Regional HR Lead

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

This role is based at our Manila campus and follows a hybrid way of working. 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.

The Opportunity

At Canva were building the worlds most empowering design platform and that starts with our people.

Were looking for a Regional People Lead to own the people agenda across South East Asia. This role is for someone who thrives at the intersection of global strategy and local reality; someone who can translate adapt and embed people initiatives in a way that works for our teams on the ground while building strong connections back to our global People function.

South East Asia is Canvas largest region outside of ANZ with 900 Canvanauts across the Philippines Indonesia Thailand and Vietnam representing 20% of our global team. Each market brings its own regulatory environment cultural nuance and organisational dynamics. Youll bring deep knowledge of all of that to make Canva a better place to work across the region.

Youll lead a small high-impact team of four across People Partnering People Relations and Location Partners and hold a client group of your own keeping you grounded in the day-to-day reality of the business.

What Youll Do

Bridge Global and Local

• • Adapt and operationalise global People initiatives for the region ensuring theyre effective locally relevant and compliant.

  • Pressure-test whether global approaches will land well in SEA flag gaps early and shape how changes are communicated and implemented on the ground.

  • Feed regional trends risks and opportunities back to HQ so our global strategy stays grounded in local reality.

HR Business Partnering

• • Provide targeted People Partnering support to a defined client group within the region.

  • Support local org design and reorgs total rewards benchmarking country expansion and the rollout of people initiatives and programs.

  • Be the in-timezone trusted partner for sensitive people matters and complex regional challenges.

Compliance Risk & Local Expertise

• • Own regional employment compliance and people risk in partnership with Location Partners and Employment Legal.

  • Be the regional subject matter expert on local legislation regulation and cultural nuance across SEAs diverse markets.

  • Act as the escalation point for complex employee relations matters and lead the response to critical regional events such as natural disasters safety incidents or major regulatory shifts.

  • Deeply understand the benefit offering across each country consulting on local benefit gaps that impact talent attraction and retention where COEs may not have full visibility.

Culture & Community

• • Help scale Canvas culture in a way that feels locally authentic and inclusive.

  • Monitor engagement and organisational health across the region using people data and insights to improve engagement retention and employee experience.

  • Support regional connection events and leadership presence.

Regional People Leadership

• • Lead and develop a team of four across People Partnering People Relations and Location Partners.

  • Set regional priorities ensure clear ownership across the People ecosystem and coach your team to thrive in a matrixed global environment.

  • Provide leadership and connection for the local People team drive alignment and connection across different People functions to ensure cohesive delivery.

What you bring

• Proven experience as a senior HR Business Partner in a complex global environment

• Deep knowledge of the Philippines and ideally South East Asia employment landscape including regulatory requirements cultural nuance and local market dynamics

• Track record of leading and developing People teams including across dotted-line and matrixed relationships

• Strong judgement in navigating ambiguity and complex sensitive people decisions

• Ability to influence without authority and build trust with senior leaders

• Comfortable operating with significant autonomy while knowing when to bring others in

• A pragmatic thoughtful approach with a genuine bias for action

Whats in it for you

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard and we do but youll also experience moments of connection impact and growth along the way.

• 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 and personal growth
• Flexible leave options to recharge and be a force for good
• Exposure to global teams and cross-functional leaders as we scale toward 1 billion users

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience skills and passion and 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 even if you dont feel like you meet every requirement wed still love to hear from you.

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually

Remote Work :

Yes

Employment Type :

Full-time