Staff Front End Engineer – Portable Platform

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

📋 Description

• Develop the frontend layer of the Portable Platform: Create and deploy the frontend architecture that enables React engineers to write once and execute across both web and React Native environments. The abstraction must be sufficiently clear so that product engineers do not need to consider which runtime they are targeting.

• Guide the transition from React Web to React Native: Manage the shift from a purely React Web codebase to a combined React Web and React Native setup. Ensure the transition is seamless, as the choices made here will influence the future evolution of Canva’s frontend codebase for years to come.

• Oversee the web implementations of shared abstractions: Develop the web aspects of common Portable Platform components — the elements that function consistently across iOS, Android, and web browsers. You will be responsible for the web runtime segment of this agreement.

• Facilitate the upskilling of frontend engineers: Assist over six hundred frontend engineers as they transition from a web-only environment. Help them grasp the new mental framework through code standards, documentation, design reviews, and direct collaboration.

• Incorporate SSR and React Server Components: Server-side rendering and RSC are integral to this initiative — particularly concerning how a backend connects with the portable frontend layer. While this may not be the primary focus, it is significant, and you will need to think critically about it.

• Remain actively involved: Staff engineers at Canva engage in coding. You will work within the codebase, creating design documents, and making commits to production. The architectural and engineering tasks are intertwined in this role.

⛳️ Requirements

• In-depth React experience: You possess a profound understanding of React's architecture, reconciliation, rendering model, and server component model. You have made decisions that operate beneath the framework's surface.

• Performance expertise: You have achieved measurable improvements on a complex frontend product and can differentiate between genuine progress and misleading benchmarks.

• Experience with portable or cross-platform development: You have worked on a codebase that operates across multiple runtimes and understand the trade-offs involved in abstracting at the component level.

• Understanding of the React Native paradigm: While you do not need to be a mobile specialist, you recognize the differences between React Native and React Web, and how engineers must adapt their thinking when targeting both environments.

• Cross-team impact: You have delivered a product that altered how multiple teams operate, through documentation, prototypes, and direct engagement.

• Practical coding experience: Regularly writing code in your day-to-day work, with recent commits, design documents, and reviews.

• AI proficiency: You have utilized AI tools in real engineering tasks and have insights on its implications for frontend development.

• Bonus: Familiarity with SSR and React Server Components: Understanding of server-side rendering and RSC patterns — how a backend integrates with a React frontend, and how this fits into the Portable Platform narrative.

• React Native experience: Hands-on experience with React Native, even at a basic level. If you have delivered a project in React Native, that is a significant advantage.

• Contributions to open-source projects: Involvement in React, React Native, or the wider frontend ecosystem.

• Depth in design systems or component libraries: Experience in creating shared component abstractions that other engineers utilize, particularly those that must function across various rendering environments.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equity packages - we aim for our success to align with yours

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

• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to enhance your wellbeing, social connections, office setup, and more

• Flexible leave options that empower you to make a positive impact, take time to recharge, and support your personal needs