Education Growth Lead - MENAP

About the MENAP Team

The MENAP Group forms part of Canva's International Supergroup and is dedicated to expanding Canva's footprint throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan. This team collaborates across sales, partnerships, community engagement, and growth initiatives, blending deep local market expertise with Canva's global design platform to make great design tools accessible in more locations.

Role Overview

We are seeking an Education Growth Lead for the MENAP region who will be responsible for strategizing and executing initiatives that promote Canva's integration and growth in schools and universities throughout the region. This role is distinct from sales, focusing primarily on post-sale activities: ensuring educational institutions effectively incorporate Canva into their workflows, encouraging active usage, and expanding adoption over time.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the education growth strategy across school leadership and higher education sectors within the GCC and eventually the broader MENAP region.
• Establish and nurture partnerships with education ministries, school networks, regional education authorities, university bodies, and student organizations, including negotiating formal memorandums of understanding and government agreements.
• Design and execute go-to-market strategies for flagship educational initiatives such as University Champions and Canva for Campus, managing them from concept through launch and ongoing market adoption.
• Collaborate closely with education product managers, marketing, engineering, and analytics teams to ensure that both the product and marketing approaches meet the unique needs of MENAP education users.
• Partner with MENAP Sales and Community teams to exchange insights, align messaging and events, and scale adoption via complementary outreach efforts.
• Represent Canva at regional education conferences, partner briefings, and events, elevating Canva’s recognition as a leading partner in education technology across MENAP.
• Identify and cultivate strategic collaborations with government education initiatives and digital transformation programs, including the development of partnership frameworks and formal agreements.

Candidate Profile

This role demands an individual capable of managing complex, cross-functional challenges with both strategic vision and practical execution aptitude. You thrive in environments of ambiguity, understanding that MENAP's education ecosystems are diverse and heavily relationship-based, requiring a balance of patience and urgency.

Ideal candidates have experience in educational technology, policy, higher education, or public sector strategy, alongside a track record of engaging with institutional stakeholders at senior levels. Effective relationship-building skills are essential for meaningful interactions with education leaders, ministry officials, and student groups. You should possess strong program management capabilities, demonstrate the ability to design and deliver effective GTM strategies, and maintain genuine curiosity about the educational landscapes across varying cultures and markets within the region.

Importantly, this role does not involve closing sales deals—that responsibility lies with Education Sales. Instead, your role is to make these sales impactful by driving engagement, retention, and long-term integration within institutions.

Professional Growth and Impact

• Gain comprehensive understanding of education market development in MENAP, a region known for its dynamic and diverse educational environment.
• Acquire hands-on experience in forging institutional partnerships and government relations within a rapidly scaling global tech company.
• Develop leadership skills by coordinating cross-functional teams across product, marketing, sales, and community to influence results.
• Lead the creation of Canva’s MENAP education activation playbook, establishing a function with significant regional and global influence.