Corporate Counsel

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hello, 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 flavor of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but this role will likely evolve.

As Corporate Counsel, you will play a crucial role in providing comprehensive legal support and guidance across various aspects of our business, including:

• Corporate securities matters, including secondary sales and tender offers
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Global expansion efforts, including working with our global entities team and local counsel to grow our business worldwide
• Corporate governance matters, including board and stockholder actions and communications
• Company capitalization matters, including executing share transfers
• Employee equity and executive compensation programs, working with our equity ops, employment legal and total rewards teams 
• Matters relating to the operation and governance of the Canva Foundation
• Creation and improvement of processes, agreements and document templates for transactional and governance matters
• Supporting and maintaining the company's corporate insurance program
• Management of external counsel

You're probably a match if

• You have 4+ years of corporate legal experience, ideally trained at a law firm specializing in venture-backed or high-growth technology companies — you know how to move fast, handle complexity, and keep up with demanding clients. Bonus points if you've also done a stint in-house and know what it's like on the other side of the table.
• You have experience supporting corporate transactions, including venture financings, secondary transactions and acquisitions — you understand cap table mechanics, investor rights and how the pieces fit together; experience with cross-border or cross-border transactions is a huge plus.
• You are fluent in equity and cap table management — you may not be doing the day-to-day administration, but you know the rules, understand the mechanics and can spot an issue before it becomes one.
• You're all in on AI — you love finding new ways to save time and are always exploring how to leverage tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Glean, and others to automate and streamline how work gets done.
• You can jump into the chaos, clean things up, add structure and run a tight ship — working with the team to keep minute books and subsidiary records in great shape across multiple jurisdictions, rallying your teammates to make sure everything stays that way.
• You have a Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• You apply the law commercially and pragmatically with some guidance, balancing legal and business risks, and you are risk aware, not risk averse — seeking input on questions of risk appetite.
• You take ownership of your own growth — actively seeking feedback, learning from challenges and sharing lessons with your teammates. 
• You are highly collaborative with a positive attitude, humor, humility and the desire to build, lead and make an impact.
• You are fearless, love a new challenge and are not afraid to get your hands dirty - no task is too big or too small.
• You are resourceful and self-motivated and have exceptional time management and organizational skills.
• You are comfortable working at an international company, with its headquarters in Sydney, AU, and shifting your calendar, when necessary (not always), to ensure overlap with stakeholders – which means you may need to attend some meetings later in the evenings and earlier in the mornings.
• You have exceptional written and verbal communication skills and the ability to interact confidently with investors, employees, executives and cross-functional partners.
• You are a self-starter and quick learner with the ability to operate independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment, appropriately prioritizing and managing numerous projects simultaneously under deadline pressure.
• You have excellent technology skills with proficiency in G Suite, Slack, Microsoft Word, Excel; experience with board portals and subsidiary management databases is a plus.

About the team

With big goals, come big ideas. And our Legal team is there every step of the way - ideating, providing strategic legal advice and collaborating with Canvanauts across the globe to bring our ideas to life.

The Corporate Legal Team specifically works closely with Canva's leadership, Finance, Tax, People and Total Rewards teams (and many more!) across a broad range of projects, helping to empower Canva to meet its crazy big goals. From supporting our financings, acquisitions and global expansion, to advising our board of directors and managing employee equity, we strive to be collaborative, creative and strategic partners for the business and its stakeholders.

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
• Health benefits plans to support you and your wellbeing
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• 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.

At Canva we value fairness, and we strive to provide competitive, market-informed compensation whilst ensuring internal equity within the team in each region. We make hiring decisions based on your skills, experience and our overall assessment of what we observed and learnt in the hiring process. The target salary range for this position is $190,000 - $290,000. When calculating offers, we make salary decisions based on market data and candidates' skills and experience.

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.