Chief of Staff

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 Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect.

This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. We trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals.

About the role

As the Chief of Staff (known internally as Leadership Operations), you’ll act as a force multiplier to the leader of one of Canva’s newest and most strategically important orgs – Algorithms.

This brand-new org, led by our Chief Algorithms Officer (CAO), is focused on personalisation and ML/AI based experiences across the product. The goal is to make Canva the best destination for visual communication for every user, by getting each person to the right thing at the right moment.

In this role, you’ll extend the reach, capacity and impact of the CAO, driving clarity, prioritisation, and alignment across strategic business priorities that span product, engineering, research, data, marketing, communications, operations, and leadership engagement.

You’ll play a critical role in enabling the success of the CAO, their leadership team, and the broader Algorithms organisation by providing strategic direction, building the right spaces for effective collaboration, and proactively solving business challenges that unlock scale and impact. Because this org is brand new, you won't inherit a finished machine — you'll help build one.

While the Admin Business Partner (Executive Assistant) focuses on unlocking capacity for leaders through world-class support, the Chief of Staff partners with teams to deliver on core operational cadences, strategic planning, and goal execution. Together, you’ll help the org deliver on its crazy big goals.

If you thrive in ambiguity, love juggling multiple competing priorities, and enjoy connecting the dots across people and priorities, this role is for you.

What you’d be doing in this role

As Canva scales, change continues to be part of our DNA. But we like to think that's all part of the fun. We move fast here at Canva, and this role will certainly keep you on your toes.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Strategic partner to CAO: Act as a trusted thought partner across strategy and long-term direction. Bring structure to the major bets across personalisation and ML/AI, and help drive them into execution. Bring structured thinking to trade-offs, sequencing, and investment decisions.

• Represent the CAO: Step into product, technical, and cross-functional forums on behalf of the CAO. Ensure discussions are grounded in user impact, clear hypotheses, and defined success metrics.

• Engage in technical and delivery discussions: Sit in on technical architecture, delivery, and experiment reviews, follow the substance, and surface the real issues. You can carry a technically flavoured workstream end to end, so the CAO's reach extends into the work itself — not just the operating machinery. You won't need to be an ML expert, but you're comfortable around technical work and technical people.

• Build and drive new initiatives: Own brand-new bets end to end — for example, standing up a regular user-insight and beta-testing cadence, establishing a Canva Research brand, or exploring other bigger swings as we uplevel Canva’s standing in the ML/AI research community. You'll help shape these bets, pull in the right people (including Legal, Privacy, and Research), and push through to real impact. Expect cross-cutting project management with stakeholders across many parts of Canva.

• Drive planning and operational rhythm: Support key business cadences like QBRs and MBRs, and goal planning. Help build context and alignment across the leadership bench, including document creation and facilitation.

• Roadmap visibility and execution: Keep the org's roadmap, dependencies, and performance tracking tight, so there's a clear view of what's driving user value and where course correction is required.

• Triage and prioritisation: Act as the first point of contact for inbound requests, founder asks, new initiatives, and escalations. Evaluate opportunities through an impact lens, and ensure focus remains on the highest leverage work.

• Strong people connector: Build strong and trusted relationships with key stakeholders across the business to ensure visibility, and alignment between the org and rest of Canva.

• Own the day to day: In partnership with the Admin BP, help ensure the CAO’s time is spent where it matters most by triaging meetings, shaping agendas, and creating space for high-impact work.

• Zoom in and out: Move seamlessly between long term vision and operational detail. Use data, user insights, and performance trends to inform decisions while keeping sight of Canva’s broader growth strategy.

You're probably a match if you have

• 7+ years of experience in strategy, product, general management, technical program management, or business leadership roles. Experience in SaaS or product led organisations is non-negotiable. You have operated close to product, technical, and growth decisions, not just supported them.

  • Backgrounds in technical program management or close to engineering delivery are equally valued, as are consulting, investment banking, or private equity backgrounds — particularly where you've moved beyond analysis into driving decisions and outcomes.

• Technical fluency: you're comfortable engaging directly with engineering and ML teams and following technical and delivery discussions, on top of navigating metrics and dashboards. You don't need to write models, but you can hold your own in a room full of engineers.

• Strong commercial instinct and product judgment. You naturally connect user impact, strategy, and business outcomes, and can articulate clear trade-offs between competing bets.

• High ownership mindset. You act like a GM, think long term, and focus on impact over activity.

• Proven operational expertise: You have built or run planning cadences, OKRs, or execution frameworks across complex, multi team environments, and improved them over time.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder skills: You are comfortable influencing senior leaders, challenging thinking constructively, and driving alignment across Product, Engineering, Growth, Data, and Operations.

• An ability to operate in ambiguity with a strong bias for action and instinct for when to escalate, delegate, or drive things yourself, with the ability to move complex and critical initiatives forward, often navigating the new and unknown. 

• Clear and compelling communicator. You can simplify complex ideas into crisp narratives and decision briefs for senior audiences.

• Highly efficient and proactive: Able to juggle priorities, manage competing demands, and stay calm under pressure.

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 stack 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.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Qualifications

Additional Information