Staff Frontend Engineer - Photo Editing, Hybrid + Equity

Canva; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Inclusive parental leave

Vibe & Thrive allowance

Flexible leave options

Shape technical direction

Job summary

Canva is hiring a Staff Frontend Engineer for the Photo Editing domain in Sydney. The role combines leadership of multi-team frontend initiatives with hands-on work, shaping the technical direction for the Photo group and collaborating with ML engineers, product managers and designers to deliver ambitious, scalable user experiences.

Based in Sydney with hybrid work options, you will mentor engineers, raise engineering standards, and help define Canva's frontend platform strategy across the

Qualifications

• Led multi-team technical initiatives from ambiguity to delivery.
• Deep expertise in frontend architecture and rendering performance.
• Ability to communicate complex decisions clearly to engineers and product.
• Mentored senior engineers and raised engineering standards.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for frontend architecture across Photo group.
• Lead cross-team frontend initiatives balancing technology and product outcomes.
• Raise engineering bar via architecture, performance improvements, and standards.
• Identify strategic technical opportunities and risks shaping Canva's product direction.
• Collaborate with senior engineers, ML engineers, PMs, and designers to deliver user experiences.
• Represent the Photo group in cross-group frontend platform discussions.

Skills

Multi-team leadership

Frontend architecture

Rendering performance

Cross-team collaboration

Mentoring engineers

Tools

WebGL

WebGPU

WebAssembly

Canvas rendering

Job description

Staff Frontend Engineer - Photo Editing - Design experience

• Full-time
• Recruitment type: Permanent

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:

• Setting the technical direction for frontend architecture across the Photo group and partnering teams.
• Framing and leading complex cross-team frontend initiatives, balancing technical excellence with product outcomes.
• Raising the engineering bar through architecture, performance improvements, mentoring, and technical standards.
• Identifying strategic technical opportunities and risks that shape Canva's long-term product direction.
• Collaborating closely with senior engineers, machine learning engineers, product managers, and designers to deliver ambitious user experiences.
• Representing the Photo group in cross-group architecture discussions and influencing the evolution of Canva's frontend platform.
• Contributing hands-on to critical technical projects while enabling other engineers to do their best work.

You're probably a match if

• You have successfully led multi-team technical initiatives from ambiguous problem definition through to successful delivery.
• You bring deep expertise in areas such as rendering performance, large-scale frontend architecture, complex state management, or platform engineering.
• You demonstrate exceptional technical judgement and communicate complex technical decisions clearly across engineering and non-engineering audiences.
• You have a proven track record of mentoring senior engineers and raising engineering standards across teams.
• You're comfortable operating in ambiguity and turning strategic goals into practical technical execution.

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.

About the team

We're Photo. Our mission is to make Canva's Photo Editor the place where anyone can transform images into stunning visual outcomes effortlessly and at any scale. We're building the workspace where images live, get edited, and get reused across designs.

We set ambitious goals, embrace difficult technical challenges, and believe innovation happens when talented people work together to solve meaningful problems. Our team combines cutting-edge frontend engineering with AI-powered image understanding and processing to help millions of people create beautiful designs every day.

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 that supports all parents and carers.
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup and more.
• Flexible leave options that empower you to recharge, give back and thrive both personally and professionally.
• The opportunity to shape the technical direction of one of Canva's most impactful product experiences while collaborating with world-class engineers.

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more information.

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 your experience perfectly matches everything we've listed, we'd still love to hear from you.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

Staff Frontend Engineer - Photo Editing, Hybrid + Equity • Sydney, NSW, AU