Creative Director, Southeast Asia

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey gday mabuhay kia ora hallo vtejte!

Thanks for stopping by. We know job hunting can be a little time consuming and youre probably keen to find out whats on offer so well get straight to the point.
 

Where and how you can work

Our flagship campus is in Sydney Australia but with many of our Canvanauts calling the Philippines home our office in Manila is a buzzing place. Whether your role needs you in the office at home or a bit of both weve created an environment that truly empowers you to thrive.

About this role:
Canva is a world-leading design platform that empowers millions of people to design anything and publish anywhere. Our mission is to empower the world to designand were looking for a visionary creative leader to champion our brand across the SEA region.

Reporting to the Head of Marketing for Southeast Asia youll lead the creative expression of Canvas brand in SEA with an initial focus on Indonesia and the Philippines. This role is a unique blend of strategic leadership and hands-on craft where youll drive brand relevance in local markets while upholding Canvas global brand vision.

Youll lead a mix of in-house creatives and external partners to deliver world-class campaigns across brand performance and product marketing. Youll partner deeply with regional and global teams bringing local insights and cultural nuance to everything we create from big brand campaigns to performance ads and community-led moments.

Were looking for someone who thrives in fast-paced multicultural environments and who brings a deep understanding of Southeast Asian audiences and creative nuances. This role blends creative direction design or copywriting craft and strong leadership. Were looking for someone who can inspire a team and roll up their sleeves and get hands-on.

What youd be doing in this role:

Creative Leadership

• Set the creative direction for Canva in Southeast Asia ensuring we show up in ways that are both locally resonant and globally consistent.

• Partner closely with the Executive Creative Director and local teams to bring bold culturally attuned brand ideas to life.

• Inspire creative excellence across every touchpoint: from TV and digital campaigns to performance experiential and community-led initiatives.

• Push the boundaries of storytelling design and content to grow brand love and awareness across Southeast Asia.

Brand and Advertising Execution

• Lead the development and execution of integrated campaigns across SEA with a focus on Indonesia and the Philippines.

• Champion creative effectiveness by embedding insight-led testing performance data and cultural trends into the creative process.

• Explore and evolve new messaging creative territories and brand expressions that deepen local relevance while staying true to Canvas core identity.

Agency Management

• Oversee creative production in SEA balancing in-house agency and freelance resources to deliver world-class creative efficiently.

• Manage and grow our agency partner network in the region ensuring seamless collaboration and consistent creative quality.

• Partner with Canvas central creative group to streamline workflows and scale creative across touchpoints and teams.

Team Leadership

• Build lead and mentor a high-performing creative team.

• Foster a culture of creativity collaboration and continuous learning.

• Provide clear direction feedback and growth opportunities to help your team thrive.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Act as a key creative partner to marketing growth and product stakeholders across Southeast Asia and globally.

• Translate strategic objectives into bold effective creative ideas that deliver business results and community impact.

• Collaborate across regions to share learnings toolkits and innovations ensuring alignment while enabling local nuance.

Youre probably a match if

• 10 years of experience across agency and in-house roles ideally in high-growth or consumer tech environments.

• Proven success leading both brand and performance campaigns for direct-to-consumer brands including high-volume and global production efforts.

• Deep understanding of Southeast Asian markets especially Indonesia and a track record of using local insights to craft highly impactful creative.

• Hands-on experience with integrated campaigns across channels social platform best practices and user acquisition KPIs.

• Strong creative craft in design with a portfolio that demonstrates both performance and brand excellence.

• Excellent communication skills: you can simplify the complex and bring ideas to life visually and verbally.

• Experience leading and scaling creative teams and building a strong creative culture.

• Ability to bring clarity to chaos solve complex problems and maintain optimism in fast-paced environments.

• A natural collaborator and energy-giver: you lead with empathy lift others up and build strong cross-functional relationships.

About the team

Marketings mission at Canva is for Canva to become the most loved brand in the world. Canvas International Marketing Group is a diverse and distributed group of marketers who take this mission forward to drive user growth brand awareness and affinity in our priority international markets.

As part of the International Marketing Group our SEA Marketing team for driving market-specific growth goals and comprehensive market strategies across SEA across a variety of functions - performance marketing brand events partnerships social community engagement and other growth channels.

Whats in it for you

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but youll 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.

Heres a taste of whats 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 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 dont feel like your skills quite match whats listed above - we still want to hear from you!

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

Remote Work :

Yes

Employment Type :

Full-time