Legal Counsel - Content Safety, Product & Privacy

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design.

Hey, 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 Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect.

This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. We trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals.

What you’d be doing in this role

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.

This role is a unique opportunity to join the exciting Product and Privacy function for Canva in Australia and work at the intersection of AI, product counseling, legal strategy and governance. Your colleagues will be all over the world meaning comfort with time zones is a must!

Canva is looking for a Legal Counsel for our Product and Privacy team. This role supports our product and engineering teams to launch exciting products and ensures we comply with applicable online safety and platform laws, particularly in relation to content safety and content moderation. You will need to have a solid foundation in global laws in these areas as well as general experience and familiarity with other laws relating to digital products, emerging technologies and generative AI (e.g., privacy).

At the moment, this role is focused on:

• Identify and advise on legal issues in key areas including online content and product safety (including youth and AI), platform, privacy, intellectual property, AI regulation.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, advising on product development (including Generative AI products), go-to-market strategy, and risk mitigation, with a particular focus on safety issues.
• Contribute to the development and operationalization of company-wide safety policies, and processes, including regulatory, government and law enforcement inquiry handling, scalable risk assessment frameworks, and regulatory monitoring (with a focus on online and child safety).
• Draft and maintain legal playbooks and internal guidance.
• Collaborate closely with policy, IP, security, product, trust and safety regulatory and engineering teams.
• Help build scalable and effective processes for legal review to enable the launch of new products.
• Participate in the review and coordination of potential safety, privacy or data security incidents (including on call), including investigations, notifications, and other resolution efforts.
• Stay up to date with global AI, safety and privacy regulations and relevant industry standards, conduct impact mapping of incoming regulations, and drive compliance projects including annual online safety risk assessments.
• Respond to and triage incidents and escalations.
• Support with Canva-wide privacy and legal training and awareness initiatives.
• Help us redefine the role of in-house counsel - build tools and processes for continued growth and success.

You're probably a match if

• Legally qualified (AU/NZ practising certificate)
• 8+ years practicing law with some experience in-house
• Familiarity with key online safety laws and regulations, as well as privacy, platform and consumer laws relating to digital product and generative AI (e.g., Digital Services Act, Online Safety Act (UK and AU), GDPR).
• Deep understanding of modern AI technology and products
• You’re comfortable collaborating with team members in other time zones
• You are a collaborative, pragmatic, business-minded lawyer who wants to help the Canva group grow and be a part of its exciting journey
• You bring clarity to complexity and simplify compliance without compromising standards
• You love collaborating with engineers and PMs - and thrive in fast-moving environments
• You’re creative, curious, and motivated by meaningful work
• Experience with data incidents and government authority requests

Bonus if you have:

• AIGP, CIPP/E or similar qualifications highly regarded (and willingness to obtain at least one certification within 6 months of joining is a must)
• Knowledge and understanding of Canva
• High level of comfort with technology and AI experimentation
• Hands on experience advising rapidly growing technology companies on privacy and product related regulatory requirements.

What's in it for you?

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

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

• 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

Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.

Other stuff to know

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Canva and our culture. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.

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!

Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.