Staff Software Engineer - Video Performance - (Bay area only)

Canva; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 251,000 - 329,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Health benefits plans

401(k) retirement plan with company 0%

Inclusive parental leave policy

Vibe & Thrive allowance

Flexible leave options

Job summary

Canva is seeking a Performance Engineer to drive end-to-end performance across the video creation lifecycle. You will optimize the C++ engine, shader pipelines, and ML-powered effects to reduce latency and memory usage across Web, iOS, and Android.

You will design observability tools, define key metrics, and collaborate with Video Engine and AI teams to evolve system architecture for better parallelism and hardware acceleration.

Qualifications

• Proficient in C++ for performance-critical systems.
• 2+ years experience in graphics or media pipelines is preferred.
• Knowledge of CPU/GPU memory hierarchies and SIMD.
• Experience with graphics APIs such as OpenGL, Metal or Vulkan.
• Strong ability to profile, diagnose, and optimize complex systems.
• Familiarity with video codecs and container formats beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end performance strategy across video creation lifecycle to reduce latency.
• Profile and optimize C++ native engine and ML-powered pipelines.
• Build observability and regression tooling across Web, iOS, and Android.
• Define performance metrics reflecting user-perceived fluidity and creativity.
• Collaborate with Video Engine and AI teams to improve architecture and parallelism.
• Leverage platform APIs (Metal, Vulkan, WebGPU) for maximum performance.

Skills

C++ proficiency

Rust experience

CPU/GPU architectures

OpenGL/Metal/Vulkan

Profiling/diagnostics

Multimedia/video codecs

Tools

Perf tools

Instruments

Chrome DevTools

Systrace

Job description

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hello, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!

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 office is in Sydney, Australia, but we've made our way from down under, to a hub in San Francisco, which is now home to our US operations. We offer flexibility in how and where you work. 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.

• Lead end-to-end performance strategy across the video creation lifecycle — from timeline scrubbing and real-time preview through to export and rendering. You’ll identify bottlenecks and drive measurable improvements to the editing experience.
• Profile and optimize critical paths in our C++ native engine, GLSL/HLSL shaders, and ML-powered effect pipelines to reduce latency and memory footprint.
• Design and build observability systems including internal profiling tools and automated regression suites that capture key performance metrics (FPS, jank, memory usage, thermal behavior) across Web, iOS, and Android.
• Define and own performance metrics that directly reflect user-perceived fluidity and creative flow — ensuring performance remains a first-class product feature.
• Collaborate across teams with Video Engine and AI engineers to evolve system architecture for improved parallelism, cache locality, and asynchronous processing.
• Leverage hardware acceleration using platform-specific APIs (Metal, Vulkan, WebGPU) to unlock maximum performance across diverse consumer hardware.

You're probably a match if

• You treat performance as a product feature. You’ve optimized complex, multi-threaded systems and can reason clearly about trade-offs between latency, memory, and maintainability.
• You think in systems. You understand how frontend, backend, and native engines interact to create seamless user experiences at scale.
• Strong proficiency in C++
• Experience with modern systems languages (e.g., Rust) is a plus
• Strong understanding of CPU/GPU architectures, memory hierarchies, and SIMD
• Experience working with graphics APIs such as OpenGL, Metal, or Vulkan
• You’re fluent in profiling and diagnostics. You’ve used tools such as Perf, Instruments, Chrome DevTools, Systrace, or custom telemetry systems to uncover bottlenecks and guide engineering decisions.
• You understand multimedia fundamentals. You have experience with video codecs (H.264/5, VP9, AV1), container formats, and frame-accurate seeking and composition.
• You use data to validate impact. You analyze telemetry at scale to identify regressions and measure improvements.
• You elevate those around you. You influence peers and partner teams to prioritize performance and long-term quality.

About The Team

The Video Group at Canva is redefining how millions of people tell stories. We’re a global, interdisciplinary team of rendering engineers, AI researchers, and product builders working toward ambitious goals. In San Francisco, you’ll join a high-impact team building the performant foundation that enables our creative ambitions.

We value technical excellence, thoughtful collaboration, and building systems that empower creativity for everyone.

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
• Health benefits plans to support you and your wellbeing
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• 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

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills, merit and business needs, in compliance with applicable local laws.

About compensation

At Canva we value fairness, and we strive to provide competitive, market-informed compensation whilst ensuring internal equity within the team in each region. We make hiring decisions based on your skills, experience and our overall assessment of what we observed and learnt in the hiring process. The target salary range for this position is $251,000 to $329,000. When calculating offers, we make salary decisions based on market data and candidates' skills and experience.

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!

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.

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.