Product Regulatory & Industry Advisory Manager

This role is essential to ensuring that the products Xero builds comply with the local government regulations and therefore, plays an integral role in directly contributing to the Xero Vision to be the most insightful and trusted small business platform.

What you’ll do:

• Define and execute the operating model and risk frameworks by which Xero reviews its product against current and proposed legislation in region, working closely with stakeholders from Product, Technology, GTM, Legal and other groups.
• Review future product features and functionality (typically with a 1-3 year outlook), providing input during the planning phase, to ensure they align with current and proposed legislation and regulatory requirements.
• Work with product teams to help them understand relevant requirements and translate these into accurate technical specifications.
• Be an active member of the internal community of regulatory and product subject matter experts, supporting those in other regions performing a similar function and our in-region specialists.
• Work with government agencies and professional bodies (in particular tax authorities and those driving compliance requirements in product), to represent Xero and participate in technical working groups, ensuring we build strong communication channels to support implementation and collaboration opportunities around future changes in regulatory requirements.
• Support M&A teams on awareness of regulatory requirements that may impact their proposals.
• Assist the product team and extended business with day-to-day regulatory compliance queries.

Xero is a global business, so while your focus is in-region, it will be necessary for you to regularly work with teams who are globally dispersed and may result in meetings and collaboration with colleagues in other timezones (and outside the “standard business hours” of your region).

The business has a clear understanding in region of:

• The regulatory requirements that our customers, users and software products need to comply with, particularly in respect to accounting, tax calculations, payroll, cyber security, reporting and record keeping.
• The upcoming regulatory change and subsequent areas of our platform likely to be impacted, and the opportunities this change offers Xero and small business.
• The regulatory risk map, related plans and timelines, and impacts to our key strategic priorities.

Critical competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Accounting, Commerce, Law, Taxation, Finance or similar.
• Qualified accountant or bookkeeper and current member of professional body.
• Highly advanced and specialist understanding of regional regulatory requirements that impact or drive data and returns flowing in/out of the tax authorities (broadly around income tax, sales tax, payroll and related cyber security requirements).
• Highly advanced and specialist knowledge of regional requirements around accounting and reporting obligations.
• Exceptional communication skills (written and verbal).
• Ability to translate complex technical regulatory detail into natural English, providing in-depth evaluation and interpretation for use by key stakeholders such as product and technology leadership teams, business analysts and developers.
• Confident and accurate decision making skills when working on significant and specialist issues.
• Thrive on managing your own time and approach to work, with a ruthless prioritisation of time and projects, a strong results & delivery attitude and equally happy with independent vs team-based work.
• The ability to build strong networks, including remotely.

Experience:

• 7+ years experience in public practice with focus on taxation, compliance or business services.
• 5+ years working collaboratively in technology, software or with Revenue Agencies.
• Experienced in use of a broad range of accounting, tax and payroll software and the preparation of financial statements and tax returns.
• Experienced in writing technical advice addressing complex specialist issues, with in-depth analysis, evaluation and interpretation, often requiring the ability to gain acceptance or change of thinking.
• Experienced collaborating and working with a broad range of stakeholders including senior leadership, external customers, technical peers.
• Experience with risk assessments and product roadmaps is advantageous.

Xero is seen as a thought leader and is an active participant in working groups with the tax authorities and industry groups in the region, working to shape the most trusted and efficient regulatory landscape possible for Xero's small businesses and the communities they support.

Inside Xero we have a thriving community of regulatory subject matter experts who can support and challenge each other, to build excellence in what we do, how we do it and the speed we can respond to market changes.