Creative Lead – Design Director, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan

4 days ago

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Canva

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SaaS • Media • Education

Canva is a versatile online design platform that empowers users to create a wide range of professional designs with ease. From social media posts and presentations to business cards and posters, Canva provides thousands of templates and design tools to help users bring their creative ideas to life. The platform also offers a suite of AI-powered features to enhance creativity and productivity, including tools like Magic Write for copy generation and Magic Edit for photo transformations. Canva caters to individuals, teams, and enterprises, making it an ideal solution for collaborative design and workflow management. It is also committed to sustainability and social impact, offering free educational and nonprofit access to its premium features.

1001 - 5000 employees

Founded 2013

☁️ SaaS

📱 Media

📚 Education

💰 $200M Venture Round on 2021-09

📋 Description

• Develop a compelling creative vision that aligns with regional and local context and Canva's broader goals, collaborating closely with the Region Lead for MENAP and local Marketing, SEO, and Community teams. • Translate country and regional strategies into actionable content plans and locally relevant campaigns, tailored to audience preferences. • Drive experimentation and content innovation, supporting new product formats and emerging trends to keep creative outputs fresh and competitive. • Oversee the creation of content, including design kits, campaign documents, creator briefs, and in-house production where needed. • Work with Content Specialists and/or Copywriters 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. • Build and maintain a deep knowledge of local culture, consumer behaviour, and design trends to inform content direction and strategy. • Conduct foundational content research to guide Canva’s expansion into the MENAP market, ensuring creative and editorial output aligns with user needs and cultural nuances. • Provide cultural expertise to scale content, ensuring authenticity and relevance to MENAP across AICG, partnerships, AI tooling, and diversity initiatives. • 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. • 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, engagement, or impact in MENAP. • Collaborate with local SEO, Marketing, and Country Managers, in partnership with Design Ops 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. • Monitor competitor activity and creative trends across the region to identify new opportunities and maintain strategic edge. • Set clear, ambitious, and achievable content and creative goals for the MENAP region, and translate them into detailed projects with milestones and deliverables. • 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. • Oversee local freelance designers, managing recruitment, briefing, output review, and development.

🎯 Requirements

• 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 strategic 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 • Fluent in English, Arabic and familiarity in other dialects in the region

🏖️ Benefits

• Employees can work remotely