Senior Software Engineer (Developer Tooling) - Python/Java

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 Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect.

This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. 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 flavor 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:

Owning end-to-end technical solutions

• Designing, documenting, and implementing complex backend developer experience and infrastructure projects spanning multiple systems, domains, and language ecosystems
• Driving projects from initial design doc through stakeholder buy-in, implementation, testing, rollout, adoption, and long-term operation

Building developer-facing tools and automation

• Creating pragmatic automation that eliminates repetitive manual work for engineers
• Building self-service platforms, services, and CLIs that reduce dependency on platform teams
• Improving workflows for Python and Java backend engineers across local development, IDEs, dependency management, builds, testing, CI/CD, and releases
• Developing monitoring, alerting, telemetry, and diagnostic tools that proactively surface issues

Collaborating and enabling engineering teams

• Partnering with backend, platform, and infrastructure teams to understand pain points and gather requirements
• Translating developer needs, business goals, and technical constraints into scalable solutions
• Using telemetry and real developer feedback to prioritize improvements and evaluate their impact
• Sharing knowledge through documentation, tech talks, and mentorship of junior engineers

You’re probably a match if 

• You have a strong background in Platform Engineering, Developer Experience, or backend software engineering, with substantial hands-on programming experience in Python and/or Java
• You have a proven track record of building and operating production backend systems, developer tooling, or internal platforms at scale
• You have experience supporting large engineering organizations of 1,000 or more engineers
• You have strong experience with AWS or GCP
• You have thorough Kubernetes experience in production environments
• You have built and maintained complex CI/CD pipelines at scale using Buildkite, Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar technologies
• You have experience with Bazel, Gradle, or similar monorepo build tools - Bazel experience is highly valued
• You understand modern Python or JVM development workflows, including dependency management, testing, packaging, debugging, and IDE integration
• You have implemented comprehensive monitoring, logging, telemetry, and alerting
• You are proficient with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, or similar tools

Highly Valued (Nice to Have)

• Real product development experience building production services or systems in Python or Java
• Experience with release automation and deployment safety mechanisms
• Background in developer tooling, IDE integrations, or language ecosystem stewardship
• Experience leading large-scale ecosystem migrations or tooling transformations
• Contributions to open-source infrastructure or developer tools
• Prior work on build performance optimization or test infrastructure at scale

About the Group
The Developer Experience (DevX) group makes software development at Canva faster, easier, and more enjoyable. Through three focused subgroups - Automation Pipeline, Developer Workflows, and Build & Collaboration - DevX provides the essential platforms, tools, and infrastructure that streamline the entire development journey. From optimising the inner loop and code collaboration, to automating testing and releases, to defining standards and partnering across platform teams, we’re focused on removing friction and empowering Canvanauts to ship quality work with speed and confidence.

About the Role

As a Senior Software Engineer in DevX, you’ll own critical infrastructure and developer-facing products that directly impact engineers across Canva, with a primary focus on the experience of backend engineers.

You’ll work across three closely connected domains:

• Backend Developer Workflows: Improve the software development lifecycle for Python and Java engineers, including local and remote environments, IDE integrations, dependency management, build and test workflows, and AI-assisted development tooling
• Automation Pipeline: Build and maintain CI/CD systems, test infrastructure, release automation, and deployment safety mechanisms
• Build & Collaboration: Maintain source control systems, monorepo tooling, build systems such as Bazel, code review infrastructure, and developer environments

Your work will focus on high-leverage projects that eliminate systemic friction - whether that’s reducing build and test times, improving Python or Java workflows, automating release processes, or building self-service platforms that empower teams to move faster independently.

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
• An inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents and carers
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup, and more
• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge, and support you personally

Other stuff to know?

We see AI as a powerful amplifier of creativity and technology at Canva. We’re evolving how we assess AI skills in our Technology hiring experience - you’ll tackle interactive, real-time challenges that reflect the kind of work we do. In some interviews, you may also be asked to solve a problem using an AI tool to show how you approach challenges with tech by your side.

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.