Senior Technical Program Management - Data

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, hello, hiya, 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 Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect.

This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. 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 the planning and delivery of the Data program portfolio
• Shaping the portfolio through partnering with Data leadership on prioritisation & key decisions including trade-offs, dependencies, and sequencing across the portfolio
• Owning the end to end delivery of the most complex, cross functional Data programs that are contributing to our highest priorities & Company Goals.
  • Shaping the direction, locking scope and sequencing across interconnected workstreams that can't be planned in isolation, for example AI ready data infrastructure, data classification and access control.
  • Managing risks and dependencies and unblock work across teams, using influence and trust rather than authority.
  • Delivering the outcomes
• Owning the overall delivery of Data Portfolio
• Monitoring and tracking delivery status, risks and dependencies across the portfolio.
• Coordinating the inputs needed to unblock other functions.
• Improving the operating system for delivery across the Data group: planning hygiene, roadmap visibility, decision-making practices, cross-team governance, and scalable ways of working
• Supporting Data and engineering leads in maintaining and driving good delivery techniques during (& after) goal planning - including milestones shaping/scoping, prioritisation efforts, estimations, capacity planning.
• Building a culture and environment to achieve continuous improvement, delivery excellence and innovation
• Building partnerships with cross-functional teams to influence decisions, drive alignment and prioritization

You're probably a match if

• You have a minimum of 7 years TPM experience in a complex, matrixed organisation, ideally including data platform, data governance or infrastructure programs.
• You have experience operating at senior TPM scope in complex Data Science, product or platform organisations.
• You have deep understanding of product development methodologies
• You are knowledgeable in technical concepts, systems and practices
• You have experience working with Data Scientists, Product Managers, Designers and Engineers to deliver key company initiatives
• You are comfortable with ambiguity in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities
• You are a natural communicator who leads through influence, not authority
• You have a love for navigating complexity and tackling ambiguous problems 
• You are process-oriented but flexible in approach
• You are motivated to provide an inclusive and psychologically safe environment for our diverse team to collaborate together, in a timely fashion, towards shared goals
• You have introspective focus to continually improve the effectiveness of Canva’s teams
• You are dedicated to personal growth and improving in your craft as a TPM 
• You demonstrated leadership capability to ensure clarity, alignment and accountability to achieve our crazy big goals
• You have the ability to think strategically but also able to make crazy big goals happen. This role will be very hands-on!

About Data at Canva

Reporting into Platform TPM, this role will sit in the Central Data Team which works shoulder to shoulder with embedded Data Science and Analytics Engineering teams while also owning the data work that benefits the whole business but doesn't belong to any single Supergroup: capability uplift (especially AI), centralised tooling, automation and agentic build, and cross-subspecialty initiatives.

About the role

Technical Program Management is the delivery engine for Data’s hardest cross-cutting work: programs too complex or cross-functional for any single embedded team to own, like data governance and classification, access control spanning Legal and Security, and delivering data infrastructure that is AI Ready.

You'll take a rough, high-altitude mandate from Data leadership and turn it into a locked plan with named owners, milestones and a tracking cadence, then hold that plan together as scope shifts and priorities change. The work is genuinely ambiguous: workstreams are interconnected, requirements are often still being negotiated by other functions, and you'll frequently be the only person with visibility across all the moving parts. You'll partner with stakeholders across the business including Data Platform, Data Science, Engineering, Legal, Security, Product and Growth.

A meaningful share of this portfolio is foundational rather than one-off: work like mapping the access-control landscape, data classification and tagging, and creating AI ready infrastructure. This is work that enables every team building on Canva's data to move faster from day one.

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.