Staff Frontend Engineer

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. That means if you want to do your thing in the office (if you're near one), at home or a bit of both, it's up to you.

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:

- Drive architectural decisions for accessibility infrastructure, ensuring it scales to support accessible-by-default development across Canva

- Lead critical cross-team accessibility initiatives from conception to production, establishing frameworks and patterns that teams can adopt independently

- Design, develop and deploy hands-on solutions while collaborating with leads, designers, and product managers to deliver accessible experiences worldwide

- Mentor engineers and champion accessibility best practices company-wide, elevating standards across the organization

- Shape technical direction and influence product vision, ensuring accessibility is embedded in Canva's strategic roadmap

- Engage senior stakeholders to align accessibility initiatives with business objectives and secure organizational support

- Build tooling and documentation that empower teams to create accessible features efficiently

- Model initiative and ownership in resolving technical debt, improving processes, and scaling accessibility solutions

- Identify and pursue cross-team collaboration opportunities that advance our accessibility mission

- Thoughtfully integrate AI into accessibility workflows to maximize efficiency, inclusion and innovation

You're probably a match if you are:

- An experienced technical leader who still loves writing code — hands-on, action-oriented, and impact-driven

- Deep expertise in accessibility engineering, including WCAG 2.2 AA, ATAG 2.0, and universal design principles, with a nuanced understanding of different disability models

- Strong frontend expertise (JavaScript, React, TypeScript, MobX) with solid CS fundamentals in architecture and design patterns

- Strategic thinking that connects technical decisions to company-wide priorities and builds solutions that scale

- Track record of delivering high-impact projects with minimal guidance, particularly in developer tooling and platform projects

- Leadership by example — mentoring others, elevating engineering standards, and championing inclusive development practices

- Confidence engaging senior stakeholders and articulating technical accessibility concepts to diverse audiences

- Genuine commitment to creating accessible experiences for all users and staying ahead of accessibility trends and standards

About the team

We want to be the most accessible design tool in the world—and with strong, sustained internal support from leadership and core product teams, our Accessibility Teams are set to achieve this mission. Canva is in a really interesting position in the accessibility space where we need to think about how everyone can use the product as well as how people can make designs that are accessible, ideally by default. Imagine being able to confidently use a design tool to make a beautiful design without seeing it. This is a deep, complex problem that is on the cutting edge of not just frontend engineering but also modern web applications.

About the Role

As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll lead the technical evolution of accessibility at Canva, architecting scalable solutions that enable accessible-by-default development across our entire platform. You'll provide strong technical leadership, shaping frameworks and best practices that empower teams to build accessible features independently. Your role involves hands‑on implementation of critical accessibility infrastructure while driving strategic initiatives that position Canva as the world's most accessible design tool. You'll have broad impact across the organization, directly contributing to our mission of supporting 1 billion users.

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 stack 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 & cars

- 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.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

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