Technical Duty Officer / Incident Commander (SRE)

The Technical Duty Officer at Xero is responsible for owning the incident management process to ensure reliable services during outages. This includes coordinating multiple teams for swift decision-making, leading discussions during critical incidents, and empowering teams to embrace SRE principles for continuous improvement. The TDO also collaborates with product teams to analyze failures and implement strategies for enhanced operational efficiency.

To be considered for the Technical Duty Officer position at Xero, candidates should have previous experience as a Site Reliability Engineer or in an Operations or Engineering setting. Additionally, hands-on skills with AWS services, networking knowledge capable of troubleshooting TCP/IP and SSL/TLS issues, and coding experience in Python for automation are critical to succeed in this role.

Xero is committed to the continuous development of its Technical Duty Officers by offering extensive training on incident management processes and SRE principles. This ensures that TDOs not only can manage incidents effectively but also lead transformations within the SRE culture, promoting a customer-focused and technically excellent environment.

The culture at Xero for Technical Duty Officers focuses on collaboration, continuous learning, and customer focus. TDOs are encouraged to advocate for best practices, embrace SRE principles, and remain proactive in identifying potential issues, all while working within a supportive team environment that values individual contributions.

Xero offers an impressive range of benefits for its Technical Duty Officers, including generous paid leave, dedicated leave for mental and physical well-being, health and life insurance, flexible working arrangements, and an Employee Share Plan. Additionally, employees can access ongoing career development opportunities to support their professional growth.

In responding to a high-severity incident, clearly outline the situation, the actions you took to mitigate the impact, and how you coordinated with various teams for effective resolution. Focus on your leadership skills and the processes you implemented to facilitate communication during the incident.

The most critical skills include strong technical acumen, exceptional communication skills, and the ability to remain calm under pressure. Discuss how you utilize these skills in previous roles to foster collaboration and drive incident resolution effectively.

In a post-incident review, detail how you analyze the incident timeline and outcomes, what would have been done differently, and any changes implemented to prevent future incidents. Emphasize the importance of learning and continuous improvement.

Discuss tools you have used for automation and processes you have streamlined using these tools. Explain how these automations improved incident response times and operational efficiency.

Explain your strategies for understanding customer needs during incidents, such as effective communication and prioritizing resolutions that minimize customer impact. Stress the importance of empathy and clarity in communications.

Detail your method for preventative analysis, including failures you've studied in the past, how you collaborate with engineering teams to identify risks, and any specific techniques or tools you have used to track trends.

Outline your hands-on experience with AWS, citing specific services you have managed or troubleshot. Highlight scenarios where your AWS knowledge directly contributed to incident resolution or improvement in service reliability.

Share a story about a successful effort where you promoted SRE principles within your team or organization, explaining the challenges faced and the long-term benefits achieved from adopting those practices.

Discuss your method for rapidly assessing the situation, delegating responsibilities, and ensuring clear communication while focusing on resolution. Mention the importance of keeping all stakeholders informed.

Describe how playbooks and documentation serve as essential resources for guiding your team during incidents and how you have contributed to maintaining or creating these resources for continuous clarity and efficiency.