German Design Lead (12 month contract)

Job Description

The Country Design Lead plays a pivotal role in Canva’s mission to democratise design by ensuring content is truly local, culturally resonant, and of the highest design quality. Partnering closely with the Country Content Strategy Lead and cross-functional stakeholders, this role directs and delivers content – at speed and scale – that drives user engagement, content adoption, and revenue growth in Germany.

Aligned to Canva’s international growth strategy, this role ensures the creative direction, production, and curation of market-relevant content across templates and elements. The role bridges global vision with local market needs, ensuring cultural authenticity while meeting business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Creative Direction

• Develop a compelling creative vision that delivers and executes against the Country Content Strategy Lead and Country Manager’s strategic priorities.

• Collaborate closely with local Marketing, SEO, and Community teams.

• Translate country and regional strategies into locally relevant campaigns.

• Drive AI adoption in production and content innovation, supporting new product formats and emerging trends to keep creative outputs fresh and competitive.

Content Creation & Curation

• Oversee the creation of content, including design kits, campaign documents, creator briefs, and in-house production where needed.

• Work with Freelance Copywriters and/or AI Copy to ensure copy is culturally relevant and adheres to our copy best practice standards.

• Curate and editorially frame content for marketing initiatives, showcases, and seasonal calendars to elevate local relevance.

• Proactively identify content gaps and curate assets that reflect strategic priorities and creative excellence.

• Lead quality control of all content outputs, ensuring alignment with brand guidelines and maintaining high standards of visual and messaging quality.

Market Understanding & Cultural Insights

• Build and maintain a deep knowledge of local culture, consumer behaviour, and design trends to inform content direction and strategy.

• Conduct foundational content research, ensuring creative and editorial output aligns with strategic needs and cultural nuances.

• Provide cultural expertise to scale content, ensuring authenticity and relevance to the local market across AICG, partnerships, and creators.

• Champion hyperlocal design perspectives in collaboration with cross-functional teams.

• Support building an editorial strategy for local content, ensuring Canva’s library reflects cultural relevance, diversity, and inclusive storytelling.

• Advocate for the integration of global and underrepresented perspectives in content development and curation, upholding Canva’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Content Performance Monitoring & Analysis

• Conduct template and element audits to identify improvement areas and opportunities for new content.

• Perform content performance and gap analysis, distilling insights into recommendations that guide future content creation and acquisition.

• Leverage data, trends, and local insights to shape creative direction, enhance creator and in-house briefs, and inform design decisions.

• Facilitate retrospectives and performance reviews to refine strategies and content effectiveness.

• Actively raise discoverability challenges or product limitations that impact content visibility or engagement.

Partnership & Stakeholder Management

• Partner closely with Country Content Strategy Lead, as well as collaborate with local SEO, Marketing, and Country Managers – to align on creative goals and content needs, and confidently prioritise and negotiate trade-offs.

• Lead the rollout of local partnership content through culturally relevant creative strategies and campaigns.

• Manage creative strategy, brand adherence, and feedback implementation to meet partner expectations and project goals.

• Communicate initiatives and results to senior leadership, ensuring visibility across stakeholders.

Competitive Analysis

• Monitor competitor activity and creative trends across the region to identify new opportunities and maintain strategic edge.

• Use findings to inform the content roadmap and differentiate Canva's creative offerings in the local market.

Project Management

• Monitor project execution, mitigate risks, and escalate challenges when necessary to ensure timely, high-quality outcomes.

• Maintain visibility into campaign timelines and production volume goals across all creative operations.

• Maintain an agile mindset and adapt quickly to shifting priorities and dynamic day-to-day needs.

Freelance & Creator Management

• Oversee local freelance designers, managing recruitment, briefing, output review, and development.

• Build strong relationships with the Creators Production and Community teams, providing hyperlocal direction through well-crafted briefs and feedback loops.

• Champion Creator-led content that resonates deeply with local audiences and reflects cultural authenticity.

Reporting & Communication

• Report on the performance and ROI of creative campaigns, using analytics to guide and improve future content plans and outputs.

• Keep senior management and regional stakeholders informed about key initiatives, learnings, and creative progress.

• Ensure alignment and transparency through consistent documentation and communication.

Feedback & Quality Assurance

• Provide timely feedback and approvals across creative workstreams, maintaining alignment with both business goals and creative standards.

• Drive internal reviews and uphold quality benchmarks for all deliverables across content types.

Team Building & Culture

• Contribute to and foster a collaborative, innovative, and high-performing regional creative team culture.

• Promote continuous improvement through process optimization, retrospectives, and shared best practices.

• Encourage creative excellence while ensuring inclusion, psychological safety, and alignment across diverse teams.

What you'll be doing

The Country Design Lead will join the International Content Team, whose mission is to build the most valuable content library in the world. The team sits within the International Supergroup and partners closely with Content & Discovery, Marketing, SEO, and other in-market teams to unlock content-driven growth through high-quality, locally relevant templates and elements across graphics, photos, and video.

The team is focused on delivering content that is truly local at scale – ensuring everything published meets Canva’s standards for design craft, cultural resonance, and user value, while leveraging AI and scalable systems to increase speed and impact.

This role is responsible for driving the creative execution of content for the German market, translating strategy into high-performing outputs that reflect local culture, behaviours, and trends. Working in close partnership with the Country Manager, Country Content Strategy Lead, and cross-functional stakeholders, the Country Design Lead plays a key role in delivering content that drives engagement, adoption, and growth.

Operating as a hands-on builder and AI-native operator, this role leads the creation and curation of locally relevant content across both elements (graphics, photos, video) and templates spanning social media, presentations, websites, and print. This includes leveraging AI to accelerate production, and continuously improving quality and performance through rapid iteration.

This role will also direct a team of local creatives to curate and elevate impactful, truly local content across both elements — such as graphics, photos, and videos — and templates spanning social media, presentations, websites, and print products. By fostering a culture of excellence and innovation, this role will play a vital part in achieving Canva’s mission of delivering a world-class, truly local design experience.

You will: 

• Operate with high ownership and autonomy while collaborating across multiple teams, functions, and time zones

• Work at pace, balancing speed and quality, and adapting quickly to shifting priorities and evolving business needs

• Leverage AI tools and workflows to scale content production and improve efficiency

• Build and optimise repeatable systems for content creation, rather than one-off outputs

• Maintain clear, proactive communication with stakeholders and drive alignment across teams

• Lead creative reviews, retrospectives, and continuous improvement loops

• Foster a high-performance team culture grounded in inclusion, psychological safety, and a bias for action

What we're looking for: 

We’re looking for a high-performing design leader who combines strong creative craft with a builder mindset. You are culturally attuned, globally aware, and obsessed with creating content that feels truly local – and drives business results. You’ll be excited to join an A-player team committed to growing Canva in in your [locale].

You bring a sharp eye for design, but more importantly, you know how to deliver quality at speed. You operate with an AI-first mindset, using tools and systems to generate, iterate, and scale content efficiently – without compromising on craft.

You thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments and are comfortable working with evolving tools, shifting priorities, and imperfect information. You’re proactive, pragmatic, and outcome-focused—someone who takes ownership, moves quickly, and continuously looks for better ways of working.

You’re collaborative and low ego, able to partner effectively with Content Strategy, Marketing, SEO, and Product teams – translating strategic direction into content execution and driving alignment through clarity and action. You’re equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves to deliver work as you are guiding and uplifting others.

You’ll have:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Design, Marketing, Communications, or a related field

• Proven experience in creative leadership roles, ideally with international, regional, or market-level remit

• A strong portfolio showcasing exceptional design work and content campaigns that reflect cultural resonance and local user needs

• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (SEO, Growth, Marketing, Product)

• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and storytelling skills

• A results-focused mindset, balancing creative innovation with business and user goals

• Experience managing freelancers and/or creators, with a focus on quality and alignment

• Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment with an experimentation mindset

To apply, please submit: 

• Updated CV 
• More recent portfolio