Staff Software Engineer - Export

Canva; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Canva is seeking a Staff Software Engineer for the Export team to shape how designs become downloadable files at scale. You’ll own the technical direction of the render/export pipeline, with a focus on reliability, performance, and handling upstream Chromium changes.

You’ll tackle hard rendering challenges, set architectural trade-offs, and mentor engineers while collaborating with the Editing Platform group to ensure editor features export smoothly to users worldwide.

Qualifications

• Experience with large third-party codebases and complex rendering systems.
• Track record in designing scalable architecture and handling upstream changes.
• Strong backend engineering in Java for scalable services.
• Ability to mentor and lead other engineers.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction of Canva's export rendering pipeline.
• Tackle the hardest rendering problems and regression fixes.
• Design monitoring and testing to catch Chromium regressions.
• Lead accessibility and PDF-related work across exported files.
• Ensure reliability and performance for 50M+ weekly downloads.
• Mentor teammates and collaborate across the Editing Platform group.

Skills

C++

Java

Rendering pipelines

Graphics programming

End-to-end ownership

Job description

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.

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.

You're a the second Staff Engineer on Export, splitting the domain with our existing Staff Engineer so neither of us is a single point of failure on the hardest parts of the system.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Owning the technical direction of how Canva renders designs into files, including our Chromium-based export pipeline, and setting the architecture that keeps it reliable as both Canva's editor and Chromium itself keep moving
• Being the person the team turns to on the hardest rendering problems: upgrade breakages, rendering race conditions, and production incidents caused by upstream Chromium changes
• Deciding how we absorb upstream change rather than react to it, which covers monitoring and testing infrastructure that catches Chromium regressions before users do, and designs that survive Chromium's frequent output structure changes
• Setting the direction for PDF accessibility and compliance (PDF/UA, WCAG) across exported files for our Enterprise customers, and making the calls on how deeply we tag, where we draw the line, and what we build versus buy
• Leading on export reliability and performance at the scale of over 50 million weekly downloads, spanning format optimisation, distributed systems design, and the failure modes that only show up at that volume
• Raising the level of the engineers around you through design review, pairing on gnarly debugging sessions, and the kind of documentation that turns one person's Chromium knowledge into the team's
• Working across the Editing Platform group and beyond it, so that teams shipping new editor features know their work will hold up when someone hits download

You're probably a match if

• You're comfortable in C++ when a problem takes you into a large third‑party codebase, and you can build a clear picture of code you didn't write
• A background in rendering pipelines, graphics programming, or print production systems
• You're a strong Java backend engineer, that's what our product is built on
• You've owned a technical domain end to end: you set the architecture, made the trade‑offs, and lived with the consequences
• You've debugged layered systems where the problem spans multiple codebases and languages, and you've led others through that kind of investigation
• You bring the engineers around you along with you, through mentoring, design review, and the standards you hold
• You've built or maintained systems where upstream dependencies change frequently, and you have a view on how to make that sustainable

Nice to have:

• PDF specification knowledge, or experience with PDF generation and post‑processing
• Experience with accessibility standards in document or file output

About the team

The Export team sits within the Editing Platform group and owns one of Canva's most critical workflows: transforming designs into downloadable files that users can share, print, and bring to life. Over 50 million people download their creations through us every week. We focus on three things: reliability users can count on, speed that keeps pace with their creativity, and flexibility across every format and use case.

Beyond the main download flow, we power print production, enable AI model training, generate thumbnails, and make sure every new editor feature works seamlessly when someone hits that download button. As a Staff Software Engineer here, you'd be shaping how one of Canva's highest‑leverage systems evolves, and the decisions you make will be felt by every team that ships something a user needs to download.

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.