Senior Backend Engineer - Experiments Team

Canva; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Inclusive parental leave policy

Vibe & Thrive allowance

Flexible leave options

Job summary

Canva is hiring a Senior Software Engineer for the Experiments team in Sydney. You will lead end-to-end projects, collaborating with data scientists, analytics engineers, and product teams to deliver robust analytics and experimentation capabilities at scale.

Responsibilities include shaping technical direction, owning critical architecture, and mentoring peers, while communicating clearly across audiences and driving practical, data-driven decisions.

Qualifications

• Strong backend engineering skills and deep SQL experience, ideally with Snowflake exposure.
• Excellent communication to explain complex ideas to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strategic mindset with ability to scope MVPs and design long-term solutions.
• Curiosity about data domains and willingness to learn data science concepts.

Responsibilities

• Shape our technical direction, balancing bold builds with debt reduction and performance improvements.
• Own critical parts of our architecture end-to-end, including analytics engines and metrics platforms.
• Translate complex technical tradeoffs for data scientists, designers, and engineers to align the team.
• Lead cross-functional projects from kickoff to delivery and ensure cohesive landing of components.
• Mentor engineers to raise the team's craft and grow independent contributors.
• Balance long-term goals with immediate needs to keep projects moving forward.

Skills

Backend engineering

SQL

Snowflake

NoSQL

Communication

Strategy

Data science familiarity

Job description

• Full-time
• Recruitment type: Permanent

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

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 Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect.
This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. 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

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:

• Shape our technical direction, deciding when we invest in bold greenfield builds versus paying down technical debt and improving system performance and latency
• Own critical parts of our architecture end to end, including services like our analysis engine and metrics platform, keeping them robust as they scale
• Flex your communication style across audiences, translating complex technical tradeoffs for data scientists, designers, and Canvanauts alike, so everyone's aligned and confident in the direction
• Bring a strong engineering voice to the table, speaking up when something's not right and helping the team course-correct before small issues become big ones
• Lead cross-functional projects from kickoff to delivery, coordinating across specialties and pathways to make sure the pieces actually land together
• Mentor and empower fellow engineers, raising the bar for the team's craft and helping others grow into stronger, more independent contributors
• Balance the long game with the day to day, weighing strategic priorities against immediate needs so the team keeps moving forward without losing sight of where we're headed

You're probably a match if

• You bring strong backend engineering skills and deep SQL experience, ideally with exposure to data warehousing platforms like Snowflake, and you're comfortable working with large, complex data models. Familiarity with NoSQL is a plus
• You're a strong communicator who can explain complex ideas clearly to technical and non-technical audiences alike
• You think strategically but stay practical, you're just as comfortable scoping an MVP that solves the real problem as you are designing the ideal long-term solution
• You have strong customer empathy, you're driven by understanding what Canvanauts actually need, not just what's technically elegant
• You're naturally curious, always digging into the why behind a problem rather than just the what
• Experience with data science is a bonus, not a requirement, but you'll need genuine curiosity about the domain, things like experiment dicing, sample sizing, and statistical significance, and a real willingness to learn how they work

About The Team

The Experiments team is responsible for the analysis and reporting capabilities within Pilot, Canva’s A/B testing platform, used by over two thousand Canvanauts across the business. Canva is actively investing in improving the experimentation experience, making this a high-priority and fast-moving space with significant work ahead. Our goal is to empower every team running an experiment with rigorous analysis and actionable data, using industry-standard A/B testing techniques to help them make better, faster decisions and build a stronger culture of experimentation across Canva.

About the Role

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Experiments team, you'll lead projects end to end, from design through to delivery, working closely with data scientists, analytics engineers, product design, product management, and the Canvanauts who rely on Pilot to make decisions.

You'll independently drive complex, high-impact technical problems to resolution, refining scope and direction in partnership with stakeholders across teams.

You’ll help safeguard Canva’s user experience by giving teams the tools and insights they need to monitor experiments and make informed decisions about whether to roll them forward or back, helping prevent poor experiences from reaching users at scale.

You'll help drive down query latency & increase the scalability across a system processing over 100,000 queries a day, and you'll work extensively with SQL at scale.

This role suits someone with strong communication and strategic thinking who prefers to drive decisions.

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 stack 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.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.