Engineering Manager (AI)

TL;DR

Engineering Manager (AI): Leading a high-performing team to build scalable AI platform capabilities and orchestration systems for Canva’s intelligent help experiences with an accent on platform reliability, governance, and AI integration. Focus on driving technical strategy, mentoring engineers, and scaling infrastructure to support millions of users.

Location: Must be based in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, or Adelaide).

Company

Canva is a global design platform empowering everyone to create professional-quality visual content.

What you will do

• Coach, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of engineers building AI-powered help platform capabilities.
• Lead technical strategy and roadmap planning in partnership with Product, ML/AI, and Data Science teams.
• Build scalable backend systems, orchestration workflows, and platform infrastructure for AI-driven help experiences.
• Champion engineering quality, platform reliability, governance, and evaluation standards.
• Drive experimentation, delivery, and operational excellence across AI-powered support capabilities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to expand AI platform capabilities across the Canva ecosystem.

Requirements

• Experience leading backend, platform, or AI/ML engineering teams in high-scale environments.
• Strong technical depth across backend systems, distributed architectures, or platform engineering.
• Ability to balance platform thinking with product outcomes and business impact.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts.
• Deep commitment to building inclusive, psychologically safe, and high-performing engineering cultures.
• Must be based in Australia with the ability to work from one of the company campuses.

Nice to have

• Experience working with AI platforms, orchestration systems, or evaluation tooling.
• Background in conversational AI experiences.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity packages for all employees.
• Inclusive parental leave policy.
• Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing and office setup.
• Flexible leave options to support work-life balance.
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI at a global scale.
• Highly collaborative culture focused on innovation and experimentation.