Senior C++ Engineer (Windows UI) - Affinity

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Nottingham / United Kingdom

About the Role

Join Canva's Affinity team in Nottingham as a Senior C++ Engineer (Windows UI) and help redefine professional creative software. Affinity's suite of applications - Photo, Designer, and Publisher - empowers millions of creatives worldwide with fast, intuitive, and beautifully-crafted tools. As a key member of our tight-knit Engineering team, you'll build high-performance Windows UIs using C++ and WPF, architect reusable components, and push the boundaries of what's possible in creative desktop applications. We're looking for an engineer passionate about pixel-perfect implementation, performance optimization, and collaboration with our world-class design and product teams. Your days will be filled with meaningful challenges: crafting responsive interfaces that handle complex creative workflows, optimizing for memory efficiency across our professional suite, and exploring cutting-edge frameworks like WinUI and MAUI to future-proof our applications. You'll work closely with designers to translate beautiful concepts into flawless implementations and partner with QA to ship reliable, high-quality features. This is hands-on engineering at scale, where your code directly impacts how professionals bring their creative visions to life. At Canva, we celebrate craft and collaboration. The Affinity team values precision, performance, and pushing creative boundaries together. Based in our Nottingham office with hybrid flexibility, you'll join a supportive culture that invests in your growth through equity packages, wellbeing allowances, flexible leave, and delicious chef-prepared meals. We're building the future of creative software - and we want you to help shape it. Even if you don't match every requirement perfectly, we want to hear from you if you're passionate about UI engineering and empowering creatives everywhere.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain high-performance, responsive UIs using C++, WPF, and related frameworks
• Architect and design reusable shared libraries and UI components across Affinity's Windows applications
• Optimize UI performance for scalability, memory efficiency, and buttery-smooth interactions
• Debug and enhance complex systems throughout the Affinity Windows suite (Photo, Designer, Publisher)
• Collaborate closely with designers to deliver pixel-perfect, intuitive user experiences
• Work with QA teams to ensure robust, high-quality implementations
• Explore and integrate emerging frameworks like WinUI and MAUI to future-proof applications
• Mentor team members and contribute to technical decision-making
• Write comprehensive documentation and maintain code quality standards
• Participate in code reviews and drive continuous improvement of UI codebase

Required Qualifications

• Several years of professional experience in C++ development with strong emphasis on UI engineering
• Proven expertise with Windows UI frameworks, WPF required
• Strong understanding of object-oriented design principles and design patterns
• Experience building high-performance professional desktop applications
• Demonstrated debugging and performance optimization skills for complex UI systems
• Experience collaborating with design and QA teams to deliver pixel-perfect implementations
• Ability to write clean, reliable, well-documented production code

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with WinUI or MAUI frameworks
• Background in graphics, imaging, or creative software development
• Familiarity with Affinity product suite or similar professional creative tools
• Experience mentoring junior engineers and leading code reviews
• Contributions to open-source UI/graphics projects

Required Skills

• Expert C++ programming
• WPF framework mastery
• WinUI/MAUI (desirable)
• Object-oriented design patterns
• UI performance optimization
• Memory management and profiling
• Graphics programming fundamentals
• Cross-team collaboration
• Pixel-perfect UI implementation
• Debugging complex systems
• Code documentation standards
• Design system understanding
• Mentoring and code review
• Agile development practices
• Creative software domain knowledge

Benefits

• Equity packages to share in Canva's growth and success
• Inclusive parental leave policy supporting all parents and carers
• Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing, social connection, and workspace setup
• Flexible leave options that empower personal recharge and community impact
• Hybrid work model with access to Canva's vibrant London campus in Shoreditch
• Delicious home-cooked meals from our Head Chef
• Modern, collaborative workspaces designed for creativity and focus
• Regular team events and community gatherings at our European HQ

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.