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

Location: Team Engineering

Team: Country Adelaide / 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 millions of creative interactions. Open to remote across ANZ (with campuses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide), this hybrid role offers flexibility to balance collaboration and autonomy while contributing to Canva's mission to empower everyone to design. You'll lead the design and development of robust Java services, collaborating closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver end-to-end features with real user impact. From evolving our backend architecture through smart service decomposition to championing reliability and performance, your work will scale Canva's innovative platform. Expect to mentor peers, leverage AI for efficient coding, and proactively improve systems— all while thriving in our vibrant, ownership-driven culture. Canva's engineering is about more than code; it's rapid iteration for user value in a collaborative environment grounded in excellence. With equity, inclusive leave, wellbeing allowances, and flexible options, you'll be set up for success in and out of work. If you're passionate about Java, backend craft, and design innovation, apply to help shape the future of creativity!

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 scope and deliver impactful product features
• Evolve 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
• Guide design and code reviews while mentoring peers to raise the team’s technical bar
• Maintain and improve service health, observability, and incident resilience
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate development and solve complex problems efficiently
• 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
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure systems align with product goals and user needs

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 distributed systems
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience in backend development

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in design-focused or creative technology products
• Familiarity with Canva's technology stack or similar high-scale consumer platforms
• Contributions to open-source projects or internal tooling at previous companies
• Experience with microservices architecture and system decomposition
• Background in collaborative environments with product managers and designers
• Knowledge of observability tools and practices in cloud-native environments

Required Skills

• Expert Java development
• Backend system architecture
• Microservices design
• Multithreading and concurrency
• Performance optimisation
• API development at scale
• Reliability engineering
• Observability and monitoring
• Code review and mentorship
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Pragmatic problem-solving
• AI-assisted coding
• Test-driven development
• Incident response
• System decomposition
• User-impact focus
• 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 ANZ campuses or remote setup
• Vibrant engineering community with mentorship and collaboration
• Hybrid work model empowering team goals and individual balance
• Virtual interview process with real-time AI-assisted challenges
• Access to co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.