Senior Engineering Manager, Video Performance (Bay Area only)

Canva•San Francisco, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

As Canva scales, change continues to be part of our DNA. This role is focused on leading and growing a team of high-performing engineering managers and senior engineers focused on performance across Canva's Video experiences, creating an environment where people can do the best work of their lives. The position involves defining and driving the long-term performance strategy for Canva's Video Group, ensuring products remain fast, reliable, and scalable as AI-powered capabilities expand and serve hundreds of millions of users globally. It requires partnering closely with leaders across Video Engine, AI Research, Product, Design, and Platform teams to align performance investments with company priorities and user outcomes. The role also focuses on establishing performance as a first-class engineering principle by building shared accountability, frameworks, and operating rhythms. Driving large-scale performance initiatives across web, native, and rendering systems, balancing immediate user-impacting improvements with long-term platform investments is key. Additionally, building and evolving performance measurement frameworks, telemetry systems, and engineering health metrics, influencing technical direction through architecture reviews, strategic planning, and executive-level discussions, and supporting career development, succession planning, and organizational growth while fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement are core aspects of this position.

Requirements

Extensive experience leading engineering teams and engineering leaders in fast-paced, product-driven environments.
Demonstrated track record of building healthy, high-performing organizations.
Deep technical expertise in performance engineering, systems optimization, or platform engineering.
Experience working on performance-critical products at scale.
Strong systems thinking across frontend, backend, native platforms, rendering engines, or multimedia systems.
Ability to effectively navigate complex technical trade-offs.
Successfully developed and executed multi-year technical strategies that delivered measurable improvements in user experience, platform scalability, or engineering efficiency.
Skilled at influencing across organizational boundaries, aligning diverse stakeholders around shared goals, and driving execution through ambiguity.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and effectively to audiences ranging from engineers to executive leadership.
Experience using data, experimentation, and customer insights to guide decisions and measure impact, balancing long-term architectural investments with pragmatic business outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading teams working on video technologies, rendering systems, gaming engines, or other real-time performance-sensitive platforms.
Experience with cross-platform technologies including C++, WebAssembly, graphics pipelines, or native mobile platforms.
Familiarity with performance optimization challenges related to Generative AI, model inference, and AI-powered user experiences.
Deep understanding of mobile performance ecosystems, profiling tools, and performance monitoring platforms.
Experience scaling engineering organizations during periods of rapid growth and organizational change.

Responsibilities

Leading and growing a team of high-performing engineering managers and senior engineers focused on performance across Canva's Video experiences.
Defining and driving the long-term performance strategy for Canva's Video Group.
Partnering closely with leaders across Video Engine, AI Research, Product, Design, and Platform teams.
Establishing performance as a first-class engineering principle by building shared accountability, frameworks, and operating rhythms.
Driving large-scale performance initiatives across web, native, and rendering systems.
Building and evolving performance measurement frameworks, telemetry systems, and engineering health metrics.
Influencing technical direction through architecture reviews, strategic planning, and executive-level discussions.
Supporting career development, succession planning, and organizational growth while fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.