Africa Content Strategy Lead (12 month contract)

Posted 5 Days Ago
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Hiring Remotely in Johannesburg, City of Johannesburg, Gauteng, ZAF
In-Office or Remote
Senior level
Digital Media • Information Technology • Software • Design
The Role
Leads Canva’s Africa content strategy as a growth engine, owning local content prioritization, production, quality, discovery, editorial performance, and cultural relevance. Partners with country, regional, design, marketing, SEO, localization, product, creator, and partnerships teams to drive engagement, activation, retention, and revenue. Uses analytics and market insights to refine strategies, scale effective workflows, activate creators and partnerships, and align cross-functional stakeholders.
Summary Generated by Built In
Job Description

Please note this is a 12 month contract and you will be paid a day rate. 

 

Join the team empowering the world to design

Hey, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, こんにちは, 你好, hallo, नमस्ते, 안녕하세요, hola, salut!

At Canva, our mission is to empower the world to design—and we’re growing fast across the globe. With over 250 million monthly active users in over 190 countries, we’re on a mission to make Canva the most loved brand in the world. To support this ambition, we’re building a world-class marketing team that’s deeply local, highly creative, and relentlessly performance-focused.

 

About the role

Content moves Canva, and ensuring our content is a driver of growth is crucial. Just as we invest in strong business, marketing, sales, and product leaders in our priority markets, we need an equally strong voice in content.

As a Content Strategy Lead, you’ll partner closely with the Africa Country Manager to ensure Canva has the right strategic content from your country (or countries), owning content as a growth engine and adapting strategies to support MAU, retention, and revenue impact.

You’ll work closely with the Africa Design Lead to deliver content that drives business outcomes. You’ll also champion local relevance and trends that make international users feel Canva is for them, and work closely with country teams (SEO, Localisation, Creators, Product, Marketing) and regional stakeholders to ensure local content delivers high value and measurable impact.

You’ll be coached and supported by a Regional Content Strategy Lead, who will drive content strategy across the region.

 

What you’ll do

As a Content Strategy Lead, you bring expertise in strategy, content, business management, and cross-functional stakeholder management. In particular, you will:

  • Content Strategy & Execution – Prioritise and execute country content strategy and growth levers, owning content health and production for your country to drive relevance, scale, and business impact.

  • Content Quality & Relevance – Ensure that your country’s content meets Canva’s standards, resonates culturally, and supports strategic growth metrics.

  • Feedback & Insights – Gather input from sales, partners, and local peers to refine content strategies and enhance Canva’s country impact.

  • Discovery & Performance – Own your country’s content performance across discovery, editorial ensuring the right local content is surfaced through search, recommendations, and editorial, and optimised for engagement, activation, and retention.

  • Editorial & Trends Leadership – Execute your country’s editorial strategy across surfaces (e.g. Showcases), identifying and activating cultural moments in partnership with Marketing, Social and PR.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration – Act as a strategic partner to Country Manager and country peers to align priorities, unblock execution, and drive content-led growth.

  • Creator & Partner Engagement – In collaboration with your country community and partnerships managers, build relationships with local creators and partnerships to activate a thriving content ecosystem.

 

What we're looking for

We’re seeking a strategic thinker who thrives in fast-paced environments and can drive content impact within their market. They’ll take a pragmatic approach to content creation – working across multiple production streams (AIGC, creators, localisation, bespoke, and partnerships) to solve local content needs, improve efficiency, and scale what works.

This role requires someone who can combine strong strategic thinking with a deep understanding of their local market — translating regional direction into actionable country-level plans, and working closely with Africa Design Leads to bring these to life. You should be someone who naturally gravitates toward solving problems, enjoys working with data to inform decisions, and can build strong relationships across cross-functional teams.

The ideal candidate combines analytical rigour with cultural curiosity, demonstrating both the ability to shape country-level content strategy and to identify opportunities to scale what works through repeatable approaches, AI-supported workflows, and strong partnerships.

  • 3-5+ years of experience in content strategy, regional business strategy and operations, partnerships, or similar roles within high-growth content, media or marketplace global technology companies.

  • A deep understanding of content, trends, and aesthetics in your market (or markets), with a pulse on what resonates with local users.

  • A proactive, solutions-driven approach, capable of balancing strategy with hands-on execution.

  • Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams across regions.

  • Experience working in fast-moving, dynamic environments, comfortable with ambiguity and change.

  • Strong analytical skills to assess content performance and inform strategy adjustments.

  • A track record of successfully managing production workflows, partnerships, and/ or supporting and activating local creators.

  • Language skills and cultural knowledge relevant to your geographic market, with ability to work effectively across different time zones.

 

What you’ll learn and how you’ll develop at Canva

You'll gain deep exposure to all aspects of strategy and operations a high-growth technology company, from AI-powered content innovations to international expansion. Working closely with senior leadership across International and other supergroups, you'll develop advanced strategic thinking skills while learning how to scale operations and drive organisational change.

You'll get hands-on experience with one of the most complex content ecosystems in tech, working on problems that don't have playbooks yet, and partnering with cross-functional groups across Canva to find solutions that impact millions of users. This is a role where your decision making and leadership will directly influence strategy, and you'll see your recommendations come to life in our product and shape the future of design.

Through the Content Strategy speciality growth infrastructure and Canva’s professional development programs, you'll develop your sharp commercial instincts, data analysis proficiency, the ability to navigate ambiguity, and hands-on experience with emerging technologies. Most importantly, you'll work with people who are genuinely brilliant and kind, a rare combination that makes the hard problems worth solving, and sets you up for a career in strategy in the tech industry.

Skills Required

  • 3-5+ years of experience in content strategy, regional business strategy and operations, partnerships, or similar roles within high-growth content, media, marketplace, or global technology companies
  • Deep understanding of content, trends, and aesthetics in the relevant African market or markets
  • Proactive, solutions-driven approach with the ability to balance strategy and hands-on execution
  • Exceptional stakeholder management and cross-functional alignment skills
  • Experience working in fast-moving environments with ambiguity and change
  • Strong analytical skills for assessing content performance and informing strategy adjustments
  • Track record managing production workflows, partnerships, and/or local creator activation
  • Relevant language skills and cultural knowledge, with the ability to work across time zones

Canva Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Canva and has not been reviewed or approved by Canva.

  • Parental & Family Support Permanent employees are eligible for 18 weeks of paid parental leave from day one, inclusive of all parents. Additional supports include flexibility in how leave is taken and resources around pregnancy loss and caregiving.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth Extra paid time off categories expand beyond standard PTO. Examples include five Flex Leave days, three days of paid volunteering, and milestone Epic Experience time off at 5 and 10 years.
  • Equity Value & Accessibility Equity participation is a core element of total rewards. Company materials and industry reporting note periodic opportunities to realize value through secondary transactions, enhancing perceived upside.

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The Company
HQ: Sydney
5,500 Employees
Year Founded: 2013

What We Do

Canva is an online graphic design platform with a mission to empower everyone to design anything and publish anywhere, offering a free-to-use tool for creating social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos, and more.

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