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

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Sydney / Australia

About the Role

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design. At Canva, our Engineering team builds the backend systems that power millions of daily user interactions, enabling everyone—from individuals to global brands—to create stunning visuals effortlessly. As a Senior Software Engineer - Product & Features (Java), open to remote across ANZ, you'll lead the development of scalable services that directly impact our users' ability to design. Working closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers, you'll deliver end-to-end features that embody Canva's innovative, design-first culture. In this role, you'll tackle complex challenges like architecting reliable APIs, optimising performance at massive scale, and evolving our backend ecosystem with modern Java tools and AI-assisted workflows. Day-to-day, expect to champion best practices, mentor peers, and drive technical decisions that balance speed, reliability, and maintainability. Our collaborative environment thrives on ownership and shared excellence, where your work contributes to Canva's mission of empowering the world to design. Canva's engineering culture is vibrant and purpose-driven, focused on rapid iteration, user value, and generous support among Canvanauts. With hybrid flexibility across ANZ locations, inclusive benefits like equity packages and vibe allowances, and a commitment to wellbeing, you'll thrive while helping us achieve ambitious goals. If you're passionate about Java, backend innovation, and design empowerment, join us to shape the future of creative technology.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of scalable, reliable backend services using modern Java frameworks
• Drive collaboration with PMs, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver impactful product features
• Evolve Canva’s backend architecture through service decomposition and shared tooling
• Champion reliability, performance, and engineering best practices across service domains
• Write robust, well-tested code and proactively identify technical improvements
• Guide design and code reviews while mentoring junior engineers
• Maintain service health, observability, and incident resilience
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development and solve complex problems
• Contribute to end-to-end experiences that empower millions to design
• Balance pragmatism with excellence to ship reliable code at speed

Required Qualifications

• Highly experienced building complex backend systems in production environments
• Strong Java fundamentals with ability to write production-grade code
• Hands-on experience with backend concepts like multithreading, service design, and performance optimisation
• Proven track record taking ownership of features end-to-end from architecture to delivery
• Experience mentoring peers and raising the technical bar through code reviews
• Hands-on experience using AI in coding/programming to drive greater impact
• Deep understanding of scalable systems, reliability, and observability

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in design-focused or consumer product companies
• Background in high-scale, user-facing applications serving millions
• Familiarity with modern Java frameworks and cloud-native architectures
• Previous work on shared services or internal tooling at scale
• Contributions to open-source projects or technical blogging

Required Skills

• Expert Java development
• Multithreading and concurrency
• Service design and architecture
• Performance optimisation
• Scalable systems engineering
• Reliability and observability
• API development at scale
• Code review and mentoring
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Pragmatic problem-solving
• AI-assisted coding
• Test-driven development
• System decomposition
• Incident management
• User-impact focus

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 collaboration
• Hybrid work model empowering team goals and individual balance
• Moments of magic, connectivity, and fun woven into daily life

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.