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

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Wellington / New Zealand

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. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, or open to remote across ANZ, you'll collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver end-to-end features that embody Canva's mission to empower everyone to design. Our hybrid model gives you flexibility to choose the balance that works best for you and your team. In this role, you'll lead the design and evolution of Canva's backend architecture using Java, focusing on reliability, performance, and scalability. Expect to drive impactful product features, champion engineering best practices, mentor peers, and leverage AI tools to accelerate development. Whether scaling APIs for massive user interactions or enhancing system observability, your work will directly contribute to Canva's creative ecosystem, blending technical excellence with a design-first mindset in a collaborative, fast-paced environment. Canva's engineering culture thrives on ownership, purpose, and excellence. We're a vibrant community solving complex problems at scale, iterating rapidly to deliver real user value. If you excel in production-grade Java systems, thrive on cross-disciplinary collaboration, and are passionate about mentoring while shipping reliable code, this is your chance to make a lasting impact. Check out lifeatcanva.com to see how we weave fun, connectivity, and growth into every day.

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 deliver impactful product features
• Evolve Canva’s backend architecture through service design, 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 peers to raise the technical bar
• Maintain and improve service health, observability, and incident resilience
• Balance pragmatism with attention to detail to ship reliable code at speed
• Contribute to end-to-end experiences that empower millions of users to design
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development and drive greater impact

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience building complex backend systems in production environments
• Strong Java fundamentals with expertise in multithreading, service design, and performance optimisation
• Proven track record of owning features end-to-end from architecture to delivery
• Hands-on experience with scalable APIs and backend services powering high-traffic applications
• Demonstrated ability to mentor peers and conduct design/code reviews
• Experience maintaining service health, observability, and incident resilience
• Proficiency in modern backend frameworks and tools used in large-scale systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience using AI tools in coding and programming workflows
• Background in design-focused products or consumer-facing applications
• Experience with system decomposition and shared tooling in microservices architectures
• Familiarity with Canva's tech stack or similar high-scale creative platforms
• Contributions to open-source projects or internal tools at scale

Required Skills

• Expert Java programming and backend development
• Multithreading and concurrency in production systems
• Scalable API design and microservices architecture
• Performance optimisation and system reliability
• Code review and mentoring capabilities
• Observability tools and incident management
• Cross-functional collaboration with PMs and designers
• Pragmatic problem-solving at scale
• AI-assisted coding and development workflows
• Service decomposition and shared tooling
• Test-driven development and refactoring
• End-to-end feature ownership
• Technical leadership and best practices advocacy
• User-impact focused engineering mindset

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 ANZ campuses or remote setup
• 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 at Canva

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.