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 fundamental purpose of this role is to develop and achieve internal alignment behind agreed Xero positions on key public policy issues that are supported by evidence, and oversee the development of practical usable content that allows Xero executives to engage consistently and with impact.
If you're on board with our purpose, you're a well established leader in the field of public policy development and/or implementation, have exposure to business-to-government and government-to-business engagement and advocacy and you're looking to join a true digital economy pathbreaker, you'll make a major impact in this role by positioning Xero as a leading global policy voice on the key issues being faced by our customers.
This role, along with the GM, Government & Public Policy Engagement), both reporting to the EGM/Global Head of GX, make up the core senior global group of the GX function at Xero. Working within this tight knit global team, you will bring together senior executives from across Xero to develop policy positions that support small businesses to thrive.
Equally you'll tackle those detailed or technical positions and translate them into usable and impactful collateral to support in-region government engagement activations and the needs of our in-market GX leaders and the regional businesses they support.
The majority of Xero's in-market GX heads of function will also step up to an additional responsibility as global policy leaders, effectively centres of excellence, in a specific priority policy area. The policy landscape across which were seeking to make allocations includes small business-related policy, global data policy, platform-related policies, technology and innovation policy, and broader economic policy. You will lead this overall process, coordinating the growth in depth and coverage of this important knowledge network and work to extend its benefits to a wider pool of Xeros, all whilst maintaining a focus on the production of useful insights and materials.
What you'll do

• Always first, second and third, you'll be a kind, empathetic human being who cares about others. Then....
• It's essential you'll bring 10-15+ years experience as a clear leader in public policy, having held role/s in which an understanding of complex policy processes and how to navigate them to successfully develop agreed public policy positions was a core deliverable at which you excelled.
• This experience can have been from within government as a political or departmental policymaker, from within a regulator as a policy implementer or from within the private or community sectors as a policy shaper and advocate. At a minimum you will have a deep understanding of each of these perspectives and it is essential you have direct professional exposure to roles in at least one, and preferably two of them.
• Preferably your public policy professional experience will also mean you'll bring the skills developed from extended period of work in areas of topical alignment to Xero's strategic public policy concerns, namely small business policy, digital and digitization policy, data policy including consumer data rights and open banking/open finance, innovation and fintech policy, taxation and retirement incomes policy and broader economic/finance policies.
• Policy@Xero - as our public policy leader you'll develop and maintain a sophisticated approach to the identification, segmentation and prioritization of the major public policies impacting small businesses and Xero, including supporting the EGM GX to report on public policy intelligence, trends and insights, covering both opportunities and challenges, and pitched towards the company's executive team, its EGM group and from time to time the Board or Board Members.
• You'll be a diplomat who is aware of the need for alignment and internal stakeholder involvement and collaboration as a critical component in policy formation in the modern corporate environment, both internally and externally to the organization
• Best practices in key policy areas - you will lead the development of a program to develop (if new) or test and confirm/update (if existing) Xeros best practice policy approaches on key issues and to systematically document and capture usable position statements and evidence in support.
• Cutting edge policy partnerships - you will be plugged into the key public policy thought leadership networks, trends, dialogues and other forums and form strong connections with relevant public policy partners and, in coordination with our Communications colleagues, with influencers such as policy institutes, think tanks and academics.
• Submission coordination - you will work towards the coordination of a consistent approach to submissions and consultations across Xero.
• All the data - you will work closely with Xero's internal data analysis teams, including our XSBI team, to propose and deliver projects of strategic importance to the public policy debate.
• You lead in an aligned and collaborative way - you will need to lead multiple projects that entail working collaboratively and transparently with multiple Xero business units, in particular the regulatory and legal, product compliance, communications, data and partnership teams, to ensure business alignment.
• Using data in our work and measuring the effectiveness of our engagements - you will lead our efforts to integrate data analysis deeply into our work and also how to most rigorously measure our impact, with an eye to constant improvement and customer impact.
• You will be a diversity-centric trailblazer - Xero elevates the building of diverse and inclusive teams and culture to the centre of our thinking. You will make a major contribution to both of these concerns by being an innovator and mindset leader in both areas.

What you'll bring with you - Critical competencies

• An intuitive understanding of public policy formation, from multiple perspectives
• Strategic delivery and commercial acumen
• Very strong interpersonal diplomatic skills
• A high ability to operate in highly uncertain environments
• A problem-solving mentality
• Understanding of small business issues
• Ability to take a practical, proactive and creative approach to managing/solving government engagement issues
• A mindset for change/new ways of working
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• The ability to develop relationships with key stakeholders
• The ability to influence others
• The ability to manage projects and people in a global company
• The ability to operate seamlessly between the hybrid virtual and non-virtual world of 2021 and beyond and the ability to play a role in leading and supporting globally dispersed teams.

What you'll bring with you - Experience

• 10-15+ years in public policy in government (political or departmental level), a regulator or the private and community sectors or a mix of these in a role focused on public policy formation and navigating complex policy processes.
• Highly tuned policy development and research skills with a record of their successful deployment in potentially contested environments,
• A familiarity with the key relevant policy agencies
• Ideally a degree in a relevant field, such as Politics, Law, Economics, Public Policy, Government/Public Administration, Social Sciences and Research Methodology, or similar. Degrees in Business and Commerce are also of value.

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.