Partnerships Manager

Summary

Join Canva's team as their Africa Partnerships Manager, driving growth across the continent. This fully remote role, based in South Africa, requires identifying and securing high-value partners in education and non-education sectors. You will own the partnership lifecycle, from strategy and prospecting to onboarding and execution, focusing on strong MAU growth and brand consideration. Responsibilities include managing key stakeholder relationships, building partnership frameworks, and ensuring successful customer transformation. Data analysis and collaboration with cross-functional teams are crucial. The ideal candidate possesses experience in the African education and non-education market, strong communication skills, and a proven ability to manage complex projects.

Requirements

• You have experience with the African Education and Non-Education Market. You understand efficient solutions and can communicate with key partners on how Canva can improve outcomes through design and collaboration
• You are comfortable driving retention and fostering engagement
• You enjoy working alongside your direct team as well as with cross-functional teams
• You have a deep understanding and experience of how to roll out new technologies and effective wide deployments
• 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
• You can move from planning through to implementation and complete projects that deliver high impact
• You understand social media standard processes and tactics for partner audiences
• You're eager to learn and develop your skills whilst having fun along the way!

Responsibilities

• Identify high-value partners that have not yet strategically partnered with Canva, source strategic leads, and close partnership deals
• Own strategy, prospecting, planning, onboarding, execution, and results, to contribute to Africa’s Crazy Big Goals, namely, strong MAU growth and driving Brand consideration of Canva
• Be responsible for managing the relationships with the key stakeholders and decision-makers and getting them what they need, be it technical documentation and support, onboarding help, development resources, Canva tips and tricks, and strategic guidance
• Build structure around our Partnerships (inclusive of partner events) plans, building frameworks and playbooks to ensure maximum impact, relevance and execution quality
• Run healthy and predictable partnerships that deliver a jointly agreed customer transformation strategy focused on clear outcomes. Managing partnership commercials closely, leading negotiations and ensuring cross-functional stakeholders (Finance, Sales etc) are integrated into planning as needed
• Establish close relationships with our passionate community of educators, learners, and creators to know first-hand what they need to become successful Canva users
• Utilise data analysis to shape your strategic approach to account or partnership management, and to note emerging trends to share with Canva’s XFN teams (eg, Sales & Success, Product, and Marketing teams
• Continuously test, learn, and iterate on our lifecycle strategy at our identified districts to build meaningful and impactful relationships
• Act as main POC in key partnership conversations, working in close partnership with local XFN Managers to ensure on-the-ground execution feels ‘truly local’
• Plan with Canva’s ‘Two Step Plan’ in mind, always looking for opportunities for our partnerships and activations to serve as a Force For Good

Benefits

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