As a Graduate Software Engineer at Xero, my role is to contribute to key engineering projects within a rotational program designed to build a broad technical skill set. I have gained experience in two distinct areas: Financial Operations (FinOps) and Cloud Security. Role and Responsibilities In my first rotation with the FinOps team, my primary responsibility was to help monitor and manage cloud costs. This involved using infrastructure-as-code principles to implement and maintain alerting systems, ensuring the business has clear visibility over its cloud spending. My second rotation with the Security Assets team has focused on enhancing Xero's cloud security posture. In this role, I contribute to the development and automation of security tools, such as the SonarQube Data Handler, which helps identify and manage security issues in our codebase. Day-to-Day Tasks My daily work revolves around the full software development lifecycle within an agile environment. My typical tasks include: Development: Working on assigned Jira tickets, which involves writing, testing, and refactoring code primarily in Python and Terraform. I regularly use AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot to improve efficiency and then work with senior engineers to refine the output. Collaboration: Actively participating in daily stand-ups to discuss progress and blockers. A significant part of my day often involves pair programming with team members to solve complex problems, which is a key method for on-the-job learning. Deployment: Submitting pull requests (PRs) for code review and deploying changes to staging and production environments using various CI/CD pipelines like Atlantis and GitHub Actions. Agile Ceremonies: Engaging in all team ceremonies, including sprint planning, retrospectives, and presenting my work at team playback sessions. Continuous Learning: Dedicating time to self-directed learning through AWS and Udemy courses to continuously build my technical knowledge and support my practical work.
I've been busy with tasks related to live projects which has been a great way to learn by doing and seeing changes get applied in real time. There's always a clear sense that the work I'm doing goes back to impacting small business owners and accountants/bookkeepers all doing their jobs, which makes it meaningful. Some tasks can be a bit dry but all make up the big picture of adding to a project's goal. Tasks can vary day-to-day and sometimes change overnight but mostly always make sense to what's needed at the time
