Senior Software Engineer - Canada

CANALS; Toronto; Remote; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Canals is seeking a senior backend engineer to help scale our platform for wholesale distributors. You’ll own large backend projects, focusing on performance, reliability, and maintainability, in a remote-first, fast-paced startup environment.

Collaborate with product and customer teams to align new features with business goals, provide architectural feedback, and mentor other engineers as the team grows. If you thrive in high-growth settings, you’ll have the opportunity to shape a product used

Qualifications

• Senior backend engineer with track record of building scalable systems.
• Experience in fast-paced, product-focused environments.
• Ability to own deliverables and drive architectural decisions.
• Experience mentoring engineers.
• Experience in high-growth startups is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Backend engineering work focused on scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Own large, complex projects from planning to deployment.
• Collaborate with product and customer teams to align engineering with business needs.
• Balance hands-on coding with guiding the team’s technical direction.
• Help shape the future of Canals as we continue scaling with our customers.

Skills

Backend development

Scalability

Performance

Code reviews

Mentoring teammates

Job description

About Canals

Canals builds software for wholesale distributors, helping them operate more efficiently through automation and AI.

Our customers are the companies responsible for moving the materials that power the real economy; electrical supplies, plumbing products, roofing materials, HVAC equipment, and more. Every day, thousands of people rely on Canals to help process orders, manage purchasing, handle accounts payable, and streamline critical business workflows.

We're a profitable, rapidly growing company with a team of roughly 140 people distributed across North and South America. We care deeply about building great products, hiring exceptional people, and creating an environment where talented individuals can do the best work of their careers.

The Opportunity
Our customer base is expanding fast. Existing customers want to scale, and new customers are onboarding at pace. To keep up, we need senior-level engineers who can move quickly while maintaining high quality, owning complex backend systems while shaping product features that deliver real value.

What You’ll Do

• Backend engineering work focused on scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Own large, complex projects from planning to deployment.
• Collaborate directly with product and customer teams to align engineering with business needs.
• Balance hands‑on coding with guiding the team’s technical direction.
• Help shape the future of Canals as we continue scaling with our customers.

What We’re Looking For

• Senior-level experience as a backend engineer building scalable, high-performance systems.
• Experience working independently in a fast‑paced, product‑focused environment.
• Comfort taking ownership of deliverables and ensuring projects are delivered to a high standard.
• Ability to guide and unblock other engineers, providing thoughtful code reviews and architectural feedback.
• Previous experience in high-growth startups or small teams is a plus.

Why Join Canals

We're building software that solves real problems for an industry that keeps the world running. Our customers rely on our platform every day to operate their businesses.

We've found strong product-market fit and continue to grow quickly, creating opportunities for people who want to have a meaningful impact on the trajectory of a company.

We believe great people build great companies. That's why we invest heavily in hiring, development, and creating an environment where talented individuals can do the best work of their careers.

You’ll work alongside ambitious, thoughtful teammates who care deeply about what they do, challenge each other directly, and have a lot of fun along the way.

We value ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and people are trusted to make things happen.

We're remote-first, flexible, and distributed across North and South America, bringing together talented people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

Canals.ai is an equal opportunity employer. In addition to EEO being the law, it is a policy that is fully consistent with our principles. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to status as a protected veteran or a qualified individual with a disability, or other protected status such as race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, pregnancy or age.