Senior Software Engineer

Overview
Senior Software Engineer - Product & Features (Java) - Open to remote across ANZ
Canva, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
What you'll be doing
Backend roles at Canva can vary significantly depending on the team—each focused on solving meaningful problems at scale.
You might help build scalable APIs powering millions of user interactions, improve system performance and reliability at scale, or contribute to shared services and internal tools.
With multiple teams hiring backend engineers, we'd love to learn what excites you most and find the right fit for your passions and strengths.
You'll work closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to deliver end-to-end experiences that have real user impact.
Whether you're designing new systems or maintaining critical infrastructure, your work will play a key role in Canva's mission to empower the world to design.
As a general guide, here's what a backend engineer at this level typically focuses on day to day:
Responsibilities
Leading the design and development of scalable, reliable backend services using modern frameworks and tools
Driving collaboration with PMs, designers, and fellow engineers to scope, define, and deliver impactful product features
Evolving and scaling Canva's backend architecture through thoughtful service design, system decomposition, and shared tooling
Championing reliability, performance, and engineering best practices across multiple service domains
Writing robust, well-tested code and proactively identifying areas for technical improvement or refactor
Guiding design and code reviews, mentoring peers, and raising the technical bar for your team
Maintaining and improving service health, observability, and incident resilience in partnership with your team
You're probably a match if
You are highly experienced building complex backend systems in production environments
You have strong Java fundamentals and can confidently write production-grade code, applying backend concepts like multithreading, service design, and performance optimisation in real-world systems.
You're comfortable taking ownership of features end-to-end—from architecture to delivery—and thrive in environments where you drive the "how"
You balance attention to detail with pragmatism, and consistently ship reliable, maintainable code at speed
You're a thoughtful collaborator who works well across disciplines and proactively brings others on the journey
You understand the bigger picture—how your systems connect to product goals, reliability, and long-term scalability
You enjoy mentoring others, offering constructive feedback, and lifting the technical bar for your team
You have hands-on experience using AI in coding/programming to drive greater impact
Engineering at Canva
Join a vibrant engineering community solving complex problems for millions of users, worldwide.
Here, engineering is about more than writing great code—it's about rapidly iterating to deliver real value for users and building a product that empowers the world to design.
We care deeply about craft and collaborate closely to achieve hugely ambitious goals.
We mentor and support one another generously, grounded in a culture of ownership, purpose, and a shared commitment to excellence.
What's in it for you?
Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard—and we offer a range of benefits to support your 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.
We see AI as a powerful amplifier of creativity and technology at Canva.
We're evolving how we assess AI skills in our Technology hiring experience – you'll tackle interactive, real-time challenges that reflect the kind of work we do.
In some interviews, you may also be asked to solve a problem using an AI tool to show how you approach challenges with tech by your side.
Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.
Seniority level
Mid-Senior level
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Other
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