Staff Frontend Engineer (Photo Editing)

Location: Sydney, Australia; hybrid work with regular collaboration on the Sydney campus

Company

Canva is a design platform building AI-powered tools that help millions of people create visual content.

What you will do

• Set the technical direction for frontend architecture across the Photo group and partner teams.
• Frame and lead complex cross-team frontend initiatives from problem definition through delivery.
• Improve rendering performance, architecture, technical standards, and engineering practices.
• Identify strategic technical opportunities and risks affecting Canva's long-term product direction.
• Collaborate with senior engineers, machine learning engineers, product managers, and designers to deliver advanced user experiences.
• Contribute hands-on to critical technical projects while mentoring engineers and raising engineering standards.

Requirements

• Extensive commercial experience building and scaling complex frontend applications with modern JavaScript or TypeScript and React.
• Experience leading multi-team technical initiatives from ambiguous problem definition through successful delivery.
• Deep expertise in rendering performance, large-scale frontend architecture, complex state management, or platform engineering.
• Exceptional technical judgement and the ability to communicate complex technical decisions clearly.
• A proven track record of mentoring senior engineers and raising engineering standards across teams.
• Must be based in Sydney, Australia and able to work in a hybrid arrangement.

Nice to have

• Experience with WebGL, WebGPU, WebAssembly, Canvas rendering, or graphics-intensive applications.
• Experience building image editing, creative tooling, or media platforms.
• Experience integrating AI or machine learning capabilities into product experiences.
• Contributions to frontend platforms, design systems, or shared engineering infrastructure.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity packages tied to Canva's success.
• Inclusive parental leave for all parents and carers.
• Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing, social connection, and office setup.
• Flexible leave options and a collaborative hybrid work environment.
• Virtual interviews and support for reasonable adjustments during the hiring process.

Hiring process

• Interviews are conducted virtually.
• Applicants should provide their pronouns and mention any reasonable interview adjustments needed.