SVP Product Marketing

Job description

About Xero Xero is a global cloud accounting platform built for small businesses and the accountants and bookkeepers who serve them. With nearly 5 million subscribers across 180 countries — including the UK, Australia, the US, and beyond — we're on a mission to make life better for people in small business. Our platform sits at the intersection of financial services, AI, and everyday business operations, and we're investing significantly in the next chapter of growth. The Opportunity Product Marketing at Xero is one of the most complex and consequential PMM remits in SaaS. We serve two distinct audiences — small business owners and the accountants and bookkeepers who advise them — across markets where the competitive landscape, customer behaviour, tax legislation, and in many cases the product itself differs meaningfully by region. We're bringing JAX, our AI Finance Partner, to market as a genuinely new category. And we're doing it with a global team that needs to build for scale without losing the local specificity that wins customers. This leader is not only bringing AI products to market — they are redesigning how Product Marketing works in an AI-native company. From how PMM informs product development, to how messaging systems are built, to how content and enablement are produced and optimised globally, this is a function transformation role as much as a GTM leadership role. The SVP of Product Marketing owns the function end-to-end: positioning and messaging, GTM strategy, product launch from beta through utilisation, research, competitive intelligence, and sales and partner enablement. You'll lead a team of ~30 across global and regional PMMs — the primary bridge between Product and Growth, embedded upstream with our CPTO and Product EGMs and deeply partnered with regional marketing leads, Customer Growth & Experience, and our commercial teams. This is not a role where global templates get pushed down to regions. It's a role where you and your team genuinely understand what's different in each market — and build the strategy to win there. What You'll Do Set the strategic direction for PMM - Own global positioning, messaging architecture, and audience CVP across SB and AB segments — establishing a clear global position while partnering with regional teams to articulate what sets Xero apart in each market. Competitive context, customer need, and product differentiation will vary; the positioning architecture must reflect that. - Lead the PMM function's transition to an AI-native operating model — a structured data foundation of positioning, claims, proof points, and performance data, plus AI-native content workflows, with humans setting and holding the craft bar. Move from bespoke asset creation to modular content systems, rapid testing, and editorial governance at scale. - Lead Xero's AI narrative — working with Product to translate JAX's capabilities into positioning that is compelling to existing customers and prospects, building Xero's credibility in AI without outrunning the product reality. - Lead research as a core PMM discipline — message testing, competitive intelligence, voice-of-customer — ensuring positioning and GTM decisions are grounded in evidence, not assumption. - Own value perception, pricing comms, and product adoption strategy — going well beyond launch announcements to drive measurable lift in utilisation. Working closely with the pricing and packaging team, lead commercialisation strategy for key launches including promotions, incentives, audience cohorting, and sales motions. - Partner upstream with Product Leadership to shape roadmap strategy and framing, not just react to releases. Lead PMM's role in AI-era product development — ensuring customer insight, category framing, monetisation hypotheses, and adoption signals shape what gets built. Quarterback launches with rigour and speed - Lead our product launch and GTM process end-to-end — from positioning and beta messaging through GA launch and into utilisation across regions. PMM owns the full arc, not just the launch moment. - Build launch workflows that use AI to accelerate asset development, regional adaptation, field feedback synthesis, and post-launch optimisation — moving the team from manual production to intelligent, modular execution. - Define how PMM uses live adoption, usage, win/loss, and field signals to continuously refine messaging and commercialisation after launch, with AI enabling the team to move at pace. - Drive prioritisation across a large product portfolio — not everything can be a hero launch. Set the framework, get alignment from product and commercial stakeholders, and build the playbooks that allow regional teams to execute with confidence. Build and elevate the team's craft - Set a high bar for positioning quality, competitive intelligence, and insight-led messaging — and build a team culture where PMMs can articulate what excellent looks like and close their own gaps. - Develop PMMs who work across the whole product lifecycle: upstream with product on strategy, and shipping sharp, differentiated messaging to market. Identify and address the gap where individuals are strong on one side and weak on the other. - Lead the team's adoption of AI tools as a craft multiplier — not to replace judgment, but to test faster, produce more, and iterate with evidence. Model this yourself; build it into how the team works. - Cultivate deep customer obsession and genuine product depth — Xero's PMMs should understand the underlying accounting logic, regulatory context by market, and the workflows that make the product genuinely useful or genuinely frustrating for real users. - Develop, retain, and recruit: create an environment where strong PMMs grow and stay, and recruit for the team's future capability, not just current headcount. Operate effectively in a global matrix - Navigate the hard-line/dotted-line structure with confidence — building influence with regional MDs and global functional leads to drive aligned, efficient execution across eight markets. - Define and govern where PMM work sits globally versus regionally by product area. Represent PMM on Xero's marketing leadership team and serve as the connective tissue between Product and the commercial organisation. - Drive shared metrics across top-of-funnel awareness, feature adoption, and revenue expansion — building the team's ability to measure and communicate PMM's contribution to business outcomes. What Success Looks Like in Year One By the end of your first year, you will have: - Systematised the PMM-Product partnership: currently good individual relationships become a structured operating model with clear roles and responsibilities. - Led GTM strategy and launch for at least five major Hero initiatives: with measurable impact on awareness, adoption, or utilisation; and a sharpened GTM process where prioritisation is faster and regional teams have confidence in what's coming and when. - Deepened and regionalised AB and SB positioning: the global positioning architecture is sharpened, more differentiated by market and ICP, with an always-on flywheel for developing claims actively used across GTM. - Stood up an AI-native PMM operating model: structured content systems, AI-accelerated asset development, and rapid testing are running in production; the team's output velocity has increased without compromising craft quality. - Built a clear measurement framework: PMM can demonstrate its contribution to commercial outcomes across the funnel, with agreed leading indicators for positioning quality and GTM effectiveness. - Operationalised the PMM and Sales Enablement partnership: streamlined handoffs, a QA check at launch readiness, and a closed feedback loop from field back to PMM. What You'll Bring - 15+ years in Product Marketing, with at least 5 years leading sizeable global teams. You're able to operate at many altitudes without losing context or craft quality. - Deep experience marketing to both SMB and B2B audiences — you understand the different craft required for each and have the instincts to navigate messaging that needs to work across both. - A track record of building and executing GTM strategy at scale, including complex global launches with strong regional activation — from beta through to driving post-launch utilisation. - Proven experience redesigning a PMM team's operating model around AI tools — not as a pilot or experiment, but as the way the function works. You've built structured content systems, AI-native workflows, and the change management to bring a team along. - Strong positioning and messaging instincts — you can write, you can edit, and you know the difference between a sharp value prop and a dressed-up feature list. You've done the craft work, not just managed people who do it. - Experience bringing AI or emerging technology products to market — positioning something customers don't yet fully understand, without either overclaiming or underselling. - Fluency in the matrix — you've worked in a global/regional model and know how to build real partnerships across hard-line and dotted-line structures; you respect regional complexity rather than trying to engineer it away. - Executive presence and stakeholder credibility — with product leaders, commercial teams, regional MDs, and the C-suite. - Experience in fintech, financial services, SMB software, or accounting-adjacent products is a strong plus. Why Xero - A genuinely differentiated product with a loyal customer base and a clear AI strategy (JAX) that PMM gets to help define and bring to market — not just execute against. - A function with real scope and clear ownership — eight markets, two core audiences (SB and AB), a team of ~30, and a mandate that spans positioning through adoption. - A business investing in brand and marketing as a growth lever, not a cost centre. - Xero's values are not wallpaper — go bold, go fast, go together,, and team are lived in how decisions get made. Compensation & Total Rewards At Xero, we value the impact and skills you bring to the team. We don’t just hire for a role; we invest in people. We believe in a Total Package philosophy - which means your value isn't just a single number on a paycheck. While base salary is a core component, we look at your compensation through a holistic lens that includes equity, performance incentives, and world-class benefits. The expected base salary range for this role in: - California, New York and Washington: Minimum $320K - Maximum $390K USD Individual pay is determined by various factors, including geography, level of experience, and the specific skills you bring to the role. In addition to base pay, Xero’s roles are eligible for the following forms of variable compensation: - Variable Pay: Permanent employees are eligible to participate in our annual bonus and equity (RSU) programs. You may also be eligible for performance-based cash or equity (RSUs) incentives depending on your role level, and company performance. - Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, and 21 days PTO, 10 days of Wellbeing leave, 5 days of Xtra Leave, 1 volunteer day, 12 paid holidays, paid parental leave. Further information included on our Xero Perks https://careers.xero.com/inside-xero/benefits-wellbeing/ page. Xero uses AI to help screen applications based on job-related qualifications. These tools assist our recruiters but do not make automated hiring decisions. A human recruiter reviews all candidates before any hiring action is taken.