SEO Lead, Philippines

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 take time so well get straight to the point.

Where and how you can work

This is a hybrid role based in Manila combining the flexibility of remote work with in-person collaboration. We trust our Canvanauts to find the balance that helps them do their best work while staying connected with their local team and stakeholders.

What youd be doing in this role

As Canva scales change continues to be part of our DNA and thats all part of the fun.

As the SEO Lead for the Philippines youll define and lead a truly local SEO strategy one that reflects how Filipinos search discover and create. This isnt about translating global playbooks. Its about building one for your market.

Youll operate at the intersection of local expertise and global systems owning end-to-end SEO strategy across content technical and authority pillars driving measurable growth in sessions signups and engagement.

At the moment this role is focused on:

• Owning and driving the Philippines SEO strategy end-to-end Youll define what success looks like for SEO in your market from identifying the highest-value opportunities to building a clear prioritized roadmap across content technical SEO and authority-building. You wont be following a playbook youll be creating one grounded in local search behavior and business goals.
• Translating local market insights into scalable growth initiatives Youll continuously analyze how Filipinos search what competitors are doing and where Canva is under- or over-performing. From this youll identify actionable opportunities (e.g. new content categories template gaps keyword clusters platform shifts) and turn them into experiments and execution plans.
• Leading execution across all SEO pillars (even before your team scales) In the early stages youll be hands-on: running audits reviewing content validating keyword strategies and identifying technical improvements. As the team grows youll shift toward enabling others while maintaining a high bar for quality and impact.
• Building and scaling a high-performing local SEO team Youll define hiring needs interview and onboard talent and create clear goals rituals and development plans. Your focus is not just output but building a team that can operate autonomously and continuously improve how SEO is executed in-market.
• Partnering cross-functionally to unlock growth Youll work closely with Product Engineering Localisation Content and Design teams to land SEO initiatives. This includes influencing prioritization aligning on trade-offs and ensuring SEO is embedded early in decision-making not added at the end.
• Driving measurable business impact through SEO Youll define and track country-level KPIs (sessions signups engagement retention) build reporting frameworks and clearly articulate how SEO contributes to Canvas growth in the Philippines. Youll regularly communicate progress insights and pivots to both local and global stakeholders.
• Building repeatable systems not one-off wins Beyond individual initiatives youll create workflows playbooks and frameworks that make SEO execution faster more consistent and less dependent on individuals setting your market up for long-term scalable success.
• Elevating SEO as a strategic function within your country Youll act as the go-to SEO expert for the Philippines influencing country planning shaping growth strategy and ensuring SEO is represented as a core growth lever not just a channel.
• Exploring and adapting to the future of search and discovery Youll actively test and evaluate emerging channels like AI search (ChatGPT Perplexity Google AI Overviews) social discovery and other evolving platforms determining where Canva should invest and how to win in these spaces locally.
• Contributing back to Canvas global SEO engine Youll share learnings experiments and frameworks with regional and global SEO teams helping scale what works in the Philippines to other markets and adopting best practices from others when relevant.

Youre probably a match if

• You bring deep Philippines market expertise Youre a native Filipino speaker with strong English and you have a strong understanding of how Filipinos search discover content and engage online. Youre able to translate cultural nuance and user intent into clear SEO opportunities.
• Youve led SEO strategy for complex large-scale surfaces You have hands-on experience driving SEO for websites with significant scale (500 pages) and you understand how content technical SEO and authority-building work together to drive growth not in isolation.
• You think strategically but operate pragmatically You can zoom out to define a clear market strategy but youre equally comfortable getting into the details whether thats running audits reviewing content or validating hypotheses with data.
• Youre highly data-driven and outcome-focused You dont just track rankings you focus on business impact. Youre confident defining KPIs building reporting frameworks and using data to make decisions prioritize work and tell clear performance stories.
• You know how to prioritize in ambiguity Youre comfortable working without a perfect playbook. You can assess opportunities make trade-offs and focus on what will drive the highest impact in your market even when inputs are incomplete.
• You influence and collaborate effectively across teams Youve worked cross-functionally with Product Engineering Content or Marketing teams and know how to bring people along align on priorities and land initiatives that require multiple stakeholders.
• You take ownership and move things forward You dont wait for direction. You proactively identify problems propose solutions and find ways to execute even when there are blockers or constraints.
• Youre curious about the future of search Youre actively exploring how discovery is evolving from traditional search engines to AI-driven experiences and are excited to test learn and adapt your approach as the landscape shifts.

About the team

At Canva were on a mission to empower the world to design and international growth is now one of our most important frontiers.

To get there were evolving from simply translating what works in English to building truly local growth systems where each market is owned shaped and scaled by people who deeply understand it.

Youll be part of the Logged Out Experience (LOX) Group within the International Supergroup where the focus is simple but powerful: Help anyone anywhere in the world discover Canva before they even sign up.

Within LOX SEO plays a critical role in how millions of users first experience Canva from templates and use cases to entirely new categories of design. Its not just about traffic; its about shaping discovery at scale.

Whats in it for you

We work hard to achieve our crazy big goals but we also make sure theres balance growth and connection along the way.

Heres a taste of whats on offer:

Equity packages share in Canvas success

Inclusive parental leave for all parents & carers

Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing and workspace

Flexible leave options to recharge and give back

Check out for more info.

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience skills and passion and how youll help shape Canvas culture.

Even if you dont meet every requirement wed still love to hear from you.

Interviews are conducted virtually.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time