Senior Engineer - Video Platform - Remote across ANZ

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Sydney / Australia

About the Role

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design at Canva! We're seeking a Senior Engineer - Video Platform to build the foundational Native Video Engine that will power Canva's next era of video creation. Remote across ANZ, you'll design high-performance rendering systems using Vulkan, OpenGL, and DirectX, optimising for memory efficiency and cross-platform excellence. Collaborate with our innovative product teams to translate creative visions into cutting-edge technical reality, mentoring juniors while driving technical decisions that scale to millions of users worldwide. Our Video Platform team is pioneering groundbreaking rendering technology that democratises professional video production. You'll develop shader pipelines, video processing frameworks in C++/Rust, and real-time optimisation strategies that deliver seamless experiences for Canva's global creators. In our collaborative, design-focused culture, you'll research emerging graphics tech, establish scalable architecture patterns, and balance innovation with maintainability to keep Canva at the forefront of creative tools. Canva's engineering ethos celebrates bold problem-solving, knowledge-sharing, and user-centric innovation. With flexible ANZ remote work, equity packages, inclusive parental leave, and a Vibe & Thrive allowance, you'll thrive while contributing to technology that empowers storytelling at scale. If you're passionate about graphics engineering and excited to shape Canva's video future, apply now – we value diverse skills, backgrounds, and the spark that drives creativity.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement key components within Canva's core Native Video Engine
• Contribute to technical decisions impacting platform functionality and scalability
• Develop rendering pipeline features with focus on performance, memory efficiency, and cross-platform compatibility
• Mentor and support junior engineers, sharing expertise in graphics programming and optimisation
• Collaborate with product teams to translate creative user needs into robust technical specifications
• Establish coding standards, development practices, and architectural patterns for team growth
• Research and evaluate emerging graphics and video processing technologies
• Drive technical discussions balancing performance, maintainability, and innovative feature requirements
• Optimise video rendering for seamless, professional-quality experiences at Canva scale
• Debug and resolve complex graphics pipeline issues across diverse hardware platforms

Required Qualifications

• Deep expertise in graphics APIs (Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX) with hands-on experience building high-performance rendering systems
• Experience in shader development, performance optimisation, and multi-threaded graphics programming
• Strong understanding of memory management, real-time rendering, and rendering pipeline architecture
• Proven experience with video processing, encoding/decoding, and multimedia frameworks
• Solid programming skills in system languages such as C++ and Rust
• Demonstrated ability to debug complex graphics and performance issues
• Experience with cross-platform development and hardware-specific optimisations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience mentoring junior engineers in graphics programming and system design
• Background in collaborating with product teams to translate user needs into technical specs
• Familiarity with emerging technologies in graphics and video processing
• Previous work establishing coding standards and scalable architectural patterns
• Contributions to open-source graphics or video rendering projects

Required Skills

• Graphics programming (Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX)
• Shader development
• Performance optimisation
• Multi-threaded programming
• Memory management
• Real-time rendering
• Rendering pipeline architecture
• Video encoding/decoding
• Multimedia frameworks
• C++ proficiency
• Rust programming
• Complex debugging
• Cross-platform development
• Hardware optimisation
• Problem-solving
• Technical leadership
• Collaboration with product teams
• Mentoring junior engineers

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 workspace setup
• Flexible leave options empowering personal recharge and growth
• Choice in work location across ANZ with remote flexibility
• Collaborative, innovative culture focused on democratising design
• Virtual interview process with reasonable adjustments available
• Access to flagship Sydney campus and co-working spaces in major cities

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.