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CanvaStaff Software Engineer - Export
Canva is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for its Export team, which operates inside the Editing Platform group. Export converts designs into downloadable files that people…
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About This Role
Canva is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for its Export team, which operates inside the Editing Platform group. Export converts designs into downloadable files that people share, print and use, and more than 50 million people rely on it every week. The team also powers print production, AI model training data, thumbnail generation and the download step for every new editor feature. This is the second Staff Engineer on the…
Job Description
Canva is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for its Export team, which operates inside the Editing Platform group. Export converts designs into downloadable files that people share, print and use, and more than 50 million people rely on it every week. The team also powers print production, AI model training data, thumbnail generation and the download step for every new editor feature.
This is the second Staff Engineer on the team. The engineer shares the domain with the current Staff Engineer, so no single person is a bottleneck for the most demanding parts of the system. The role sets technical direction for the Chromium-based export pipeline and the architecture that keeps it stable while the editor and Chromium both evolve. Typical problems include upgrade regressions, timing bugs in rendering, and incidents triggered by upstream Chromium changes. The engineer decides how the team should absorb upstream change, through monitoring, testing and designs that tolerate Chromium's frequent output changes.
The engineer also sets the course for PDF accessibility work (PDF/UA and WCAG) across exported files for Enterprise customers. That includes deciding how deeply to tag content, where to stop, and what to build internally versus purchase. Other duties include design reviews, pairing during difficult debugging, and writing notes that spread specialist Chromium understanding across colleagues. The posting seeks deep Chromium or browser-engine experience, comfort working in very large third-party C++ code, and strong Java backend skill, since the product runs on Java. The role is marked on-site.
Responsibilities
- Set architecture and technical direction for the Chromium-based export pipeline
- Tackle the toughest rendering issues, including upgrade regressions, timing bugs and upstream-triggered incidents
- Choose how to absorb upstream Chromium change through monitoring, testing and resilient design
- Define direction for PDF/UA and WCAG accessibility across exported files for Enterprise customers
- Drive reliability and performance work across formats and distributed systems at high volume
- Raise the skill level of colleagues through design review, pairing and documentation
- Partner with the Editing Platform group so new features hold up when users download
Requirements
- Substantial hands-on time with Chromium or a comparable browser rendering engine, gained from working inside it
- Comfortable navigating large third-party C++ codebases
- Strong Java backend background
- Experience owning a technical area end to end, including architectural trade-offs and their results
- Experience diagnosing layered systems that span multiple codebases and languages
- Experience building or maintaining systems whose upstream dependencies change often
Qualifications
- Familiarity with how rendering pipelines, graphics code and print workflows operate
- Knowledge of the PDF specification, or experience generating and post-processing PDFs
- Experience with accessibility standards for document and file output
Core Skills
Benefits
- Equity
- Parental leave policy covering all parents and carers
- Yearly Vibe and Thrive allowance covering wellbeing, social activities and home-office setup
- Flexible leave options
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Where is the role based?
The listing is marked on-site, and no city is named.
How large is the Export team's usage?
The posting says more than 50 million people use the export function each week, and the team also supports print production and thumbnails.
What accessibility work does the role include?
The engineer defines direction for PDF/UA and WCAG compliance across exported files for Enterprise customers.
Is a salary stated?
No salary is stated.
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