Senior Applied Scientist

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!

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.

Where and how you can work

Our flagship campus is in Sydney. We also have a campus in Melbourne and co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. But you have a choice in where and how you work, we trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals.

What you’d be doing in this role

As Canva scales change continues to be part of our DNA. But we like to think that's all part of the fun. So this will give you the flavour of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but this will likely evolve.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Identify data requirements for solving Design AI problems.
• Research and develop custom ML/AI solutions for Design AI tools and features.
• Integrate existing ML solutions to Design AI pipeline, when necessary.
• Work together with machine learning engineers (MLEs) to productionize ML models at scale.
• Collaborate with other Applied Scientists and MLEs at Canva and share knowledge in Design AI.

You're probably a match if:

• You have proven industry experience in researching and developing ML/AI models.
• You have a solid understanding of transformers and generative models, such as Stable Diffusion, a variety of LLMs and LMMs.
• You have a strong ability to prompt, train, fine-tune, and customise LLMs and LMMs for a variety of Design AI use cases.
• You are well-versed in Computer Science/Engineering fundamentals and first principles covering system design, data structures, architecture, and design patterns.
• You are proficient in Python.
• You have a good understanding of the life cycle of machine learning models.
• You are familiar with ML technologies like Jupyter Notebook.
• You are a strong communicator and capable of documenting and present ideas clearly to share knowledge across Canva.

It’d be nice if you have:

• Coding proficiency with SQL.
• Experience with Snowflake.
• Familiarity with ML technologies like Airflow, Argo workflow, Mlflow, Sagemaker.
• Familiarity with the CI/CD concepts, the life cycle of web applications.

About the team

Our mission is to empower Canva to build Design AI magical product experiences which include supporting the needs of all Design AI teams from dataset perspective, doing R&D work ourselves, as well as immediate feature delivery. The Applied Scientists working in the Design Generation AU team are responsible for researching and developing AI/ML solutions for the user-facing features, such as AI-assisted design editing, at Canva in the Design AI space. 

2024 is an incredible time to join the team. Design AI is one of the key strategic initiatives for Canva. Our team is small but growing rapidly. We build models that would be core of user experience, and support MLEs across many teams from platform prospective. 

We are looking for Applied Scientists with a strong research and machine learning background and knowledge of large language models (LLMs) and large multimodal models (LMMs), and who thrive in fast-paced high-energy environments, to help us support Design AI projects through applied R&D - identify the data needs and using the said data to research and develop an AI solution for a Design AI feature.

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.