Senior Backend Engineer - Feature Control, Remote ANZ

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Sydney / Australia

About the Role

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design. At Canva, we're not just building tools—we're empowering creativity at global scale. As a Senior Backend Engineer in Feature Control (Remote ANZ), you'll join the Product Insights Enablement (PIE) group, crafting the infrastructure that powers safe, progressive feature delivery across Canva. From A/B experiments to major ML model rollouts and global redesigns, your systems will enable every team to ship confidently while minimizing risk. This hybrid Sydney/Australia role offers flexibility for ANZ remote workers passionate about building reliable platforms that move fast. You'll design and build backend systems for feature flagging, rollout targeting, safety gates, and observability integrations. Collaborating closely with engineering, product, data science, and infra teams, you'll embed control patterns directly into development workflows. Expect to tackle challenges like scaling flag evaluation for millions of users, creating sophisticated targeting logic, and integrating with Canva's design-centric observability stack. Your work directly impacts how Canva launches innovative features that delight 170M+ monthly creators worldwide. Canva's collaborative culture thrives on diverse perspectives and bold ideas. We're seeking thoughtful engineers who prioritize system health, advocate for clean architecture, and mentor others to elevate craft. If you're excited about solving complex distributed systems problems while shaping product roadmaps in a design-first company, this is your opportunity to build tools that empower teams to ship better, faster, and safer. Interviews are virtual—apply now and help redefine creative delivery at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and evolve backend systems powering feature flagging and progressive delivery at Canva scale
• Design safe rollout patterns, sophisticated targeting logic, and observability integrations
• Collaborate with platform and product teams to embed safety and control in development workflows
• Maintain and improve performance, reliability, and scalability of flag infrastructure
• Participate in code reviews, technical design discussions, and cross-team architecture planning
• Share knowledge through mentorship and establish engineering best practices
• Enable AI-assisted review workflows across Canva's content platforms
• Partner with engineering, data, and product teams for data-informed delivery at scale
• Shape Canva's rollout platform supporting A/B tests to global high-stakes launches
• Solve complex technical challenges influencing the product roadmap

Required Qualifications

• Experienced backend engineer with 5+ years building platforms, internal tools, or safety-critical systems
• Proven track record designing and scaling APIs, distributed systems, or configuration-based infrastructure
• Hands-on experience managing infrastructure at scale using container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes
• Strong commitment to writing clean, maintainable, well-tested code with engineering excellence practices
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in cross-functional teams collaborating with product, data, and infra partners
• Deep understanding of system safety, observability, and long-term infrastructure health
• Experience participating in code reviews, technical design discussions, and architecture planning

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with progressive delivery, feature flagging, flag targeting, and rollout metrics
• Background in content review systems or AI-assisted workflows
• Experience building feature flagging infrastructure for large-scale consumer products
• Knowledge of observability integrations and rollout safety patterns
• Mentorship experience elevating engineering craft across teams

Required Skills

• Backend development expertise (Go, Java, Node.js, or similar)
• API design and REST/gRPC experience
• Distributed systems architecture
• Container orchestration (Kubernetes/Docker)
• Feature flagging and progressive delivery
• Observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, tracing)
• Database design (SQL/NoSQL)
• Performance optimization and scalability
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Code review and technical leadership
• System design documentation
• Problem-solving complex technical challenges
• Mentorship and knowledge sharing
• Clean code and testing discipline
• Safety-critical systems thinking
• Rollout metrics and targeting logic

Benefits

• Flexible work arrangements including Remote ANZ with hybrid Sydney options
• Canva For All - discounted gym memberships, childcare, meal delivery, and more
• Industry-leading parental leave policy supporting all family types
• 'Canva Move' wellness allowance for gym, fitness apps, and mental health support
• Learning and development stipend plus internal growth opportunities
• Delicious daily chef-prepared meals or generous meal stipends
• Endless snacks and drinks to fuel creativity and collaboration
• Global team events and regular offsites celebrating our achievements

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.