Education Growth Lead – MENAP (United Arab Emirates) Dubai

Requirements

Seeking a strategic leader with experience in EdTech, policy, or public sector strategy who can navigate complex institutional ecosystems. Must possess strong program management skills and the ability to build high-level relationships with senior education officials.

Job Summary

Job Description
About the MENAP Team
The MENAP Group sits within Canva’s International Supergroup and is responsible for growing Canva’s presence across the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan. We work across sales, partnerships, community, and growth — combining deep regional market knowledge with Canva’s global platform to bring great design tools to more people in more places.
Education is a key strategic investment for the MENAP team. We’re building something significant here, and we’re doing it now when the decisions about how to grow in education will shape the region for years to come.
About the Role
As the Education Growth Lead for MENAP, you’ll own the strategy and execution for how Canva activates and grows within schools and universities across the region. This isn’t a sales role. Your focus is what happens after: ensuring that the institutions Canva enters genuinely embed it, use it, and expand their adoption on it over time.
You’ll build the relationships with education ministries, school networks, and university bodies that create institutional-level traction. You’ll design and deliver programs, like University Champions and Canva for Campus, that turn early access into active, sticky usage. And you’ll work cross-functionally with EDU product management, product marketing, engineering, and analytics to make sure the platform and GTM motion are actually working for education users in this region.
While the initial focus is GCC, you’re building the playbook for all of MENAP. The patterns you establish here will influence how Canva approaches education growth across the broader region for years to come.
What you’ll do
Develop and own the MENAP Education Growth strategy across school leadership and university sectors, starting with GCC and expanding across the broader MENAP region.
Build and sustain partnerships with education ministries, school networks, regional education authorities, university bodies, and student organisations — including crafting formal MoUs and government partnership agreements.
Design and deliver GTM strategies for flagship education programs including University Champions and Canva for Campus, from concept through to in-market execution.
Coordinate cross-functional work with EDU product managers, product marketing, engineering, and analytics teams to ensure the product and GTM motion reflect the needs of MENAP education users.
Collaborate with MENAP Sales and Community teams to share insights from schools and universities, align on event presence and messaging, and drive adoption at scale through complementary outreach.
Represent Canva at regional education events, conferences, and partner briefings, building Canva’s profile as a leading education technology partner in MENAP.
Identify and develop strategic partnerships with government education initiatives and digital transformation programmes, including crafting the partnership frameworks and MoUs that underpin them.
What we’re looking for
As a regional lead role, you’re someone who can own a complex, cross-functional challenge and drive it forward with both strategic clarity and hands-on execution. You’re comfortable navigating ambiguity — education ecosystems in MENAP are diverse, often deeply relationship-driven, and require patience alongside pace.
You likely bring experience in EdTech, policy, higher education, or public sector strategy, and you know how to work within institutional contexts without losing momentum. You’re a strong relationship builder who can hold meaningful conversations with senior education leaders, ministry officials, and student communities alike. You bring sharp program management skills, you can design a GTM motion and actually ship it, and you’re genuinely curious about how education works across different markets and cultures in this region.
Critically, you understand what this role is and isn’t. You’re not here to close deals as that lies with our Education Sales. You’re here to make those deals matter: to activate, build stickiness, and create genuine long-term impact in the institutions Canva enters.
What you’ll Learn and Build
Deep expertise in education market development across MENAP — one of the most dynamic and culturally diverse regional education landscapes in the world.
First-hand experience building institutional partnerships and government relations at a high-growth global technology company.
Cross-functional leadership skills, working across product, marketing, sales, and community to drive outcomes you influence but don’t directly own.
The opportunity to build Canva’s MENAP education activation playbook from the ground up — a function with genuine regional and global visibility.

Recruitment type: Permanent

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the education growth strategy for schools and universities across the MENAP region, focusing on institutional adoption and stickiness. Build strategic partnerships with education ministries and government bodies while coordinating with product and marketing teams to optimize the platform for regional users.

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