Opportunity at
CanvaHead of Commercial Legal
Canva is hiring a Head of Commercial Legal based in San Francisco, where the company's US operations are housed. The Commercial Legal function structures, negotiates and…
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About This Role
Canva is hiring a Head of Commercial Legal based in San Francisco, where the company's US operations are housed. The Commercial Legal function structures, negotiates and administers agreements with customers, partners and suppliers. It supports go-to-market activity, new products and business initiatives, helping teams close deals quickly while handling risk sensibly. The new leader will direct a worldwide group and set its course. The role defines the function's strategy for…
Job Description
Canva is hiring a Head of Commercial Legal based in San Francisco, where the company's US operations are housed. The Commercial Legal function structures, negotiates and administers agreements with customers, partners and suppliers. It supports go-to-market activity, new products and business initiatives, helping teams close deals quickly while handling risk sensibly. The new leader will direct a worldwide group and set its course.
The role defines the function's strategy for enabling growth while controlling commercial exposure, and advises Canva's leadership on significant commercial, customer, partner and supplier questions. The leader collaborates with the sales, procurement, finance and product functions as well as other departments on launches and new business models, designs scalable workflows, playbooks and templates, and oversees the Commercial Legal budget and external counsel. Developing and coaching the team, running team rituals including the yearly global Legal Summit, and encouraging teams to lean on AI tools so work runs more smoothly are also part of the role. The leader tracks legal and technology developments and converts them into practical guidance.
The team operates with considerable independence and mutual trust. The posting asks for broad experience advising on customer, partner, supplier and technology deals, a trusted-adviser approach with senior business leaders, and experience counselling technology firms. Improving legal processes and building a function that serves a fast-growing global business without creating needless friction are also sought. Fluency with AI tools is considered essential because the group is working toward operating as an AI-native legal function.
Responsibilities
- Guide and develop a worldwide Commercial Legal group that performs at a high level
- Set the vision for how the function supports growth while managing commercial risk
- Advise Canva leadership on significant commercial, customer, partner and supplier issues
- Team up with Sales, Procurement, Finance and Product on launches and new models
- Build scalable processes, playbooks and templates that enable quick, consistent deal-making
- Oversee the Commercial Legal budget and outside counsel relationships
- Use AI to streamline workflows and turn legal and technology trends into practical guidance
Requirements
- Leadership experience and an ability to build a collaborative, high-trust team
- Broad advisory experience across customer, partner, supplier and technology deals
- Ability to weigh legal risk against commercial upside and explain advice to varied audiences
- Experience advising technology companies and understanding where legal meets product and go-to-market
- Experience improving legal processes and building functions that scale with a global business
- Comfort using AI tools to drive adoption in legal practice
Qualifications
- Experience leading teams across several time zones, which is a bonus
Core Skills
Benefits
- Equity
- Parental leave policy covering all parents and carers
- Yearly Vibe and Thrive allowance covering wellbeing, social activities and home-office setup
- Flexible leave options
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Where is the role based?
The listing gives San Francisco, the hub for US operations, and the posting notes flexibility in where people work.
What experience is required?
The posting asks for leadership experience, broad commercial advisory work, and experience advising technology companies.
Is AI experience needed?
The posting calls fluency with AI tools important, because the group is working toward operating as an AI-native legal function.
Is a salary stated?
No salary is stated.
Sample Interview Questions
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