Senior C++ Engineer (iOS/macOS UI) - Affinity

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country London / United Kingdom

About the Role

Join the team at Canva's Affinity suite redefining professional creative software for millions worldwide. As a Senior C++ Engineer (iOS/macOS UI), you'll craft high-performance, beautifully responsive interfaces that feel truly native across Apple platforms. Working from our vibrant London campus in Shoreditch or in a flexible hybrid model, you'll collaborate with passionate engineers, designers, and product experts to push the boundaries of photo editing, vector design, and layout applications. Your work will empower creatives everywhere to bring ideas to life faster and more intuitively, leveraging C++ and Objective-C to deliver pixel-perfect experiences optimized for mouse, touch, and stylus inputs. In this role, you'll architect shared UI libraries, optimize for peak performance and memory efficiency, and debug intricate systems spanning the Affinity product family. You'll partner closely with design teams to translate stunning visuals into responsive, native-feeling interfaces while staying ahead of Apple's rapidly evolving frameworks. Our close-knit team values precision, rich UI interactions, and innovative solutions that delight professional users—your contributions will directly shape the future of creative workflows at Canva. Canva's design-focused culture celebrates bold innovation, collaboration, and user obsession. We're building world-class tools that democratize creativity, and we want engineers who thrive in dynamic environments, take pride in elegant code, and are excited to solve complex challenges together. With equity packages, inclusive benefits, flexible work options, and a supportive community, you'll have everything needed to do your best work while growing alongside a mission-driven team.

Key Responsibilities

• Build high-performance, elegant user interfaces using C++ and Objective-C
• Contribute to architectural decisions for shared libraries and UI components
• Optimize code for responsiveness, memory efficiency, and overall performance
• Develop native-feeling UI experiences for macOS and iOS across mouse, touch, and stylus inputs
• Debug and enhance complex systems throughout the Affinity product suite
• Collaborate closely with designers to deliver pixel-perfect UI implementations
• Partner with QA teams to ensure robust, reliable creative software experiences
• Continuously learn and integrate Apple's latest frameworks and best practices
• Drive UI innovation that empowers professional creatives worldwide
• Mentor junior engineers on performance-critical C++ UI development

Required Qualifications

• Several years of professional experience in Objective-C and C++ development
• Hands-on iOS or macOS development experience with strong knowledge of Xcode
• Proven ability to build high-quality, maintainable applications
• Strong GUI development skills for macOS and iOS platforms focusing on usability and performance
• Solid foundation in object-oriented design principles and design patterns
• Experience debugging and improving complex systems in production applications
• Demonstrated collaboration skills with design and QA teams for pixel-perfect implementations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with vector graphics, DTP, or imaging applications
• Familiarity with Apple's evolving UI frameworks and Metal graphics
• Background in high-performance UI development for creative software
• Contributions to open-source or shared library projects
• Knowledge of stylus and touch input optimization for creative workflows

Required Skills

• Expert C++ and Objective-C programming
• Advanced iOS/macOS development with Xcode
• High-performance GUI development
• Object-oriented design and design patterns
• Code optimization for memory and performance
• Native UI implementation for macOS/iOS
• Cross-input support (mouse, touch, stylus)
• Debugging complex UI systems
• Pixel-perfect design implementation
• Apple frameworks proficiency
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Clear technical communication
• Attention to UI detail
• Clean, maintainable code practices
• Creative software domain knowledge

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 at Canva's vibrant London campus in Shoreditch
• Delicious home-cooked meals from our Head Chef
• Varied workspaces for team collaboration and focused work
• Regular team events and community gatherings
• Virtual interview process with reasonable adjustments available

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.