Engineering Manager (BE) - Core Media (ANZ Remote)

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Sydney / Australia

About the Role

Join Canva's Media Platform team as an Engineering Manager (BE) - Core Media (ANZ Remote), where you'll lead a high-performing team of 4-6 backend engineers building the foundational infrastructure that powers every design on our platform. Managing petabytes of media and serving billions of assets to millions of global users, you'll balance strategic initiatives with urgent product needs, contribute to architectural decisions for distributed systems, and partner cross-functionally to accelerate delivery. In this role, you'll champion engineering excellence, translate big-picture strategy into actionable milestones, and advocate for scaling our systems to support Canva's next billion users—all while fostering a collaborative, innovative culture that embodies our design-focused mission. Canva's Media Platform team solves the toughest distributed systems challenges to make visual magic possible, from uploads to exports. As an Engineering Manager, you'll thrive in our high-growth environment, navigating ambiguity, coaching engineers at all levels (especially seniors), and driving team velocity amid complexity. Your deep backend expertise and passion for building at scale will directly impact how creators worldwide access media, aligning technical depth with Canva's user-centric ethos. We're looking for a strategic leader who excels in high-growth settings, communicates effectively across technical and business contexts, and is energised by scaling both systems and teams. With ANZ remote flexibility, hybrid options from Sydney or other locations, and Canva's renowned benefits like equity, inclusive leave, and Vibe & Thrive allowances, you'll join a team redefining design for everyone. If you love strategic problem-solving and collaborative innovation, apply to help carry Canva forward.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a high-performing team of 4-6 backend engineers in the Media Platform group
• Balance strategic platform initiatives with high-volume product feature requests across Canva
• Contribute to architectural decisions and solve complex distributed systems challenges
• Partner with teams across Canva to align roadmaps and accelerate delivery
• Champion engineering excellence and improve operational health at scale
• Create clarity by translating big-picture strategy into actionable milestones and metrics
• Advocate for the team's needs and shape how Media Platform scales for billions of users
• Foster a collaborative, innovative culture aligned with Canva's design-focused mission
• Drive team velocity while maintaining high standards for code quality and reliability
• Mentor engineers at all levels to support career growth and technical mastery

Required Qualifications

• Experience leading backend platform teams of 4-6 engineers, including coaching senior engineers
• Deep expertise in backend development and distributed systems at scale
• Proven track record in high-growth environments managing competing priorities
• Strong experience contributing to architectural decisions for complex systems
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategic vision into actionable milestones and metrics
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of engineering management experience in backend or platform teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience scaling media or asset management platforms handling petabytes of data
• Background in cloud infrastructure and serving billions of assets globally
• Familiarity with Canva's tech stack or similar design/media-focused platforms
• Experience partnering cross-functionally in fast-paced product environments
• Prior work in ANZ region or remote-first engineering teams

Required Skills

• Backend engineering expertise
• Distributed systems design
• Scalable platform architecture
• Team leadership and coaching
• Strategic problem-solving
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Technical communication
• Handling ambiguity and priorities
• Engineering excellence practices
• Operational health at scale
• Roadmap alignment and delivery
• Mentoring senior engineers
• Cloud-based media infrastructure
• High-growth environment navigation
• Metrics-driven decision making

Benefits

• Equity packages to share in Canva's success
• Inclusive parental leave policy supporting all parents and carers
• Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing, social connection, and office setup
• Flexible leave options to recharge and support personal needs
• Hybrid work model with ANZ remote flexibility from Sydney, Melbourne, or other locations
• Access to flagship Sydney campus and co-working spaces across Australia and New Zealand
• Virtual interview process with focus on skills, passion, and cultural fit
• Opportunities to work on foundational systems powering visual design for millions globally

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.