Be ready to go over:

• Code Refactoring – Identifying areas of your code that could be optimized or cleaned up based on interviewer feedback.
• API Integration & Concurrency – Discussing how your app handles network failures, slow connections, and thread management.
• Platform Best Practices – Demonstrating deep familiarity with platform-specific guidelines (Apple's Human Interface Guidelines or Google's Material Design) and performance profiling tools.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Memory leak detection, profiling CPU usage, and managing complex multi-threaded operations safely.

Example scenarios:

• "If we wanted to add a complex offline-first sync engine to this app, how would you restructure your data layer?"
• "How would you identify and fix a memory leak in the view model you implemented?"

Character Fit & Management Interview

The final stage is a behavioral interview with engineering managers. Xero prides itself on its inclusive, friendly, and human-centric culture. This interview is designed to assess how you collaborate with peers, how you handle ambiguity, and how you contribute to a positive, growth-oriented team environment.

Be ready to go over:

• Conflict Resolution – Navigating healthy technical disagreements within an engineering team.
• Growth Mindset – How you keep up with the rapidly changing mobile landscape and how you mentor or learn from others.
• Agile Practices – Your experience working in cross-functional squads, participating in sprint ceremonies, and collaborating with non-technical stakeholders.

Example scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you had to deliver a feature with an aggressive deadline. What trade-offs did you make, and how did you communicate them?"
• "Describe a situation where a production bug slipped through. How did you handle the post-mortem and prevent it from happening again?"

As a Mobile Engineer at Xero, your day-to-day activities will revolve around building high-quality mobile applications that deliver real value to users. You will be an active participant in the entire software development lifecycle, from initial product discovery and technical design to coding, testing, and deployment.

• Feature Development & Refactoring – You will write clean, well-documented, and highly testable Swift or Kotlin code to implement new product features. You will also actively identify technical debt in the existing codebase and champion refactoring initiatives to keep the architecture modern and maintainable.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – You will work closely with product managers, UX/UI designers, and QA engineers in an agile squad. You will help translate product requirements into technical specifications and ensure that the user experience is fluid, accessible, and intuitive.
• Quality Assurance & Testing – You will be responsible for maintaining high test coverage across your codebase. This includes writing unit tests, integration tests, and UI automation tests to ensure that new releases do not introduce regressions.
• CI/CD & App Store Delivery – You will participate in maintaining and improving the mobile CI/CD pipelines. You will assist in preparing app builds for beta testing (via TestFlight or Google Play Beta) and managing the release process to the App Store and Google Play Store.

To be competitive for a Mobile Engineer position at Xero, you should possess a strong foundation in modern mobile development practices, a passion for clean code, and excellent collaborative skills.

Must-Have Skills

• Platform Expertise – Strong proficiency in either iOS development (Swift, UIKit, SwiftUI) or Android development (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Android SDK).
• Architectural Patterns – Proven experience working with modern mobile architectures such as MVVM, Clean Architecture, or VIPER.
• Testing & Testability – Deep understanding of unit testing frameworks (XCTest for iOS, JUnit/MockK for Android) and a track record of writing testable code.
• Modern Concurrency – Strong knowledge of asynchronous programming models, such as Swift Concurrency (async/await, Actors) or Kotlin Coroutines and Flows.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Cross-Platform Exposure – Familiarity with Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) or React Native is highly valued as Xero explores shared codebase solutions.
• Accessibility (WCAG) – Experience building accessible mobile interfaces that cater to users with diverse accessibility needs.
• CI/CD Automation – Experience configuring and maintaining mobile CI/CD tools such as Fastlane, Bitrise, or GitHub Actions.

Q: How difficult is the take-home assignment? A: The assignment itself is of average difficulty and typically involves building or modifying a medium-sized application. However, the grading rigor is exceptionally high. You must treat the project as production-level code, focusing heavily on architectural separation, clean coding standards, and comprehensive unit tests.

Q: What is the engineering culture like at Xero? A: The culture is highly collaborative, supportive, and human-centric. Engineers describe the environment as playful, respectful, and highly focused on continuous learning. There is a strong emphasis on psychological safety, meaning team members are encouraged to ask questions, voice concerns, and learn from mistakes.

Q: How much time should I spend on the take-home project? A: While the instructions may suggest spending only a few hours, successful candidates often invest significant effort to ensure the project is structured perfectly. It is highly recommended to take the time needed to refactor the template code into a clean MVVM pattern and implement solid unit test coverage.

Q: Does Xero support remote or hybrid working arrangements? A: Yes, Xero offers flexible working arrangements, including hybrid models that balance working from home with collaborating in their modern, well-equipped offices. Exact policies may vary slightly depending on your specific team and geographic location.

Refactor the Template Code – When you receive the take-home project, do not simply patch the required feature onto the existing template. The core test is to see if you can recognize architectural deficiencies and refactor the code into a clean, testable MVVM or Clean Architecture pattern.

Prioritize Unit Testing – Code that works perfectly but lacks robust unit tests will likely result in a rejection. Ensure that your business logic, state transitions, and data mapping are covered by clear, descriptive unit tests.

Demonstrate Humility during Code Reviews – During the technical interview, the panel will intentionally critique your code and suggest alternative approaches. Do not become defensive. Instead, welcome the feedback, discuss the pros and cons of their suggestions, and show that you are easy to collaborate with.

Align with Xero's Values – Throughout your conversations, weave in examples of how you embody Xero's values. Show how you keep technical solutions "Easy" for others to understand, how you take "Ownership" of your features, and how you remain "Human" in your interactions with colleagues.

The Mobile Engineer position at Xero is an exceptional opportunity to work on a highly impactful product suite used globally by millions of small businesses. The role allows you to solve complex mobile engineering challenges—such as offline synchronization, high performance, and accessibility—while working within a supportive and collaborative engineering culture.

To give yourself the best chance of success, focus your preparation heavily on clean mobile architecture, robust testing strategies, and platform-specific best practices. Treat the take-home assignment as a showcase of your software craftsmanship, and approach the interviews as collaborative conversations rather than rigid examinations.

The compensation insights above reflect typical market-competitive ranges for mobile engineering talent at Xero. When preparing your salary expectations, consider your specific location, your depth of platform experience, and your performance throughout the rigorous technical stages of the interview loop.

With focused preparation, a strong emphasis on clean code, and a collaborative mindset, you are well-positioned to excel in the interview process. For more real-world interview experiences, detailed company insights, and prep resources, explore the community-driven guides available on Dataford.