Staff Backend Software Engineer - (Java) - Developer Experience

Company Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, 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 campus is in Sydney. We also have a campus in Melbourne and co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. But you have choice in where and how 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.

Job Description

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Leading the design and implementation of AI-powered SDKs and platform APIs that empower developers to rapidly build, test, and deploy high-quality apps that integrate seamlessly with Canva.

• Architecting intelligent, context-aware developer interfaces that provide real-time guidance, API feedback, and best practice recommendations—drawing from source code, UI metadata, and behavioral signals.

• Driving innovation in SDK tooling by leveraging LLMs and model-centric architectures to enable intelligent scaffolding, type-safe interfaces, interactive docs, and in-editor code suggestions.

• Partnering closely with cross-functional teams—including UX, infrastructure, and product—to ensure that the SDKs and APIs deliver exceptional developer ergonomics, scalability, and alignment with Canva’s platform strategy.

• Championing automation-first principles across the SDK lifecycle—reducing friction through self-documenting APIs, automated changelogs, upgrade guidance, and sandboxed environments.

• Mentoring engineers and shaping the strategic direction of Canva’s developer platform—contributing to a vision for how AI can augment SDK and API design, testing, and consumption.

You're probably a match if

• You’ve led SDK or API platforms for developer ecosystems, especially in AI-augmented environments where developer velocity and ease of integration are paramount.

• You have experience building SDKs and tools that simplify integration, versioning, and discovery of capabilities—particularly across web-based and multi-platform contexts.

• You’ve worked with LLMs (via OpenAI, Anthropic, or open source) to improve developer experience through capabilities like intelligent documentation, code summarization, or autocomplete.

• You’re proficient in TypeScript and/or Python, and familiar with modern SDK scaffolding frameworks, API design conventions (e.g. OpenAPI), and developer tooling ecosystems.

• You have a background in developer relations, API advocacy, or platform enablement—helping internal and external developers become successful through thoughtful design and support.

• You thrive in collaborative, cross-functional teams, and enjoy translating complex platform capabilities into intuitive, well-supported SDKs that developers love.

• You’re excited about solving real-world problems with AI—and building the tools that bring these capabilities into the hands of developers everywhere.

About the team

We aim to build the world’s richest Ecosystem of apps and integrations for visual design and communications that supercharge Canva’s ability to meet the diverse needs of a billion users and drive Canva’s MAU growth.

With the proliferation of innovations in generative AI and as large organizations have increasingly complex workflows to manage their designs, Canva is well poised to become the platform that simplifies access and discovery of services related to visual design. We are already working with hundreds of developers to enable access to these exciting products with our Apps SDK and Canva public REST API!

As one of the groups in Ecosystem, the Ecosystem Experiences Group builds our App Marketplace, Developer Portal, and SDKs (including developer tooling, starter kit, examples, docs, etc.).

As a Staff Software Engineer, you’ll play a vital role in driving our engineering strategy—ensuring we deliver secure and reliable products while managing trade-offs on the path to achieving our crazy big goals. This group's customers are developers, which means you will have the ability to bring your insights and an engineering mindset into our product roadmap.

But don't just take our word for it, check out what Software Engineer - Abbie Wade has to say about working in Engineering at Canva -

"The challenges that I am solving do not have a known solution, which means I get to create and innovate each day."

Additional Information

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
• 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

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

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.