Research Scientist - Efficient AI (高性能大模型)
Canva is hiring a Research Scientist - Efficient AI (高性能大模型) in Beijing, China. Level rates it ; you can apply on Canva.
Level's read on this job
- Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this research scientist role: the job is building AI systems.
- The posting mentions PyTorch, Python and Transformers among its tools and skills.
- Canva has 96 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Research and develop efficient generative AI models, optimization techniques, and inference systems at Canva.
At Canva, we're building a future powered by AI that's as magical as it is impactful. As an LLM Agent Research Scientist at Canva, you'll advance the frontier of agentic AI—building autonomous systems that can reason, plan, use tools, and act on behalf of hundreds of millions of users. You'll explore the boundaries of what agents can achieve in real-world productivity and creative scenarios, and bring that research into Canva's core product experiences—across design, presentations, documents, spreadsheets, video, and other multimodal creation and collaboration workflows.
About the Group/Team
We're the CORE team within the Generative AI supergroup. Our mission is to invent foundational technologies that will power the future of AI-assisted design. From large-scale models to groundbreaking research, our team builds the technical core of Canva's creative intelligence engine. We collaborate globally to ship research that makes a real impact—from smart editing to AI video tools—at massive scale.
At the moment, this role is focused on:
Designing and advancing state-of-the-art generative AI models across multimodal domains
Improving AI efficiency across the stack, including:
Kernel and graph optimization
Model compilation and systems optimization
Model compression techniques (quantization, distillation)
Efficient model architecture design
Scalable inference systems
Collaborating cross-functionally with research, engineering, and product teams to bring innovations into production
Translating research breakthroughs into impactful features within Canva’s core products
Contributing to the broader AI community through publications at top-tier conferences
You’re probably a match if you have:
You have strong expertise in foundation models, particularly in generative AI (e.g., diffusion models, LLMs, VLMs)
You bring experience in AI efficiency, such as:
Low-level optimization (kernel/graph)
Model optimization (quantization, distillation, compression)
Efficient architecture design and inference systems
You have a strong academic and/or industry track record, including publications in leading conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR) or meaningful open-source contributions
You’re proficient in tools such as Python, PyTorch, Transformers, Diffusers, Megatron, DeepSpeed, and cloud platforms
You’re a clear communicator who can collaborate effectively across teams
该岗位现面向所有经验阶段的候选人开放,包括社会招聘、应届毕业生,同时开放实习生岗位。工作地点为北京。欢迎申请,期待你的加入!
Notice: This position is open to candidates at all experience levels, including experienced candidates, graduates, as well as internship opportunities. The role is based in Beijing. We welcome your application and look forward to having you on board!
How we rate this
Research Scientist - Efficient AI (高性能大模型) at Canva rates 90 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in research scientist jobs at this level
Pay
- Typical research scientist job
- $191k
This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical research scientist figure when pay comes up. See research scientist jobs
Questions you could be asked
- How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where generative ai was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where model optimization was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where efficient ai was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: AI agents, Machine learning, Generative AI, Model Optimization, and Efficient AI. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.
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