Engineering Manager (BE) - Ecosystem Distribution

Company Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

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.

Job Description

About the Team

Our Distribution team sits at the intersection of AI and developer platforms - two of the fastest-moving spaces in tech. We own how our product shows up on AI platforms, with a mission to make it the default design platform for AI assistants and agents.

REST APIs and MCP tools are co-located across the team, and each team owns a workflow end-to-end. We're organised around outcomes, not technology type.

About the Role

You'll lead a team responsible for driving how our product integrates with the world's leading AI platforms. Whether that's launching on new AI surfaces, running rapid experiments on emerging capabilities, or deepening integration quality with existing partners - your team moves fast and owns outcomes end-to-end.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. You'll be in the code alongside your team, not managing from the sidelines. You'll drive product direction with product managers, provide technical and architecture guidance, grow engineers, and work with external partners to ensure consistency across our public API and MCP surface areas.

Some of the engineering challenges you'll face:

Designing MCP tools and REST APIs that deliver a consistent, high-quality experience across rapidly evolving AI platforms

Building and extending strategic connectors on OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Amazon

Supporting MCP apps (the UI layer), spanning backend and frontend

Working with enterprise partners to develop new API and MCP capabilities

Staying ahead of a protocol and AI landscape that shifts weekly

What you'll do

Lead and coach a team of 4–6 engineers building MCP and API capabilities

Own team delivery and drive ongoing improvements

Partner with Product to shape roadmap, balancing outcomes with pragmatic technical excellence

Contribute to technical strategy across the broader engineering organisation

Build and extend strategic connectors on major AI platforms (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Amazon)

Write code - this is a hands-on role; you contribute directly to shipping goals

Work closely with external partners on integration quality and new capabilities

What we're looking for

Experience leading engineering teams (4+ engineers) in a product-focused environment, with a track record of growing people

Strong hands-on technical ability - you read, write, and review production code regularly; our stack is Java (backend microservices) and TypeScript/React (frontend)

Genuine curiosity about AI, developer platforms, and the evolving AI tooling landscape - you follow what's happening with LLMs, MCP, and AI agents because you find it interesting

Comfort in fast-paced, ambiguous environments where priorities shift and you make good calls with incomplete information

Strong product sense: you understand why you're building something, not just how

Understanding of the product lifecycle, technical debt, and quality at speed - you know when to push back and when to ship

Clear written and verbal communication, working across teams, external partners, and leadership

Nice to have

Experience building or maintaining public APIs or developer platforms

Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol), AI agents, or LLM tool-use patterns

Experience working with external enterprise partners on technical integrations

AWS experience

Additional Information

What's in it for you?

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but you'll experience lots of moments of magic, connectivity and fun woven throughout life at Canva, too. We also offer a range of benefits to set you up for every success in and outside of work.

Here's a taste of what's on offer:

Equity packages - we want our success to be yours too

Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carers

An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more

Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge and supports you personally

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Canva and our culture. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.

We celebrate all types of skills and backgrounds at Canva so even if you don’t feel like your skills quite match what’s listed above - we still want to hear from you!

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.