Account Executive, Higher Education

Job Description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hello, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora, 你好, hallo, vítejte!

Thanks for stopping by. We know job hunting can be a little time consuming and you're probably keen to find out what's on offer, so we'll get straight to the point.

Where and how you can work

Our flagship office is in Sydney, Australia, but we've made our way from down under to offices across the globe — including our London hub, which is home to our European operations. This is a hybrid role in London, so you must be able to commute to our office 1-2 times a week.

About the Team

At Canva, our Higher Education Account Executive team is dedicated to helping educational institutions of all kinds create stunning visual content that inspires and engages students. Our team consists of experienced sales consultants who have a passion for education and a deep understanding of the unique needs and challenges of higher education institutions.

Our Account Executives collaborate closely with colleges and universities to understand how they teach, communicate, and connect. We offer solutions that help faculty share content more easily, help marketing teams reach future students, and help every department create visuals that support learning and growth.

We're committed to building long-term relationships with our customers and providing exceptional customer service every step of the way to help you take higher education institutions to the next level.

About the Role

As a Higher Education Account Executive at Canva, you'll own the end-to-end university lifecycle across our DACH territory, driving strategy, execution, and results for a portfolio of institutions. Partnering closely with Customer Success, you'll help universities successfully adopt and scale Canva, from onboarding through long-term engagement and growth. This is a highly relationship-driven role where you'll work closely with administrators, faculty, and students to deliver impactful, campus-wide implementations.

You'll combine strategic sales thinking with a deep understanding of user behaviour — identifying opportunities to expand adoption, improve retention, and drive meaningful educational outcomes. Over time, you'll build and execute data-informed growth strategies, exceed revenue targets, and position Canva as a trusted partner and thought leader in the education space.

What you'll do

As Canva scales, change continues to be part of our DNA. But we like to think that's all part of the fun. So this will give you the flavour of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, but this will likely evolve.

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Own the university lifecycle. You'll own strategy, planning, execution, and results within identified universities alongside a Higher Education (HED) Customer Success Manager to drive additional MAU growth.
• Foster relationships with university administration. You'll onboard university staff, professors, and students via Single-Sign-on and provide strategic sales support to ensure a successful deployment of Canva across multiple campus departments and campus-wide implementations inclusive of students and professors.
• Focus on the Education community. You'll run a healthy and predictable business that delivers a jointly agreed customer transformation strategy focused on educational outcomes within universities.
• Understand the Canva user lifecycle. You'll establish close relationships with our passionate community of educators and learners to know first-hand what they need to become successful Canva users.
• Identify trends and usage patterns. You'll utilise data analysis to inform future product and marketing plans.
• Drive retention and engagement. You'll continuously test, learn, and iterate on our lifecycle strategy at our identified institutions to build meaningful and impactful relationships.

What we're looking for

• Experience with the Higher Education Market. You understand university efficiency solutions and are able to communicate with Instructional Technology Specialists and professors on how Canva can improve student learning outcomes through design and collaboration.
• Fluency in German is required. You can confidently engage, present, and build relationships with university stakeholders across the DACH region. English fluency is also essential.
• Sales Expertise. You're comfortable selling education software solutions combined with real-world teaching and instructional technology design in order to drive MAU growth across institutions.
• Excellent Collaboration skills. You enjoy working alongside your direct team as well as with cross-functional teams.
• Experience with Implementing new Technologies. You have a deep understanding of how institutions roll-out new student technology and the ways university-wide deployments operate.
• Effective Communication skills. You create clarity through your communication by making complex things simple. You can confidently present your ideas and tell a compelling story to customers and the broader team.
• Strong Business Planning Skills. You have the ability to move from planning all the way through to implementation and complete projects that deliver high impact.
• Experience in Community Management. You understand social media standard processes and tactics for educating audiences.
• Growth Mindset. You're eager to learn and develop your skills whilst having fun along the way!

What's in it for you?

Achieving our crazy big goals motivates us to work hard - and we do - but you'll also experience lots of moments of magic, connectivity, and fun woven throughout life at Canva. We also offer a range of benefits designed to set you up for success, both in and outside of work.

Here's a taste of what's on offer:

• Equity packages — we want our success to be yours too
• Health & wellbeing benefits to support you and your family
• Pension scheme with company contribution
• Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents and carers
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup, and more
• Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge, and support you personally

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills, merit and business needs, in compliance with applicable local laws.

We celebrate all types of skills and backgrounds at Canva so even if you don't feel like your skills quite match what's listed above - we still want to hear from you!

When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process. Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.