Higher Education Account Executive

Canva; Sydney; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Parental leave policy

Vibe & Thrive allowance

Flexible leave options

Job summary

Canva’s APJ Higher Education Sales team seeks an Account Executive to own university relationships, grow Canva adoption and manage opportunities from discovery to close. You’ll work with educators and administrators to understand needs, shape solutions, and drive adoption across campuses.

You’ll collaborate with Sales, Customer Success, Product and Marketing to deliver outcomes and expand Canva’s footprint in Higher Education, while learning the market and building lasting partnerships.

Qualifications

• Top-performing sales track record in technology or SaaS
• Ability to build trust with customers and connect needs to value
• Experience managing full sales cycle from discovery to logo
• Interest in Higher Education market and educator needs
• Strong communication skills and ability to present a compelling story
• Commercial acumen with account planning and forecasting
• Collaborative approach across sales, CS, product and marketing
• Growth mindset with openness to feedback and learning

Responsibilities

• Own and develop customer relationships with universities
• Grow Canva adoption across Higher Education accounts
• Build and maintain a healthy sales pipeline
• Understand how universities evaluate and adopt technology
• Help customers realize value from Canva
• Share market feedback to inform Canva’s sales strategy
• Collaborate with Sales, Customer Success, Product and Marketing

Skills

Strong seller

Trust building

Pipeline management

Higher Education knowledge

Clear communication

Commercial mindset

Collaboration

Growth mindset

Job description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

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.

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

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Owning and developing customer relationships. You’ll work with identified universities to understand their goals, build trusted relationships and help them see how Canva can support teaching, learning and collaboration.
• Growing Canva across Higher Education. You’ll manage sales opportunities across your accounts, from early discovery through to progressing deals and supporting successful customer adoption.
• Building and maintaining a healthy pipeline. You’ll identify growth opportunities within your territory, develop account plans and keep momentum moving across your customer portfolio.
• Understanding how universities adopt technology. You’ll learn how institutions evaluate, purchase and roll out new solutions, and use this insight to help customers navigate the process effectively.
• Helping customers realise value from Canva. You’ll stay close to customer needs and usage patterns, helping identify opportunities to deepen engagement and expand Canva across different parts of the university.
• Bringing customer and market insight back to Canva. You’ll share what you’re hearing from the Higher Education community to help inform our sales approach and broader customer strategy.
• Collaborating across Canva. You’ll partner closely with Sales, Customer Success, Product and Marketing to deliver strong customer outcomes and help Canva grow across Higher Education.

You’re probably a match if

• You’re a strong seller. You have a track record of top performance, ideally in technology, and proven success managing the full sales cycle from prospecting through to new logo acquisition.
• You know how to build trust with customers. You ask thoughtful questions, understand customer needs and can connect those needs to a clear solution and value story.
• You’re comfortable building and managing pipeline. You can balance new opportunity creation with progressing existing deals and keeping your customer portfolio moving.
• You’re curious about Higher Education. Experience working with universities or selling into the Higher Education sector is a bonus, but it isn’t essential. You’re motivated to learn the market and understand the needs of educators, administrators and technology teams.
• You communicate clearly and confidently. You can simplify complex ideas, adapt your style to different audiences and present a compelling story to customers and internal stakeholders.
• You’re commercially minded. You understand the fundamentals of good sales execution, account planning and forecasting, and you’re motivated by delivering meaningful customer and business outcomes.
• You enjoy working collaboratively. You’re comfortable partnering across teams, sharing insights and bringing others into opportunities when it helps create a better customer outcome.
• You have a growth mindset. You’re curious, adaptable and motivated by feedback, learning and continuously improving your sales craft.

About the team

The APJ Higher Education Sales team is part of Canva’s Sales & Success organisation and is focused on helping universities unlock the power of visual communication across their campuses.

We work with educators, administrators, technology teams and other university stakeholders to understand their goals and help them bring Canva to more students and staff. From early conversations through to broader adoption, we partner with customers to create meaningful outcomes for teaching, learning and collaboration.

This is an opportunity to build your Account Executive craft in a growing market, develop deeper expertise in Higher Education and take ownership of customer relationships while working alongside an experienced and collaborative team.

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.