Principal Video Engineer - Design Experience (Bay area only)

Job 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.

What you’d be doing in this role

As Canva scales, change will remain 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.

As a Principal Video Engineer, you'll be stepping into one of the most technically senior and impactful roles within Canva's engineering organisation. We're looking for a technical architect who will help shape the future of video technology across our entire platform, working at the intersection of cutting-edge cross-platform video processing engines, scalable system design, and user experience optimisation.

This role offers a unique opportunity to lead the technical direction of video infrastructure serving millions of users daily, directly influencing export performance, rendering quality, and the overall creative experience. You'll play a critical role in enabling our team to push the boundaries of what's possible in browser-based video creation, working alongside some of the industry's most talented engineers to solve meaningful, complex problems.

Your architectural decisions will influence every video feature we ship, making this role central to Canva's continued leadership in the visual creation space.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Architecting and leading the technical direction for Canva's entire video technology stack, making critical design decisions that balance performance, scalability, and user experience across millions of daily video exports
• Collaborating closely with tenured Principal and Staff engineers to establish technical standards and best practices, while progressively assuming ownership of video-specific architectural decisions
• Designing and implementing high-performance rendering systems using modern graphics technologies, optimising video composition pipelines that handle complex designs with sub-second responsiveness
• Solving complex technical challenges around video export costs, rendering performance, and system reliability — making thoughtful trade-offs that maximise both technical excellence and business impact
• Establishing a clear technical vision and roadmap for video technology that enables innovative features such as AI-powered effects, advanced international language support, and next-generation video editing capabilities
• Mentoring and guiding engineers on video-related projects, sharing expertise in video systems architecture and helping the team execute ambitious technical initiatives

You’re probably a match if

• We're seeking a technical leader who not only understands video technology but truly appreciates the balance between performance, quality, and user experience that makes video editing feel intuitive and empowering. You’re someone who can dive deep into audio/video processing engines while also thinking strategically about system architecture.
• You bring a rare combination of hands-on technical depth and architectural vision — and you enjoy guiding teams through complex technical transitions. You’re comfortable navigating ambiguity, working on cutting-edge challenges, and making considered decisions in high-impact environments. Experience building industry-leading digital content creation tools will set you up for success in this role.
• You’re motivated by solving meaningful problems that benefit millions of users, and you’re excited by the opportunity to help shape the technical foundation of one of the world’s most widely used creative platforms.
• Deep expertise in video technology and digital content creation tooling, with hands-on experience building video editing, composition, or similar creative software
• Strong system architecture and technical leadership skills, with experience designing scalable systems that support millions of users
• Engagement with the broader technical community — whether through industry connections, knowledge-sharing, or open-source contributions in video/graphics technology
• Experience with cross-platform development and engine consolidation, particularly in environments that require maintaining multiple codebases

About the team

The Video Engineering team sits within Canva’s Design Experience Supergroup and is on a mission to democratise video creation. From cutting-edge rendering engines to scalable architectures and AI-powered features, we’re building the future of visual storytelling for millions of creators around the globe.

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 success both inside 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 support you personally

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Here's a taste of what's on offer:

• Equity packages - we want our success to be yours too

• Health benefits plans to support you and your wellbeing

• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution

• 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.

At Canva we value fairness, and we strive to provide competitive, market-informed compensation whilst ensuring internal equity within the team in each region. We make hiring decisions based on your skills, experience and our overall assessment of what we observed and learnt in the hiring process. The target salary range for this position is e $258,000 to $393,000. When calculating offers, we make salary decisions based on market data and candidates' skills and experience.