Senior Backend Engineer (Java) – Video Compositor

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 a 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.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

Video is a complex technical problem that requires multiple parts of the software system to work seamlessly to deliver a smooth video editing, playback and export experience to users. The Video Compositor team works across multiple layers of the tech stack to ensure smooth functioning of the system.

We are looking for someone who can work with the complexity brought about by multiple moving parts of the Canva machinery and the inherently nuanced video domain.

As a senior software engineer specializing in video processing, you’ll work across our tech stack to enable a highly responsive and reliable video delivery product. Working alongside a skilled unit of engineers in the team and in partner teams, you’ll dive into cutting-edge technologies like WASM, TypeScript, and potentially Rust to solve complex problems.

You’re probably a match if:

• A team player who is highly motivated, enthusiastic, and curious
• A great problem solver
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills
• Firmly grounded computer science and engineering fundamentals including data structures, solution design, architecture, and design patterns
• Commercial experience developing complex web applications
• At Canva we use Core Java as our backend programming language so we need someone who is comfortable using Java
• Strong experience with Javascript/Typescript
• Familiarity with Video or Computer Graphics
• Experience with the following technologies is a benefit: digital video streaming, compression, codecs, compositing and delivering advanced video features across different browsers (ie. Webkit), systems languages (eg. C/C++/Rust) and WASM

What you’ll do (responsibilities):

• Work with the team to solve complex problems in an elegant way
• Investigate code and behaviour to understand complex user flows through the product
• Use first principles reasoning and XY problem-solving skills to protect the integrity of our artefacts, while supporting Canva to deliver awesome new features and functionality
• Write and review design documents, both from within the team and from other teams
• Write and review code implementing features, both from within the team and from other teams
• Own the entire lifecycle of the code; design, development, test, maintenance, and subsequent fixes and improvements as required to support the product roadmap
• Demonstrate initiative and ownership in achieving goals, improving processes and solutions
• Identify opportunities for cross-team collaboration to work on new ideas and improvements that help achieve our goals

About the Group/Team:

Video at Canva is embarking on an exciting journey that will shape the future of video editing and social media content creation for millions of users globally. In the next few months, we will deliver a customer-centric, intuitive and powerful video editing platform that seamlessly integrates with the Canva ecosystem to unlock the full potential of the Visual Suite. This enhanced editing experience will make it far easier for social media users to bring their ideas to life, and create engaging and professional content that stands out.

The Compositor Team is responsible for developing and maintaining the tools and systems that enable users to seamlessly download their designs as videos across various platforms, including web and mobile apps. This dynamic team plays a pivotal role in enhancing the user experience not only for export but also for playback and editing functionalities. Their work is integral to ensuring a smooth and intuitive process for users to bring their ideas to life in video format, contributing significantly to Canva’s mission of empowering millions of global users in content creation.

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.

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