Director OF Strategic Partnerships

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 office is in Sydney, Australia, but we've made our way from down under, to a hub in San Francisco, 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. About The Team We’re building the partner ecosystem that powers how Canva shows up in the world. The Ecosystem Partnerships and Go-To-Market team sits at the intersection of product, growth, and platform strategy, working with the world’s most influential technology companies to unlock new value for Canva users. This team oversees the lifecycle of partnerships and developer community that brings innovation into Canva and into the 3rd party tools that our users rely on. We believe the best products are built together, and we collaborate deeply across Canva to turn partnerships into meaningful user experiences and scalable growth engines. Our work directly supports Canva’s mission to empower the world to design by making Canva seamlessly connected to the tools marketers and creators already use every day. About The Role As a product partnerships lead, we’re trusting you to define and lead Canva’s strategy with key AI platforms and platform partners, including OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic, Microsoft Copilot, Meta, AWS, Notion, agent-centric platforms, and more. You’ll own senior-level relationships, set long‑term partner strategy, and turn those partnerships into tangible product and go‑to‑market outcomes. We work cross‑functionally with Product, Engineering, Design, Marketing, Legal, PR, Sales, Solution Engineering. and Operations to launch integrations, improve user experiences, and scale adoption and joint GTM success. You will shape the evolution of Canva’s product and platform - including the Apps SDK, Connect API, and other extensibility surfaces - ensuring that it meets the needs of developers, partners, and users. This role has real scope, visibility, and impact — and is ideal for someone who loves a combination strategy, product, business development, partnerships, and growth. You will own partner and developer performance outcomes, such as active users for partner apps and integrations, partner‑influenced revenue, and penetration among customer segments. What You'll Do Define and execute Canva’s AI technology partnership strategy, balancing long-term vision with near-term impact Lead complex partner engagements end-to-end, from strategy and negotiation through launch and scale Foster win‑win partnerships that create value for Canva users and our partners alike Maintain deep, active relationships with partners, proactively resolving business and technical challenges Work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Design, Solutions Engineering, Marketing, Legal, PR, Sales, and Operations to launch and scale partnerships Analyze qualitative and quantitative performance data to inform roadmap decisions and strategic opportunities Act as an internal champion for partners and an external ambassador for Canva What We're Looking For You’re a strategic thinker who loves building things with other people. You’re equally comfortable in executive-level conversations and rolling up your sleeves to get things done. You bring a rare mix of business judgment, product intuition, and relationship savvy — and you thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments. You have a strong product mindset and instinctively think in end-to-end user workflows — from first touch, to activation, to long-term value. You know how to translate partner capabilities into great product experiences and scalable go-to-market motions, whether that’s through product‑led growth, sales‑led distribution, or a thoughtful mix of both. You’re able to spot monetization and growth opportunities early, validate them with data and partners, and turn them into launches that drive real adoption and impact. Most importantly, you’re energized by building things that scale — for users, for partners, and for the business. Leadership: Proven experience (10+ years) leading strategic, product-led partnerships in AI, collaboration, platforms, SaaS, and / or developer ecosystems Partnership: Exceptional relationship‑building and presentation skills, from C-suite to working teams Influence: Strong ability to influence across product, engineering, marketing, and GTM teams Product and GTM: A thoughtful balance of technical understanding, product sense, and commercial acumen (product management experience is a big plus) Organizational: Highly organized and analytical, with experience using data to guide decisions Hands on: Comfortable operating as both a hands‑on IC and a strategic leader GSD mindset: Energized by change, rolling up your sleeves, complexity, as well as building something that scales What's in it for you? Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but you'll also experience lots of moments of magic, connectivity, and fun woven throughout life at Canva. We also offer a range of benefits designed to set you up for success, both 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 and carers Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup, and more Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge, and support you personally Other Stuff To Know We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills, merit and business needs, in compliance with applicable local laws. 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! 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 $233,000 to $305,000. When calculating offers, we make salary decisions based on market data and candidates' skills and experience. #J-18808-Ljbffr