Senior Software Engineer - Product & Features (Java) - Open to remote across ANZ

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Melbourne / Australia

About the Role

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design at Canva! As a Senior Software Engineer - Product & Features (Java), you'll play a pivotal role in our Engineering team, building scalable backend services that power innovative design tools for millions of users worldwide. Open to remote across ANZ with our flexible hybrid model, you'll collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver end-to-end features that empower creativity. From crafting robust APIs to evolving our architecture for massive scale, your work will directly contribute to Canva's mission of making design accessible to everyone. In this role, expect to lead the design of reliable Java-based services, champion best practices, and leverage AI tools to accelerate impact. You'll mentor peers, guide code reviews, and ensure our systems remain performant and resilient amid hyper-growth. Our backend teams tackle diverse challenges—whether scaling user interactions, enhancing reliability, or building shared tooling—all while thriving in a collaborative, design-focused culture that values ownership, innovation, and fun. Canva's engineering community is vibrant and supportive, grounded in excellence and rapid iteration. We offer equity, inclusive parental leave, flexible options, and a Vibe & Thrive allowance to fuel your success. If you're passionate about Java, backend systems, and creating user-loved products, join us to shape the future of design technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of scalable, reliable backend services using Java and modern frameworks
• Drive collaboration with PMs, designers, and frontend engineers to scope and deliver impactful product features
• Evolve and scale Canva’s backend architecture through thoughtful service design and system decomposition
• Champion reliability, performance, and engineering best practices across multiple service domains
• Write robust, well-tested code and proactively identify areas for technical improvement or refactoring
• Guide design and code reviews while mentoring peers to raise the team’s technical bar
• Maintain and improve service health, observability, and incident resilience in partnership with your team
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development and solve complex backend challenges
• Contribute to shared services and internal tools that empower Canva's design mission
• Balance pragmatism with attention to detail to ship reliable code at speed
• Align backend systems with product goals, user impact, and long-term scalability

Required Qualifications

• Highly experienced building complex backend systems in production environments at scale
• Strong Java fundamentals with ability to write production-grade code including multithreading, service design, and performance optimisation
• Proven track record taking ownership of features end-to-end from architecture to delivery
• Hands-on experience using AI tools in coding and programming to drive greater impact
• Demonstrated ability to mentor peers and raise the technical bar through code reviews and guidance
• Experience maintaining service health, observability, and incident resilience in large-scale systems
• Comfortable collaborating across product, design, and engineering disciplines
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on design-focused products or consumer-facing applications
• Familiarity with scalable API development and microservices architecture
• Background in high-growth tech companies with millions of users
• Contributions to open-source projects or internal tooling at scale
• Knowledge of Canva's tech stack or similar modern backend frameworks
• Experience with system decomposition and shared service development

Required Skills

• Expert Java development
• Multithreading and concurrency
• Service design and architecture
• Performance optimisation
• Scalable API development
• Microservices and system decomposition
• Reliability engineering
• Observability and monitoring
• Code review and mentoring
• AI-assisted coding and programming
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Pragmatic problem-solving
• User-impact driven development
• Test-driven development
• Incident response and resilience
• Technical leadership

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
• Choice in work location across Sydney, Melbourne, or remote in ANZ
• Vibrant engineering community with mentorship and collaborative culture
• Hybrid work model empowering teams to achieve ambitious goals
• Access to co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.