Head of Personalization for Content & Discovery

Canva; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 300,000 - 462,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Health benefits plans

401(k) retirement plan

Parental leave policy

Vibe & Thrive allowance

Flexible leave options

Job summary

Canva is seeking a senior ML leader to define and drive the algorithmic strategy for content intelligence and discovery. You will partner with senior leadership to shape an ambitious roadmap that affects how content is created, understood and personalized for 260+ million users.

You will lead a multidisciplinary team of ML researchers, engineers, data scientists and PMs, delivering scalable, high-impact ML features while communicating tradeoffs to executives and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Senior ML/data science/algorithms leadership experience.
• Expertise in recommendation, content understanding, search and personalization algorithms.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams of ML researchers, engineers and PMs.
• Postgraduate degree in an applied quantitative field.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end algorithmic roadmap for content intelligence and discovery.
• Collaborate with business and engineering leaders to identify high-impact ML/AI applications.
• Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team across ML, engineering, data science and PMs.
• Drive next-generation algorithms including LLM-powered experiences and real-time personalization.
• Translate complex algorithmic concepts into clear, actionable strategies for stakeholders.

Skills

Senior ML leadership

Team leadership

ML algorithms

Recommendation systems

Personalization

Executive communication

Education

MS/PhD in quantitative field

Job description

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 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.

Job Description

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.

This is a rare opportunity to build the intelligence layer of a product used by over 260+ million people, working closely with senior leadership including founders, and the mandate to define what algorithmic excellence looks like for the next chapter of our growth. You will define and drive the algorithmic strategy across two of Canva's most critical surfaces: how content is created and understood, and how it is discovered and personalized for every user.

At The Moment, This Role Is Focused On

• Owning the end-to-end algorithmic roadmap for content intelligence and discovery, tied to Canva's product and business goals.
• Work with business and engineering leaders to find and prioritize the highest-impact places to apply ML and AI across content and discovery.
• Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team spanning ML research, engineering, data science, and product management.
• Drive next-generation algorithms - including LLM-powered experiences, intent inference, and real-time personalization - that change how people find and create with Canva.
• Turn complex algorithmic ideas into something any stakeholder can understand and get behind.

You're probably a match if...

We are looking for a leader who combines deep ML expertise with strong product intuition and the ability to inspire and scale high-performing teams. You have led algorithmic product areas at scale — ideally in consumer or creator-facing products — and you know what it takes to build systems that feel magical to users while being rigorous under the hood.

• Significant experience in a senior ML, data science, or algorithms leadership role, with a track record of shipping high-impact ML-powered features at scale.
• Deep technical fluency across recommendation systems, content understanding, search and retrieval, and/or personalization algorithms.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and grow multidisciplinary teams spanning ML, engineering, data science, and product management.
• Strong product sense — able to move between model architecture discussions and user experience strategy without losing altitude.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to influence executive stakeholders and distill complex algorithmic tradeoffs into clear strategic decisions.
• A postgraduate degree (MS or PhD) in an applied quantitative field such as Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, Operations Research or a related discipline.

About The Team

You’ll join Canva’s Algo team, working directly with the Chief Algorithms Officer and a cross-functional group of ML researchers, engineers, data scientists, and product managers. Together, you’ll own the intelligence layer behind how 260+ million people discover and create with Canva every day.

This team’s work will be instrumental in building a personalization moat that strengthens Canva’s competitive edge and to elevate Canva’s user experience to unprecedented heights.

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

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 $300,000 to $462,000 USD (base). 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, 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!