Senior Product Designer, Design Systems - 13 Month Contract

Senior Product Designer, Design Systems - 13 Month Contract The role / impact As a Senior Product Designer, you will play a leading role in shaping Xero’s product surfaces at scale through your work on the design system. You will work both independently and collaboratively to deliver high-quality outcomes that achieve business objectives and empower millions of small businesses and their advisors globally. Your work will focus on translating complex ideas into simple, elegant solutions that consider the wider product portfolio. By partnering with cross-functional teams, you will advocate for user-centred approaches and contribute to a culture of design excellence, ensuring every interaction is impactful and strategically aligned. The team / how they connect You will join the Experience Systems team, a group of designers and engineers who build and maintain XUI, Xero’s central design system. The team operates within a new Foundations organisation that brings together AI experience, content design, and prototyping to drive highly visible, high-leverage impact across the entire company. You will stay connected through weekly kick-offs, design crits, and regular collaborative sessions, working in a flexible environment that values asynchronous alignment. The team is currently working on / Initially, you will focus on - Leading the rollout of the New Xero Design Language (XDL) across core product surfaces to create a modern, unified customer experience. - Evolving XUI into an AI-ready design system, exploring how tokenised foundations and AI-first patterns unlock new agentic customer experiences. - Partnering closely with engineers to design and iterate Figma components and React implementations that help over 150 designers and 1400+ engineers ship cohesive UI at speed. - Conducting qualitative and quantitative research to identify patterns and insights that inform the evolution of system-wide foundations like colour, spacing, and grids. Where and how you can work This role is a 13-month fixed-term contract based in New Zealand (either Auckland or Wellington). We offer a flexible, hybrid working model with no fixed in-office days, allowing you to work in a way that fits your life while still having regular opportunities to connect with the team in person for offsites and collaboration days. Here are some of the things we are looking for - You bring deep expertise in design systems, including a mastery of Figma components, variables, and documentation for large-scale platforms. - A portfolio that showcases your ability to craft elegant interfaces and solve complex, data-heavy UI challenges like dashboards and dense information layouts. - Your systems thinking mindset allows you to see connections across journeys and balance when to follow, extend, or evolve existing patterns. - You have a track record of partnering effectively with engineers and product managers to make trade-offs and drive alignment on design solutions. - A curiosity for emerging technologies shines through in your willingness to explore AI-assisted workflows and agentic UI patterns. - You possess strong communication skills, with the ability to tell the story of your design decisions using evidence and customer insights. Apply even if your experience isn't a perfect match! At Xero, we hire based on your skills, passion, and the unique perspective you can bring to enhance our culture and team.