Head of Personalization for Content & Discovery

Canva • San Francisco, CA

3d • Remote

About The Position

This is a rare opportunity to build the intelligence layer of a product used by over 260+ million people, working closely with senior leadership including founders, and the mandate to define what algorithmic excellence looks like for the next chapter of our growth. You will define and drive the algorithmic strategy across two of Canva's most critical surfaces: how content is created and understood, and how it is discovered and personalized for every user. At the moment, this role is focused on:
Owning the end-to-end algorithmic roadmap for content intelligence and discovery, tied to Canva's product and business goals.
Work with business and engineering leaders to find and prioritize the highest-impact places to apply ML and AI across content and discovery.
Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team spanning ML research, engineering, data science, and product management.
Drive next-generation algorithms — including LLM-powered experiences, intent inference, and real-time personalization — that change how people find and create with Canva.
Turn complex algorithmic ideas into something any stakeholder can understand and get behind.

Requirements

• Significant experience in a senior ML, data science, or algorithms leadership role, with a track record of shipping high-impact ML-powered features at scale.
• Deep technical fluency across recommendation systems, content understanding, search and retrieval, and/or personalization algorithms.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and grow multidisciplinary teams spanning ML, engineering, data science, and product management.
• Strong product sense — able to move between model architecture discussions and user experience strategy without losing altitude.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to influence executive stakeholders and distill complex algorithmic tradeoffs into clear strategic decisions.
• A postgraduate degree (MS or PhD) in an applied quantitative field such as Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, Operations Research or a related discipline.

Nice To Haves

• We are looking for a leader who combines deep ML expertise with strong product intuition and the ability to inspire and scale high-performing teams.
• You have led algorithmic product areas at scale — ideally in consumer or creator-facing products — and you know what it takes to build systems that feel magical to users while being rigorous under the hood.

Responsibilities

• Owning the end-to-end algorithmic roadmap for content intelligence and discovery, tied to Canva's product and business goals.
• Work with business and engineering leaders to find and prioritize the highest-impact places to apply ML and AI across content and discovery.
• Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team spanning ML research, engineering, data science, and product management.
• Drive next-generation algorithms — including LLM-powered experiences, intent inference, and real-time personalization — that change how people find and create with Canva.
• Turn complex algorithmic ideas into something any stakeholder can understand and get behind.

Benefits

• Equity packages
• Health benefits plans
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• 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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior