Senior Software Engineer, Canvas & Editor Tools

Goodnotes; Remote; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital note-taking company seeks a Senior Software Engineer to join its Canvas Tools team, focusing on core document editing. The candidate should have over 5 years of experience and expertise in Swift and collaborative development. This role involves tackling complex challenges and enhancing user experiences. The company offers flexible hours, remote options, and benefits like medical insurance and equity in a profitable startup.

Benefits

Medical insurance for dependents

Great annual leave allowance

Meaningful equity in a tech startup

Budget for home office setup

Sponsored visits to office every 2 years

Qualifications

• More than 5 years of experience working on technically challenging software projects.
• Significant experience building performance-sensitive, user-facing software.
• Strong fundamentals in computer science with the ability to reason about complex systems.

Responsibilities

• Contribute substantially to the core canvas and document editing tools.
• Design, implement, and maintain document editing systems targeting iOS and the web.
• Collaborate with designers and product managers to enhance user experience.

Skills

Performance-sensitive software development

Asynchronous programming

Complex system understanding

Collaborative work

High-quality code delivery

Tools

Swift

C++

Rust

Job description

Senior Software Engineer, Canvas & Editor Tools

UK & Europe

At Goodnotes, we believe that every individual holds untapped potential waiting to be unleashed. By reimagining the way we interact with information, we’re merging human creativity with the breakthrough capabilities of AI. Our renewed vision and mission drive us to create the best medium for human and AI collaboration, empowering users to explore new dimensions of productivity, creativity, and learning. Join us on this journey as we transform digital note‑taking into an inspiring and innovative experience.

About the team

Over 25 million people use Goodnotes every month to take notes, sketch ideas, and bring their thoughts to life. We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our Canvas Tools team and help build the core document editing tools that power the Goodnotes experience. This is a highly impactful role working on one of the most critical parts of the application, with direct influence on how millions of users interact with their documents every day. If you enjoy tackling complex technical challenges, care deeply about correctness and performance, and like collaborating closely with designers and product partners to craft great user experiences, we’d love to hear from you.

What you will do

• Contribute substantially to the core canvas and document editing tools that underpin the Goodnotes app.
• Design, implement, and maintain document editing systems in Swift, targeting both iOS and the web (via WebAssembly).
• Collaborate closely with designers, product managers, and technical leaders.
• Bring a product mindset, contributing ideas and improvements that enhance usability and overall user experience.
• Help foster a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive team environment.
• Strong computer science fundamentals, with the ability to reason about complex systems and trade‑offs.
• Significant experience building performance‑sensitive, user‑facing software.
• Proven ability to profile, debug, and optimize complex codebases when required.
• Comfortable working with asynchronous and concurrent code.
• Proficiency in at least one statically typed, systems programming language (such as C++, Rust, Swift, Objective‑C, or similar).
• More than 5 years of experience working on technically challenging software projects.
• Maker at heart, with a track record of delivering high‑quality, maintainable code in collaborative teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience working on document editors, graphics‑heavy applications, or other complex interactive tools.
• Experience targeting multiple platforms from a shared codebase, including mobile and web.
• Experience writing production‑quality Swift code.
• Strong product sense, with the ability to translate user needs into thoughtful technical solutions.

At Goodnotes, we aim to build a team as diverse as our user base. Even if you don’t meet all the above requirements, you may still be a great fit for the role, so please consider applying. If you care deeply about code quality, enjoy working on complex, high‑impact systems, and value close collaboration with designers and product partners, we would love to hear from you.

The interview process

• Introduction: The Talent Team want to hear more about your background, what you are looking for, and why you’d like to join Goodnotes.
• Onsite Live coding & Technical interview: A live coding call with one of our engineers. This is where you get to see what it would be like working at Goodnotes as well as the chance to ask any engineering questions you may have.
• AI literacy interview: A short conversation with an AI Champion on your understanding and use of AI tools.
• Hiring Manager interview: A call with your hiring manager. This is the person who will be managing you day to day, working on your growth and development with you as well as support you throughout your career at Goodnotes.
• Values interview – Meeting with members of the Goodnotes Team to answer questions relating to take ownership AND build great things.

Please note that technical interviews are held onsite in our office locations (London, Hong Kong & Singapore). All transport, accommodation and costs involved will be covered by the Goodnotes team.

What’s in it for you

• Remote friendly.
• Flexible working hours and location.
• Medical insurance for you and your dependents.
• Great annual leave allowance.
• Meaningful equity in a profitable tech‑startup.
• Budget for things like noise cancelling headphones, setting up your home office, personal development, professional training, and health & wellness.
• Sponsored visits to our Hong Kong or London office every 2 years.
• Company wide annual offsite.
• Fantastic maternity / paternity packages and allowances.

Note: Employment is contingent upon successful completion of background checks, including verification of employment, education, and criminal records.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Candidate Privacy Notice, which provides important information about the data we collect during the application process. You can find it here .

Candidate Demographic Questions

Goodnotes is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. To help ensure a fully diverse, equitable and inclusive working environment, we invite you to fill out this voluntary survey so we can track and further our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. The information shared here cannot and will not affect your job application in any way. It’s also 100% anonymous, and is not linked to your name, identity or application.