recognised by Xero globally as a valuable and trusted advisor/partner.

Here at Xero Legal, we're not your average legal team. We're valued by our colleagues for our collaboration, innovation, business partnering and having a growth mindset.

Please include a cover letter in your application, telling us why you’re a great fit for this position.