Senior Research Scientist - Generative AI

Company 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, with a second campus in Melbourne and co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland, NZ. You have flexibility in how and where you work — whether that's from one of our spaces, from home, or a mix of both. This role is remote-friendly within Australia or New Zealand , so you can choose the setup that empowers you and your team to do your best work.

Job Description

About the Role

At Canva, we’re building a future powered by AI that’s as magical as it is impactful. As a Senior Research Scientist, you’ll contribute to that future by advancing foundational models and conducting research that delivers practical, scalable impact. This role combines hands‑on model development with collaborative research — from exploring new architectures to supporting product direction through scientific insights.

You’ll work at the intersection of innovation and impact, contributing to our AI research agenda and helping ensure our work reaches millions of users around the world.

What you’ll do

• Contribute to research projects that support the development of foundational models across Canva’s AI domains
• Design and run experiments to test hypotheses, improve model behavior, and assess real‑world performance
• Translate theoretical research and academic papers into robust, production‑ready implementations with guidance
• Help develop and refine model architectures and training methodologies to improve outcomes
• Collaborate closely with ML Engineers to scale models and integrate them into Canva’s product ecosystem
• Stay up to date with emerging trends, technologies, and open challenges to inform our research direction
• Share your knowledge internally through documentation and cross‑team collaborations, and externally through papers or talks where appropriate

Who you are

You’re someone who enjoys working in a dynamic environment, connecting research with product application, and has demonstrated scientific and technical skills. You can balance long‑term thinking with practical delivery, and you’re eager to learn from and collaborate with others.

We’re looking for someone who brings :

What you’ll learn and how you’ll grow

Additional Information

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 :

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. We see AI as a powerful amplifier of creativity and technology at Canva. We’re evolving how we assess AI skills in our Technology hiring experience - you’ll tackle interactive, real‑time challenges that reflect the kind of work we do. In some interviews, you may also be asked to solve a problem using an AI tool to show how you approach challenges with tech by your side.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

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