Sub-Saharan Africa Content Strategy Lead (12 month contract)

About the Position

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 the Sub-Saharan Africa Content Strategy Lead, you’ll partner closely with the Sub-Saharan 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 Sub-Saharan 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 EMEA Content Strategy Lead, who will drive content strategy across the region.

Quick but important note: when we talk about Content at Canva, we mean templates and elements, not social media. Your focus will be making sure our local library has what our local users actually need, backed by internal and external data. An SEO background is a real plus here, but this role isn't about writing or building a long-form content strategy.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Requirements

• 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.

Nice to Have

• SEO background

We Offer

• Opportunity to work in a fast-growing, innovative company.
• Exposure to advanced strategic thinking and operations.
• Hands-on experience with complex content ecosystems.
• Professional development programs and growth infrastructure.
• Collaborative and supportive work environment.

About the Company

At Canva, our mission is to empower the world to design. 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. We’re building a world-class marketing team that’s deeply local, highly creative, and relentlessly performance-focused.