Principal Software Engineer – Mobile Platform

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Australia.

📋 Description

• Take charge of the technical strategy and architectural choices for Canva’s hybrid mobile platform, which encompasses React Native, iOS, and Android.

• Determine which components should be shared, which should be native, and how the various layers of the platform interact.

• Transform the architecture into deployable production code that lays the groundwork for performance, reliability, and observability.

• Successfully deliver a React Native product interface into production within a six-month timeframe.

• Create stable capabilities and foundational platform primitives for feature teams.

• Guide Staff and Senior engineers through the migration process and complex technical decisions.

• Collaborate with key product teams to promote platform adoption and establish reliable engineering practices.

• Shape mobile architecture decisions that impact over 800 frontend engineers.

• Engage hands-on with intricate implementation details.

• Contribute to how Canva operates across iOS, Android, and web platforms.

⛳️ Requirements

• Proven experience in building or significantly enhancing large-scale cross-platform mobile architecture in a production environment.

• Proficiency in React Native and React, or extensive experience with Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform, or other production-grade cross-platform frameworks.

• Experience leading a significant migration of a mature mobile product while it is active and expanding.

• Principal-level technical leadership across various teams.

• Architectural influence across the organization that spans multiple groups or a large engineering entity.

• Solid hands-on technical expertise and comfort with complex implementation challenges.

• Strong engineering judgment and ability to apply first-principles reasoning.

• Familiarity with shared-code runtimes, native boundaries, bundle delivery, and performance profiling on actual devices.

• In-depth knowledge of iOS and Android fundamentals.

• Experience with mobile performance, reliability, crash monitoring, and large-scale optimization.

• Understanding of shared capabilities, libraries, abstractions, and infrastructure utilized across various teams.

• Strong grounding in data structures, complexity, and system-level trade-offs.

• Nice to have: extensive production experience with React Native and its internals.

• Nice to have: experience with Rust or C/C++.

• Nice to have: contributions to open-source projects related to React Native, Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform, Expo, or the broader ecosystem.

• Nice to have: experience with mobile CI/CD, release trains, and over-the-air updates at scale.

• Nice to have: experience with AI tooling in engineering tasks.

• Please include your pronouns and any reasonable adjustments needed for the interview process.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equity packages.

• An inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents and caregivers.

• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance focused on wellbeing, social connections, office setup, and more.

• Flexible leave options.

• Virtual interviews.