Lead Counsel, Product

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

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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 campus is in Sydney. We also have a campus in Melbourne and co-working spaces in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. But you have choice in where and how 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.

Canva is seeking a Lead Counsel - Product, who will be responsible for coordinating, reporting and promoting compliance with global regulations across 190 jurisdictions for its product suite, and ensuring Canva becomes the world’s most trusted platform.

Alongside leading a team of Product and Privacy Counsels, that partner with our various internal groups, you will play a key role in delivering our strategy to design anything and publish everywhere. You will be supporting our content creators and partnerships with app developers, AI projects and design experience, including launching the next generation of exciting Canva Products, including our Visual Worksuite and AI powered-Magic Studio. You’ll work to ensure Canva’s products continue to delight our community and meet our goals, whilst also keeping users safe and meeting community and regulator expectations.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Acting as the lead for product counseling, working closely with the Head of Product and Product Managers across the product delivery lifecycle to ensure compliance with laws, including, but not limited to privacy, AI, marketing, consumer protection and content moderation laws..
• Coaching a growing team of Product and Privacy Counsels that act as dedicated legal partners supporting Canva’s various groups. You will hold regular 1:1s focussing on growth and development, crafting and delivering impactful goals, removal of blockers and facilitating escalations to leadership of key risks. 
• Supporting Canva’s mission to become the most trusted platform by keeping the team accountable for their goals that reduce risk, whilst balancing this against the company’s growth goals and risk appetite. 
• Providing training and awareness of product legal risks to Canvanauts across the business, including Product, Engineering, Design and Customer Happiness teams.
• Ensuring team effectiveness and responsiveness on privacy impact assessments and support requests from the business by continually measuring responsiveness and stakeholder satisfaction and inspiring the team to exceed expectations. 
• Together with the broader legal team, ensuring the terms of use are up-to-date to reflect new product rules and allow our Customer Happiness Team to enforce and interpret the Terms of Use for users and customers. 
• Monitoring and reporting on the regulatory landscape on laws applicable to the risks associated with product launches, including privacy, spam, consumer protection, AI and intellectual property. 
• Being the eyes and ears for the legal team, spotting a broad range of legal risks and refer out matters to other legal specialities where required, including; employment, commercial, privacy and intellectual property specialists and then coordinate streamlined delivery of the advice to stakeholders.  
• Regularly informing the Global Head of Privacy and Product Counsel of emerging legal risks across product, to ensure these are escalated to leadership and proactively managed via the legal  risk register. 
• Working closely with the Product and Engineering Group Leads to drive privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default as part of the product development lifecycle.

You're probably a match if;

• You have been a product counsel at a fast-paced and global technology business and have technical expertise in privacy, AI, consumer protection, marketing and intellectual property laws.
• You are a strong and collaborative leader that holds people to account with empathy. You inspire the team to pursue excellence as a team.You are excited to roll up your sleeves. You’re a “do-er” that can work in a fast paced environment and find the answers if you don’t have them. 
• You proactively identify issues and analyse opportunities to help Canva and the broader legal team achieve its goals.
• You have excellent communication and problem solving skills and can make complex communications simple.
• You are a pragmatic, business minded lawyer who wants to help build our business.
• You are risk aware, not risk averse. 
• You know the law, but are conscious of industry practices and enforcement trends. 
• You are able to collaborate with and influence stakeholders to prioritise product delivery and compliance and have experience doing this with leaders and stakeholders across various functions in an organisation. 
• You are focussed on delivering projects even where this calls for you to go beyond the role of legal advisor and you’re not afraid to hustle other teams and individuals to get things done. 
• You are comfortable dealing with uncertain, ambiguous and dynamic environments, and working with lawyers and stakeholders in other timezones.

Required Skills:.

• Knowledge of the key laws relevant to a  global SaaS company based in Australia (e.g. GDPR, Data Protection Act (UK), ePrivacy Directive, Australian Privacy Principles, Spam Act, Australian Consumer Law, Digital Services Act, Online Safety Act, EU AI Act); 
• Hands on experience at or for a rapidly growing global technology company advising on legal risks associated with product and product delivery;
• Experience advising on the risks associated with AI tools and familiarity with the technology and models involved in AI;
• Knowledge and experience in product development lifecycle, IP, marketing, privacy and consumer law; 
• Certified Information Privacy Professional or commitment to obtain certification within 3 months of joining;

About the team

The role will report into the Global Head of Privacy and Product Counsel, leading the product group with the Privacy and Product Team. You will be working closely with other groups across privacy, online safety, go-to-market and business operations. You will join a dynamic, global legal team working on a variety of innovative technologies with interesting legal considerations.  You will be required to leverage your expertise, good judgment and strong business sense to make complex laws simple and assist swift decision-making in our fast paced environment. 

You will be challenged to look at the big picture to find innovative processes and product changes to drive product compliance in a fast-paced, growth focussed environment. You will be expected to understand not just what the law says, but also the technology powering our products and user experience,  industry and enforcement trends. You’ll help Canva see around corners to prepare for upcoming regulatory changes and influence how the business responds to those changes.

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.

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