Head of Social, North America

Canva; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity packages

Parental leave

Wellbeing allowance

Flexible leaves

Job summary

Canva is scaling its North America marketing function and seeks a leader to own the NA social strategy and build a top-tier team. You will drive platform growth, set high standards, and infuse cultural insight into social programs across channels.

You’ll localize global campaigns for North American audiences, collaborate with Communications and Partnerships, and ensure Canva’s voice stays authentic while moving fast.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in social media or brand marketing, with real experience leading and growing a team.
• A track record of building social programs at a brand people actually talk about.
• Genuine cultural fluency and sharp instincts for what resonates.
• Experience partnering with Communications, PR, or Brand Partnerships teams.
• Leadership style that empowers people and fosters great work.
• Strong executive presence to pitch ideas to leadership.
• Data fluency to read performance data and sharpen strategy.

Responsibilities

• Own the North America social strategy and be one of the founding leaders of Canva's growing North America marketing function.
• Build, lead, and grow a team of social experts and creators; set the bar for great work and give ownership.
• Widen where Canva shows up beyond current platforms into channels with cultural relevance.
• Make social a source of ideas; feed learnings back into broader creative and marketing strategy.
• Stay ahead of culture and platform shifts; guide the team on moments worth chasing.
• Partner closely with Partnerships and Communications so brand moments show up across earned, owned, and social.
• Represent social in cross-functional rooms with marketing, product, and creative leadership.
• Own the North America social roadmap, budget, and reporting; use data to inform decisions.
• Localize and adapt global campaigns for North American audiences.
• Be the brand's guardian on social; maintain Canva's tone and quality while moving fast.

Skills

Team leadership

Brand social programs

Cultural fluency

Partnerships

Empowering leadership

Executive presence

Data analytics

Job description

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

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 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.

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.

• Own the North America social strategy and be one of the founding leaders of Canva's growing North America marketing function.


• Build, lead, and grow a team of social experts and creators. Set the bar for great work, coach people up, and give them the ownership and trust to do their best work.


• Widen where Canva shows up. Push beyond the current channel list (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, X, LinkedIn) into whatever platforms and formats earn real cultural relevance next.


• Make social a source of ideas, not just an output. Feed what you learn from trends, culture, and audience reaction back into Canva's broader creative and marketing strategy.


• Stay ahead of culture and platform shifts, and give the team a clear read on which moments are worth chasing and which aren't.


• Partner closely with Partnerships and Communications so our biggest brand moments, talent relationships, and cultural bets show up seamlessly across earned, owned, and social.


• Represent social in cross-functional rooms with marketing, product, and creative leadership, and make the case for why social deserves real investment and a seat at the table.


• Own the North America social roadmap, budget, and reporting, and use performance data to know what to double down on.


• Localize and adapt global campaigns so they land authentically with North American audiences.


• Be the brand's guardian on social, keeping Canva's tone, values, and creative quality consistent even as the team moves fast and takes risks.

If you want to build a marketing channel from a strong foundation into something much bigger and help decide what American culture thinks of Canva, this is that role.

You're probably a match if

• 8+ years in social media or brand marketing, with real experience leading and growing a team, not just running channels solo.


• A track record of building social programs at a brand people actually talk about. Come ready to show the work and the results (follower growth, engagement, cultural reach).


• Genuine cultural fluency. You're plugged into what's happening in American culture, online and offline, and you have sharp instincts for what will resonate and what won't.


• Experience partnering with Communications, PR, or Brand Partnerships teams to align social with the broader brand and comms strategy.


• A leadership style that empowers people. You know how to hire well, coach hard, and get out of the way so your team can do great work.


• Strong executive presence. You can pitch a bold, unproven idea to leadership as convincingly as you can jump into the comments yourself.


• Data fluency. You can read performance data, pull out the insight, and use it to sharpen strategy.

About The Team

Canva is going all in on North America. We're building out our marketing function in the region from the ground up, and we're looking to level up our creative and our presence here massively. Social is one of the biggest levers we have to do that, and we want someone who can pick it up and run. This isn't a maintenance job. You won't inherit a channel list to manage; you'll get a mandate to widen how and where Canva shows up, from the platforms we're already on to whatever comes next. Just as importantly, you'll change how social works inside Canva. Instead of being the last stop where finished creative gets posted, social becomes a source: ideas that start in the comments, in a trend, in a format, and travel out into our broader creative and marketing work. The bigger ambition is cultural, not just channel growth. We want Canva woven into American culture, not just visible in it. That means building a team and a way of working that lets us move at the speed of culture, take real creative risks, and earn the kind of attention that makes people feel like Canva gets it. You've likely done a version of this before, at a brand people know by name. You know what it takes to build a social team with a real point of view, one that moves fast and turns cultural moments into brand moments. Now you want to do it on a bigger scale, with more resources and more license to be bold, for a brand that’s hungry to serve truly local content to this region.

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.