Product Manager (Senior) - AI Research

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 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.

About The Role

We're at the forefront of making AI research tangible and impactful for millions of users worldwide. As a Product Manager in CORE AI Research, you'll be the critical bridge between cutting-edge AI research and real-world product applications that empower creativity. We transform breakthrough research in generative AI into features that democratize design for everyone. Your role is essential to Canva's mission - you'll ensure our research investments directly translate into user value, guiding our world-class research team toward innovations that solve genuine design challenges while building the foundation for tomorrow's creative tools.

• You'll bring product empathy and user understanding to research projects, clarifying use cases, guiding toward meaningful outputs, and ensuring research solves real design challenges
• You'll translate complex research work into tangible product opportunities through prototypes, workshops, and strategic communication that bridges technical depth with business impact
• You'll collaborate with researchers to prioritize capabilities within projects, making strategic trade-offs between quality, speed, functionality, and user experience
• You'll design evaluation methodologies and facilitate expert input to ensure research outputs meet both technical excellence and product viability standards
• You'll support research teams in launching AI models thoughtfully, considering their strengths, limitations, and optimal integration points within Canva's ecosystem
• You'll ensure research ideas and requests from across Canva reach CORE teams, maintaining clear communication channels between research and broader product organization
• You'll contribute to research project prioritization at the portfolio level, ensuring our research investments align with Canva's most critical user and business needs

You're probably a match if 

• You have 5+ years of product management experience with at least 2 years focused on AI/ML products, with a demonstrated track record of shipping technical products that users love
• Direct experience taking research-based AI features from concept to production, understanding both the technical challenges of scaling innovations and the product complexities of user adoption
• Strong understanding of AI/ML technology - you should understand architectures of language and image models, and trade-offs between different approaches while actively reading research papers and forming informed technical opinions
• Experience creating or managing visual content, with domain expertise in design tools, creative workflows, or visual communication - you can distinguish good design from mediocre and articulate why
• Ability to make technical product decisions in ambiguous research environments, with track record of prioritizing features, managing technical debt, and navigating the unique challenges of research-driven product development
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills with ability to translate between technical teams and business stakeholders, facilitating productive partnerships across research, engineering, and design

We’re looking for an individual who thrives at the intersection of deep technical understanding and user-centered product thinking. You should be excited by the challenge of making cutting-edge AI research accessible and impactful, with the technical depth to engage meaningfully with researchers and the product intuition to guide toward user value. This role requires someone who can navigate ambiguity, form independent technical judgments, and drive complex projects from ideation through product handover while maintaining both research rigor and product excellence.

About the CORE team

Canva Original Research & Exploration (CORE) is here to develop AI technology that empowers everyone to design. We aim to bridge innovative AI research with real-world challenges, developing technologies that solve today’s needs while building tomorrow’s possibilities. This includes AI models for graphic design, images, video, 3D and other modalities.

About the Product team

The mission of Product Managers at Canva is to create the most accessible design tool for every person in the world. We believe that we can improve the world by empowering everyone to design and communicate visually. As a Product Manager at Canva you help set this vision, define what that future looks like, and build the products that get us there.

Product Managers collaborate with Canva’s founders to set the strategic direction, scope, and success metrics for product initiatives. We work across teams of designers, software engineers, marketers and analysts to ensure we're delivering an exceptional experience to all our users. We are responsible for implementing and collaborating on product strategy, roadmapping, and prioritisation as our product grows. It’s our responsibility to see products through their entire lifecycle—from concept through to validation, build, post-launch analytics and iterations. 

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.