Staff Engineer – Video Platform

Job Description

• Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, g’day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!

Thanks for stopping by. We know job hunting can be a little time consuming and you’re probably keen to find out what’s on offer, so we’ll get straight to the point.

Where and how you can work

Our flagship campus is in Sydney. We also have a campus in Melbourne and co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. But you have choice in where and how you work, we trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals.

What you’d be doing in this role

As Canva scales change continues to be part of our DNA. But we like to think that’s all part of the fun. So this will give you the flavour of the type of things you’ll be working on when you start, but this will likely evolve.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• You’ll architect and implement major subsystems within the core Native Video Engine, making critical technical decisions that will influence the platform for years to come
• You’ll lead complex rendering pipeline development, optimising for performance, memory efficiency, and cross-platform compatibility
• You’ll mentor and guide junior engineers, sharing your expertise in graphics programming, performance optimisation, and system design
• You’ll collaborate with product teams to translate user needs into technical specifications, ensuring our engine delivers exceptional creative experiences
• You’ll establish coding standards, development practices, and architectural patterns that will scale with our growing team
• You’ll research and evaluate emerging technologies in graphics and video processing, keeping Canva at the cutting edge of rendering innovation
• You’ll drive technical discussions and decision-making processes, balancing performance, maintainability, and feature requirements

You’re probably a match if

• Deep expertise in graphics (Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX) with hands-on experience building high-performance rendering systems
• Proven experience in shader development, performance optimisation, and multi-threaded graphics programming
• Strong background in memory management, real-time rendering, and rendering pipeline architecture
• Experience with video processing, encoding/decoding, and multimedia frameworks
• Solid programming skills using system languages (C++, Rust)
• Track record of leading technical projects and mentoring engineering teams
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex graphics and performance issues
• Experience working with cross-platform development and hardware-specific optimisations

About the team

Video at Canva is building the future of video creation, where millions of users worldwide rely on our technology to bring their stories to life through seamless, professional-quality video experiences. Our mission is to democratise video creation by developing cutting-edge rendering engines, scalable architectures, and innovative AI-powered features that make complex video production accessible to everyone.

The Native Video Engine team is building the foundation that will define video rendering technology at Canva for decades to come. As a brand new team working on a groundbreaking project, we’re scripting the biggest shift in Canva’s tech strategy – not just for video, but for the entire Canva technology. We’re creating cutting-edge rendering technology that will unlock unprecedented performance, enable next-generation features, and ensure Canva remains at the forefront of creative tools. Our work directly impacts millions of users worldwide, delivering the seamless, high-performance video experiences that empower creativity at scale. We’re not just building technology; we’re laying the groundwork for Canva’s next era of innovation and growth.

What’s in it for you?

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard – and we do – but you’ll experience lots of moments of magic, connectivity and fun woven throughout life at Canva, too. We also offer a range of benefits to set you up for every success in and outside of work.

Here’s a taste of what’s on offer:

• Equity packages – we want our success to be yours too
• Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carers
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more
• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personally

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Canva and our culture. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.

We celebrate all types of skills and backgrounds at Canva so even if you don’t feel like your skills quite match what’s listed above – we still want to hear from you!

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.