Backend Engineer - Design Generation Pipeline

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

Advancements in Generative AI have opened up a huge opportunity for Canva to re-imagine how we design. This role is in the thick of it, working at the frontier of new world class Design AI technology and products. Through contributions to critical projects and components across our design generation system, this role will have direct impact on experimental features, prototypes, and launching new design generation approaches to users.

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:

• Build systems to generate and edit designs – working closely with other ML engineers, backend engineers, frontend engineers, designers, and product managers to deliver cutting-edge design generation systems and techniques that empower users.
• Owning the full lifecycle of features, from design docs and stakeholder alignment (with AI research, design capability, and product teams) through implementation, testing, and maintenance
• Stay on top of state-of-the-art advancements in deep learning and generative AI where they apply to our domain at Canva
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and effectively advocate for engineering needs to non-technical stakeholders within the group
• Model initiative and ownership in achieving goals, improving processes and solutions
• Identify opportunities for cross-team collaboration to work on new ideas and improvements that help achieve our goals

You're probably a match if you have: 

• Interest in the latest developments in deep learning and generative AI. You are capable of contributions to projects that implement cutting edge research into practical solutions to solve design generation problems.
• Experience or strong interest in design. This team works at the intersection of engineering and design so a genuine desire or proven experience in this space is preferred
• Commercial experience in a software development environment, building scalable backend systems
• Most of our code is in Java, so ideally you will be comfortable using Java (or another similar object-oriented programming language)
• Firmly grounded computer science and engineering fundamentals including concurrency, multithreading, data structures, solution design, architecture, and design patterns
• Working collaboratively with team members and communicating optimally
• Good writing and verbal communication skills

About the team

The Generative Experience Group’s mission is to “Empower the world to design by developing and applying AI that can create every type of design and ingredient on Canva.”

This is an exciting and emerging problem space with weekly innovations. Our close-knit team collaborates with engineers to prototype and develop new experiences, works with researchers to explore uncharted territories, and tackles some of today's biggest challenges. We continuously improve our current offerings to create better ways for people to achieve their design dreams. Our goal is to create magical, emotionally engaging AI experiences that charm, simplify complex tasks, and foster meaningful connections.

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.