Staff Front-End Engineer - Design Systems

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 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 flavour of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but this will likely evolve. This Staff Software Engineer role is responsible for driving one of the most exciting changes in Canva's frontend stack and tackling unique technical challenges in the design system domain. The majority of Canva's MAU is now mobile, and we’re evolving our tech stack to catch up. Very few companies have attempted a web to React Native migration at this scale, and fewer design systems get the opportunity to create a “universal” component library that works across both native mobile and web. We're extending our existing React web component library, which already powers of all of Canva's UI, into a portable React component library that renders via React DOM on web and via React Native on mobile. UI defined once, rendered everywhere. We'll do this by absorbing cross-platform complexity into the design system layer, which means this role is at the frontier of figuring out the right abstractions before product teams ever have to think about them. This is a high impact role, with multiple prominent Canva surfaces relying on this infrastructure to ship mobile-first experiences before the end of 2026. Own the Portable UI Platform. Ship shared React components across web and React Native that multiple prominent Canva surfaces depend on before end of 2026. Abstract cross-platform complexity. You’ll solve problems once in the platform layer, so product teams get portable-first capability for free. Set the standard: For how portable components are built, distributed, and consumed and design solutions that hold at current and future scale. 800+ engineers will build with it, so it has to be right. Mentor engineers: Through a steep learning curve as the org shifts from web-first to cross-platform. Bring people with you through design and code reviews, team decisions, and the day-to-day. Influence across boundaries: Work with products teams across the company to understand their needs, sequence the work, and decide what belongs in the platform. Adoption is the biggest risk to delivery. Lead strategic technical direction: For the Design System Evolution team, and across the wider design system as needed. We know where we're going; how we get there is yours to figure out. Evolve the design system for an AI-native world: AI-assisted workflows enable faster delivery, empowers non-technical consumers to build UI, and puts a premium on a strong visual language. Seizing the AI opportunity requires changes and investments to our system. You'll help figure out what those are and how to build toward them. Shape frontend engineering at Canva: More broadly, codifying best practices and methodologies, and influencing the frontend specialty. You're probably a match if We'd love to hear from you if you fit one or more of these: (You don’t need meet fit all of these, but the more the better, and if you join our team we’re invested in helping you grow) Design System Leadership: Experience developing or leading a design system, with a passion for platform stewardship and enablement Web Technology Foundations: A deep understanding of the inner workings of fundamental web technologies (HTML, CSS, Web APIs, JS/TS, React) Cross-Platform Development: Hands-on experience with cross-platform and cross-device UI/UX development using React Native Delivery at Scale: Proven track record of shipping large, cross-functional projects across multiple teams with highly reliable, scalable technical solutions Collaboration & Communication: Excellent commun