Language Manager, Africa (12-month contract)

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey gday mabuhay kia ora 你好 hallo vítejte!

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 headquarters is in sunny Sydney Australia but our team spans the globe. While we support flexible remote-friendly ways of working for this role were focusing on Johannesburg so we can best support our teams and keep collaboration flowing.

About the Role/Specialty
If you join our team as a Language Manager youll bring your linguistic and cultural knowledge to all aspects of localisation ensuring our international users have the best possible Canva experience. Youll be the creative hub for all content in African languages and help advise on Canvas branding in the continent.

What youll do

• Work with the Localisation Lead to create Canvas voice across all parts of the Canva product in 19 African languages. 
• Translate key content and managing the relationship with our localisation vendor. 
• Develop/update style guides and glossaries
• Review and evaluate translations
• Provide cultural insights and guidance
• Identify key opportunities for localisation improvements 
• Review vendor translations 
• Assess and sourcing new LSPs
• Answer linguistic questions
• Triage results of scripted testing

After 6 months you will hav established relationships with key stakeholders in marketing subscriptions content and localisation that will allow you to deploy your local expertise. Youll have created processes and channels for communicating best practices and completing internal requests such as copy-writing content review and translation guidelines.

What were looking for
Youre passionate about languages and cultures and you understand how these can impact peoples experience of a product. You understand what our customers in South Africa Kenya and/or Nigeria need in order to be able to understand and use our product. Canva is available in 19 African languages but we dont expect you to speak all of them but ideally you speak South African languages & Swahili.

Were looking for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit with a strong bias towards action and ownership. The team in Africa (based in Johannesburg) is small and there will be lots of opportunities to contribute beyond the scope of this specific role so we value energy and adaptability over specific experience or years of experience.

Also wed love it if you had the following but theyre not prerequisites!

• You have copy-writing experience you maintain a blog or even better you have experience in localisation for a SaaS product
• Youre an expert with CAT tools (experience with Smartling gets full marks) and other tools in the marketing tech stack (Braze Wordpress and of course Canva!)
• You showcase a solid understanding of organic growth (SEO)
• You have some design experience or familiarity with design tools
• Youve got a tertiary education in linguistics literature or localisation

Other stuff to know
We make hiring decisions to engage contractors based on your experience skills and passion. When you signify interest in the Project please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the contractor-accreditation interview process.

Please note that contractor-accreditation meetings are conducted virtually.

Check out for more info.

Remote Work :

Yes

Employment Type :

Contract