Corporate Paralegal, International Governance and Subsidiaries

Company Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hello, 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 office is in Sydney, Australia, but we've made our way from down under to our hubs in San Francisco and Austin, which is now home to our US operations. We offer flexibility in how and where you work. We trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals. With that said, we are prioritising candidates in California for this position.

About the team

With big goals, come big ideas. And our Legal team is there every step of the way - ideating, providing strategic legal advice and collaborating with Canvanauts across the globe to bring our ideas to life.

The Corporate Legal and Equity Operations Team specifically works closely with Canva's leadership, Finance, Tax, People and Total Rewards teams (and many more!) across a broad range of projects, helping to empower Canva to meet its crazy big goals. From supporting our offerings, acquisitions and global expansion, to advising our board of directors and managing employee equity, we strive to be collaborative, creative and strategic partners for the business and its stakeholders.

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. So this will give you the flavor of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but will likely evolve.

Canva is looking for an international governance and subsidiary paralegal to help scale and mature our international footprint. This role operates at the intersection of Legal, Finance, Tax, Equity and Operations, and is responsible for supporting the systems, processes, and programs that support Canva's global subsidiaries and expansion efforts. You'll also be expected to flex into broader paralegal support across the team when workload demands it, and play a key role in "how" we work - leveraging AI tools and automation to reduce manual effort, streamlining entity operations, and build scalable, self-service legal resources across the team.

In this role, you will be doing the following:

Entity Management & Governance

• Manage day-to-day subsidiary maintenance and statutory compliance across jurisdictions
• Coordinate entity formations, capital injections, restructurings and wind-downs
• Support subsidiary board and shareholder operations, including preparing resolutions, and meeting minutes and maintaining corporate records
• Maintain entity management systems and ensure audit-ready documentation
• Track and manage entity filing deadlines and compliance calendars

Global Expansion and Mobility Support

• Execute legal aspects of new entity formations in coordination with Legal, People, Tax, Equity Ops and Finance
• Develop and maintain expansion playbooks and self-service resources
• Gather and synthesize information needed for market entry decisions
• Coordinate with external counsel and local advisors across jurisdictions
• Support equity aspects of employee relocations and cross-border moves

Document & Contract Management

• Manage signature routing and collection for entity documents, including board resolutions and corporate filings
• Prepare and format legal documents, presentations and corporate governance materials
• Maintain organized filing systems for closing sets, corporate records and templates
• Create presentations and governance materials in Canva

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as liaison between Legal, People, Finance & Accounting, Tax and Operations on entity matters
• Support M&A integration work by embedding acquired entities into Canva's governance framework
• Coordinate with external counsel and service providers on entity work
• Support e-billing for international entity counsel

Insurance Program Support

• Assist with annual insurance renewal process, including gathering and organising information, coordinating with brokers and ensuring submissions are accurate and on time
• Help ensure appropriate entity-specific policies and coverages are in place as Canva's global footprint grows, flagging gaps and coordinating updates with brokers and internal stakeholders
• Track insurance certificates and policy documentation
• Develop and maintain playbooks and templates to streamline recurring insurance tasks and reduce reliance on external advisors for routine queries

Process Improvement

• Build and improve documentation, templates and workflows for entity and insurance operations
• Identify and implement opportunities to automate repetitive legal workflows using AI tools and other technologies
• Champion better ways of working within corporate legal, including piloting new tools and sharing learnings with the team
• Maintain team resources (Confluence, internal databases, knowledge bases)

You're probably a match if you have

• 3-5 years of paralegal experience with significant international entity management and corporate governance work
• Hands-on experience with entity formations, maintenance and compliance across multiple jurisdictions
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple complex matters simultaneously
• Great attention to detail and excellent judgment about when and how to escalate issues
• Experience working with international counsel and navigating different legal systems
• Corporate governance technology and entity database (Diligent, Blueprint, etc.) experience
• A flexible, team-player mindset - you're comfortable picking up projects outside your core remit when the team needs it, and you don't mind rolling up your sleeves across different legal workstreams.
• Proficiency in Canva (or quick learner with design tools)
• The ability to communicate clearly and translate complex corporate matters for non-legal stakeholders
• The capacity to influence without formal authority and collaborate effectively
• A practical, risk-aware approach that balances compliance rigor with business velocity
• Experience working in or with high-growth tech companies going through rapid international expansion
• Curiosity about and experience with AI tools and a mindset for finding better ways to work

And it's plus if you also have

• Experience with global mobility and equity considerations for international employees
• Familiarity with insurance placement and broker coordination
• Budget management and vendor coordination experience

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
• Health benefits plans to support you and your wellbeing
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• 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.

At Canva we value fairness, and we strive to provide competitive, market-informed compensation whilst ensuring internal equity within the team in each region. We make hiring decisions based on your skills, experience and our overall assessment of what we observed and learnt in the hiring process. The target salary range for this position is $107,000 to $140,000. When calculating offers, we make salary decisions based on market data and candidates' skills and experience.

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.

Job Description