Engineering Manager (BE) Ecosystem Distribution

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. Were organised around outcomes not technology type.

About the Role

Youll lead a team responsible for driving how our product integrates with the worlds leading AI platforms. Whether thats 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. Youll be in the code alongside your team not managing from the sidelines. Youll 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 youll 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 youll do

• Lead and coach a team of 46 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 were 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 whats 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 youre 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 :

Whats in it for you

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but youll 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.

Heres a taste of whats 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 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 dont feel like your skills quite match whats listed above - we still want to hear from you!

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time