Full-Time

Senior Backend Engineer

Java, Teams & Education

Canva

Canva

10,001+ employees

Online drag-and-drop graphic design platform

No salary listed

Melbourne VIC, Australia

Remote

Category
Software Engineering (1)
Required Skills
Kubernetes
Data Structures & Algorithms
Computer Networking
Java
AWS
Terraform
Requirements
  • You have extensive experience developing distributed web applications, with a deep understanding of Java.
  • You have a proven track record of successfully planning and executing complex architectural changes, with a strong focus on creative problem-solving rather than reliance on specific frameworks or libraries.
  • You have excellent communication and collaboration skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to foster a positive working environment across stakeholders and engineers.
  • You have proven experience mentoring and guiding engineering teams, unblocking technical challenges, and serving as a role model.
  • You have mastery of computer science and engineering fundamentals such as concurrency, data structures, and distributed systems, along with a strong grasp of resiliency techniques like load balancing, throttling, back pressure, and circuit breaking.
  • You have hands-on experience working in large distributed cloud environments (AWS preferred) and familiarity with cloud-native technologies such as Kubernetes and Terraform.
  • Bonus experience: large-scale distributed asset management system.
Responsibilities
  • Deliver sharing and permissions features across the Canva product, including the flagship design experience, content management, and brand.
  • Propose innovative approaches and solutions to future-proof Canva's product decision platforms and deliver on business outcomes.
  • Engage with others to shape improvements through writing design documents and running design meetings.
  • Advocate for best practices that enhance service performance, resilience, and adaptability.
  • Design and implement the most intricate aspects of the system, showcasing aptitude for tackling complex technical challenges effectively.
  • Guide the implementation of major projects, plan task breakdown, and keep engineers in sync using excellent verbal and written communication skills, including architectural diagrams.
  • Provide guidance and mentorship to other engineers, assisting them in their professional development and helping them navigate technical challenges.
  • Facilitate and orchestrate cross-team initiatives that set a higher standard for reliability, velocity, and security across the organization.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with large-scale distributed asset management system.

Canva is an online, drag‑and‑drop graphic design platform for creating visuals like presentations, social media graphics, posters, logos, and videos. It uses a large library of templates, stock photos and videos, fonts, and AI-powered features (Magic Studio), plus a freemium model with paid plans for additional assets and collaboration tools; Canva Print lets users order physical copies. The company differentiates itself by focusing on ease of use for non-designers and expanding its assets and capabilities through acquisitions such as Pexels, Pixabay, Flourish, and the Affinity suite. Its goal is to help anyone create professional-looking visuals quickly and collaboratively, without needing advanced design skills.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

Private

Total Funding

$1.1B

Headquarters

Sydney, Australia

Founded

2012

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Enterprise ARR hits $500M, doubling year-over-year from AI adoption.
  • India users create 1B designs yearly, fueling emerging market expansion.
  • Acquisitions like Simtheory and Ortto add agentic AI and marketing automation.

What critics are saying

  • Adobe bundles AI into Creative Cloud, undercutting Canva's freemium conversions within 12 months.
  • OpenAI's DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT bypasses Canva workflows, eroding AI monetization in 6 months.
  • EU AI Act fines Canva €20M+ for data training violations by 2026 enforcement.

What makes Canva unique

  • Canva's drag-and-drop platform empowers non-designers unlike Adobe's complex tools.
  • Magic Studio AI generates editable designs from text prompts conversationally.
  • Enterprise Visual Suite integrates whiteboards, docs, and AI for team collaboration.

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Your Connections

People at Canva who can refer or advise you

Benefits

Competitive health benefits plans to support you and your wellbeing

Equity packages truly be a part of the Canva journey

401(k) retirement plan with company contribution to support you, with your future Hybrid work model (in-office & from home) coming together for 8 days a year. The rest, you choose where you work best.

Flexible leave so you can recharge, give back, support others or focus on your own professional development.

Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents and carers throughout their parenting and caring journey.

An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance. This is for you to spend on whatever will support your wellbeing and development. It could be anything, from a Masterclass subscription to an electronic stand-up desk, a pilates membership, or dinner out with a teammate. Because you know what you need to Vibe and Thrive, better than anyone.

Virtual and in-office wellness benefits including Canva University, Employee Assistant Programs and other benefits to support your physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

Canva For Good program matching your not-for-profit donations and a range of sustainability and ethical initiatives to get involved in.

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-8%

1 year growth

5%

2 year growth

0%
Bloomberg L.P.
Apr 16th, 2026
Canva unveils AI 2.0 to protect $42B valuation amid tech disruption

Canva has launched Canva AI 2.0, a major product reboot designed to protect its $42 billion valuation in the AI era. The new tools allow the company's 265 million monthly users to generate designs using conversational language rather than templates—for instance, requesting a colourful 12-page Morocco trip planning deck that the AI agent builds and iterates. Co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht unveiled the workflow tools at an event in Sydney in early April, with the product released on Thursday. The rebuild represents Canva's strategy to position itself as a disruptor rather than a target amid concerns that AI could undermine traditional software business models. The move signals Canva's push to remain competitive as AI transforms the design platform landscape.

PR Newswire
Apr 9th, 2026
PayPal brings payment links to Canva's 265M users as social commerce nears $1T

PayPal has launched Payment Links directly within Canva, enabling the platform's 265 million monthly users to accept payments from their designs without external websites or complex e-commerce tools. The integration allows creators and small businesses to add PayPal checkout, including Venmo and PayPal Pay Later, to digital or printed content. The feature addresses growing demand for social commerce, projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2028. Users can generate payment links or QR codes, create customised checkout pages, and accept payments across approximately 200 markets in multiple currencies. The app is available globally through Canva Marketplace. PayPal will showcase the integration at Canva Create on 16 April 2026 in Los Angeles, where it serves as Official Payment Partner.

TechCrunch
Apr 8th, 2026
Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions | TechCrunch

Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement.

Capital Brief
Mar 24th, 2026
Scoop: Canva acquires Melbourne ad-tech startup Doohly for $30m

The purchase of the digital out-of-home startup is the latest in a string of deals by Canva as it looks to own the entire marketing stack.

The Associated Press
Mar 2nd, 2026
Kinstak launches Canva integration to help creators instantly find and reuse digital assets with AI

Kinstak has launched an integration with Canva to help high-volume creators organise and access digital assets without leaving their design workflow. The AI-powered platform automatically tags and categorises files, enabling instant semantic search across creative libraries. The integration allows users to access organised assets directly within Canva, reuse brand files across projects and reduce duplicate uploads. It targets freelancers, social media managers, micro-agencies and e-commerce sellers who typically manage thousands of files across disconnected systems. Kinstak's AI surfaces relevant assets based on project context, eliminating manual folder organisation. The integration is now available globally to Canva users. Founded by Carolyn Eagen, Kinstak has raised undisclosed funding and aims to transform digital clutter into reusable creative resources.