Principal Software Engineer - Mobile Platform

Position Overview

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the Mobile Platform team responsible for Canva's mobile experience on iOS and Android. This role involves defining the architectural vision and delivering a hybrid mobile platform focused on React Native along with native capabilities and shared infrastructure. The position demands guiding the migration of existing mature mobile products while maintaining service for hundreds of millions of users globally.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish the technical framework and architectural direction for Canva's hybrid mobile platform, balancing native and shared components across iOS, Android, and React Native.
• Develop and deploy initial production-ready codebases with robust performance, reliability, and observability foundations within the first few months.
• Deliver a functioning React Native-based product surface supported by consistent platform primitives within six months to support feature teams.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to senior engineers and guide the platform migration efforts effectively.
• Work collaboratively with broader product teams to encourage platform adoption and standardize engineering practices impacting over 800 frontend engineers.

Experience and Skills Required

• Proven expertise designing and evolving large-scale cross-platform mobile architectures in production using React Native, Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform, or similar technologies.
• Demonstrated leadership in migrating live, mature mobile applications to new architectural frameworks at scale.
• Exceptional ability to set technical direction with organization-wide impact, influencing multiple teams and engineering standards.
• Strong hands-on coding skills and deep understanding of mobile runtime environments, native platform essentials, and performance optimization.
• Solid grasp of engineering fundamentals including data structures, system trade-offs, and complexity analysis.

Desirable Qualifications

• Extensive production experience with React Native internals and React ecosystem.
• Familiarity with system programming languages such as Rust or C/C++ for cross-platform library development.
• Contributions to open-source projects within the cross-platform mobile development ecosystem.
• Experience managing mobile continuous integration/deployment pipelines including release trains and over-the-air updates.
• Practical knowledge of incorporating AI tools to enhance mobile engineering workflows.

About the Team

The Client Platform group is focused on delivering superior user experiences across devices and supports all product teams building on web and mobile foundations. Mobile Platform engineers care deeply about performance and scalability, shaping mobile development for the long term at Canva. Joining this team provides a rare opportunity to influence millions of users and a large engineering organization.

Benefits

• Equity options enabling staff to share company success.
• Inclusive parental leave to support all carers.
• Annual allowance for wellbeing, social activities, and workspace setup.
• Flexible leave policies promoting work-life balance and personal wellbeing.

Additional Information

Hiring decisions focus on your skills, experience, enthusiasm, and cultural fit. Applicants are encouraged to share pronouns and request accommodations for the interview process if needed. Interviews will be conducted virtually.