Principal Video Engineer - Design Experience (Bay area only)

<p>Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.</p><p>Hey, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!<br> 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.</p><p><strong>What you’d be doing in this role</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>As a <strong>Principal Video Engineer</strong>, 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Your architectural decisions will influence every video feature we ship, making this role central to Canva's continued leadership in the visual creation space.</p><p><strong>At the moment, this role is focused on:</strong></p><ul><li>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</li><li>Collaborating closely with tenured Principal and Staff engineers to establish technical standards and best practices, while progressively assuming ownership of video-specific architectural decisions</li><li>Designing and implementing high-performance rendering systems using modern graphics technologies, optimising video composition pipelines that handle complex designs with sub-second responsiveness</li><li>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</li><li>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</li><li>Mentoring and guiding engineers on video-related projects, sharing expertise in video systems architecture and helping the team execute ambitious technical initiatives</li></ul><p><strong>You’re probably a match if</strong></p><ul><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</ ... (truncated, view full listing at source)