Staff Software Engineer - Video Performance (Equity)

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

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.