Company Description
About the Role
You'll architect high-performance effect rendering pipelines and intuitive toolchains that accelerate effect development, unlock creative expression, and ensure seamless integration across platforms and devices. Your work will directly enable Canva's global community to create magic at scale with powerful, easy-to-use video features.
About the Role
You will design high-performance effects rendering pipelines and intuitive toolchains to accelerate effects development, unlock creative expression, and ensure seamless integration across platforms and devices. Your work will directly empower Canva's global creator community to achieve "magical" experiences in creation with powerful and easy-to-use video features.
Job Description
What you'll do (responsibilities)
- Build and maintain a cross-platform multimedia effects SDK supporting iOS, Android, Web, and desktop.
- Develop tooling to support special effects content creation, testing, and asset lifecycle management.
- Design mobile-side effect asset management systems for optimal storage, loading, and update handling.
- Integrate new visual features (e.g. 3D, facial effects, dynamic shaders) with Canva's custom rendering engine.
- Prototype and productionise next-gen effects including AI-powered, multimodal, and real-time effects.
- Translate industry research into productised capabilities with stunning visual fidelity.
- Collaborate with design, AI, and product teams to elevate Canva's effect ecosystem.
Work Responsibilities
- Build and maintain a cross-platform multimedia effects SDK supporting iOS, Android, Web, and desktop, ensuring consistency and stability of effects functionality across all platforms
- Develop tools for effects content creation, testing, and asset lifecycle management to improve efficiency and quality throughout the effects development process
- Design mobile-side effects asset management systems to optimize asset storage, loading, and update mechanisms, balancing performance and resource usage
- Integrate next-generation visual features (such as 3D effects, facial effects, dynamic shaders) with Canva's custom rendering engine to realize effects functionality
- Complete prototype development and productionization of next-generation effects (including AI-driven effects, multimodal effects, real-time effects)
- Transform cutting-edge industry research into productized capabilities with outstanding visual fidelity, enhancing effects visual quality
- Collaborate with design, AI, and product teams to improve Canva's effects ecosystem and meet user creation needs
Qualifications
What we're looking for
- Advanced proficiency in C++ for engine/SDK development; solid in Java, Objective-C/Swift, and JavaScript/TypeScript.
- Experience in mobile app development and performance optimisation.
- Proficient in at least one graphics API (OpenGL, Metal, Vulkan, DirectX) and shader languages (GLSL, HLSL).
- Familiar with large-scale codebase management, version control (Git), and automated testing practices.
- Nice-to-have: AI deployment experience on-device (e.g., CoreML, QNN), DCC tool experience (e.g. Maya, Substance).
- Ability to design scalable graphics architectures and work closely with designers to push the boundaries of visual creativity
- Passion for empowering creativity and solving complex visual problems
- Full proficiency in English communications.
Job Requirements
- Advanced proficiency in C++, capable of independently completing engine and SDK development; skilled in Java, Objective-C/Swift, and JavaScript/TypeScript
- Mobile app development experience with familiarity in mobile performance optimization methods (such as memory management, rendering efficiency improvement)
- Proficient in at least one graphics API (OpenGL/Metal/Vulkan/DirectX) and shader languages (GLSL/HLSL), capable of independently implementing complex visual effects
- Familiar with large-scale codebase management, version control tools (such as Git), and automated testing processes, with good engineering practices
- Bonus points: on-device AI deployment experience (such as CoreML, QNN), or familiarity with DCC tools (such as Maya, Substance)
- Capable of designing scalable graphics architectures, able to collaborate closely with designers to push the boundaries of visual creativity
- Passionate about empowering creative creation, with the ability to solve complex visual technical problems
- Fluent English communication skills
What you will learn and develop at Canva
- Push the boundaries of creative tooling in the browser using modern graphics and ML
- Collaborate in an interdisciplinary team at the cutting edge of video editing, design, and AI
- Gain expertise in scaling high-performance rendering and multimedia UX
- Shape Canva's future in intelligent cross-platform video creation and editing products.
What you will gain and develop in this role:
- Use modern graphics technology and machine learning to push the boundaries of browser-based creative tools, exploring cutting-edge directions in effects development
- Collaborate closely with designers, AI algorithm engineers, and product managers to broaden technical and business perspectives
- Master the scalability of high-performance rendering and multimedia UX, accumulating hands-on experience in cross-platform effects technology
- Participate in core R&D of Canva's intelligent browser-based video creation products, directly shaping the technical direction and feature form of the product's future
Additional Information
About the Group/Team
We're the Video team within the Design Experience Supergroup, and we're on a mission to empower every user to tell compelling visual stories through video. We build intuitive, powerful tools and rendering infrastructure that help users go from idea to impact—seamlessly. Together, we're shaping the future of multimedia creation, and this role will be core to enabling innovation across Canva's intelligent video editing experiences.
About the Team
We are the Video team within the Design Experience Supergroup, with a mission to empower every user to tell compelling visual stories through video. We build intuitive, powerful tools and rendering infrastructure that help users seamlessly transform ideas into impactful works. Together, we are shaping the future of multimedia creation, and this position will be a core force in driving innovation in Canva's intelligent video editing experiences.