About the job
As Canva continues to expand, the influence and potential of our AI-driven features are growing exponentially. We are in search of a Machine Learning Engineering Manager who will guide a remarkable team of Research Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers, develop production-ready evaluation systems, and transform advanced ML capabilities into exceptional product experiences. If you excel at merging rigorous engineering with practical application and enjoy fostering the growth of others while tackling challenging technical issues, this role is tailored for you.
About the Role:
In this position, you will lead and nurture a high-performing team of Machine Learning Engineers and Research Scientists (based in Europe) dedicated to advancing the future of AI on a large scale. Your primary focus will be on establishing strategic technical direction, mentoring team members to deliver impactful engineering solutions, and ensuring the deployment of robust, scalable ML systems into production. You will advocate for engineering excellence and measurable impact, connecting foundational model capabilities with real-world implementation across Canva's platform.
This is a hands-on leadership role ideally suited for someone passionate about developing talent, crafting a technical vision, and collaborating across functions to integrate cutting-edge AI into delightful user experiences.
Your Responsibilities Will Include:
Providing coaching and mentorship to a high-performing team of Machine Learning Engineers and Research Scientists.
Overseeing the evaluation infrastructure - designing, building, and maintaining robust evaluation systems, quality metrics, safety monitoring, red-teaming, and competitive benchmarking to ensure enterprise readiness and user satisfaction at scale.
Creating automated metrics that consistently predict human aesthetic judgment across dimensions such as visual hierarchy, layout coherence, typography, and brand alignment.
Consulting on human evaluation pipelines and closing the feedback loop between user signals and model improvements.
Defining technical strategy in alignment with Canva's AI and product objectives.
Guiding engineering direction across model deployment, evaluation infrastructure, and production systems.
Collaborating across functions to ensure ML capabilities translate into reliable product impact.
You May Be A Great Fit If You:
Have led machine learning engineering teams with a proven track record of coaching and delivering production systems.
Possess deep expertise in deploying and scaling generative models (Diffusion, GANs, VAEs, LLMs) in production settings, particularly emphasizing visual models (image, video, design).
Bring hands-on experience in building ML infrastructure, evaluation pipelines, and monitoring systems at scale.
Excel in developing data-driven evaluation methodologies that transform user analytics and production metrics into actionable insights.
