About this role
About the role:
In your role as Senior Research (Machine Learning) Engineer, you’ll be at the heart of our mission to make advanced machine learning design tools easy for everyone to use. Your work will help create new features that make it simpler and more fun for Canva users to bring their ideas to life. By developing and integrating these cutting-edge technologies, you’ll help us achieve our goal of empowering the world to design. Your contributions will enhance user experiences, drive Canva’s growth, and keep us at the forefront of the design industry. Together, we’ll make a real impact and shape the future of design.
At the moment, this role is focused on:
Partnering with Research Scientists on research in multimodal generative AI, translating theory into practical applications
Porting experimental Python code to scalable, testable, and production-grade solutions, incorporating performance benchmarks and robust testing practices
Designing, developing, and implementing innovative model architectures and algorithms for multimodal design generation
Building sustainable ML pipelines that support continuous integration, deployment, and monitoring of generative models in production environments
Optimizing and scaling models for efficiency, latency, and throughput across large distributed systems
Enhancing and maintaining high-quality datasets and annotations to fuel multimodal learning
Investigating and addressing production incidents through root cause analysis and sustainable fixes
Collaborating closely with cross-functional stakeholders across Canva to build aligned, technically feasible, and high-impact solutions
You’re probably a match if you:
Have deep experience developing generative AI models, including Diffusion Models, GANs, or Transformers, and can speak to their real-world application
Have successfully managed and optimized large-scale distributed training (e.g. across 100s of GPUs) and understand the infrastructure trade-offs
Bring a strong understanding of ML principles and have used frameworks like PyTorch to develop and optimize performant models
Demonstrate solid engineering practices – clean code, rigorous testing, CI/CD workflows, and robust observability in production
Thrive in ambiguity, show end-to-end ownership of complex initiatives, and consistently drive for pragmatic solutions
Communicate clearly, collaborate with kindness, and value knowledge-sharing and co-creation across teams
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 stack 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 tooInclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carersAn annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, home office setup & moreFlexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personallyCheck 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.
Please note that interviews are predominantly conducted virtually.