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Canva is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to join its Product and Privacy team in Sydney. This role sits at the intersection of AI, product counselling, and legal strategy, supporting product and engineering teams as they develop and scale Canva AI and related tools. You will advise on legal risks across privacy, data protection, intellectual property, marketing, online safety, AI regulation, platform, competition, and consumer laws, with a focus on emerging and generative AI technologies.
Key responsibilities include:
- Identifying and advising on legal issues in privacy, data protection, IP, marketing, online safety, AI regulation, platform, competition, and consumer laws
- Building strong relationships with stakeholders and advising on product development (including agentic and generative AI), go-to-market strategy, partnership terms, and risk mitigation
- Contributing to the development and operationalization of company-wide AI policies, processes, and legal frameworks
- Drafting and maintaining legal playbooks and internal guidance related to AI tools and technologies
- Collaborating closely with privacy, IP, security, product, and engineering teams
- Building scalable and effective processes for legal review to enable new product launches
- Participating in the review and coordination of potential privacy or data security incidents, including investigations and notifications
- Staying current with global AI and privacy regulations and relevant industry standards
The role is based in Sydney with a hybrid working model that offers flexibility to work remotely while coming together on campus for meaningful collaboration. You will work with colleagues across time zones globally.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Legally qualified with an active practising certificate (AUS/NZ, UK, EU, or US)
- 10+ years practicing law with some in-house experience, preferably in a technology company
- Familiarity with key global digital, AI, privacy, consumer, and online safety laws and regulations (e.g., EU AI Act, GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, Digital Services Act, Online Safety Act(s))
- Deep understanding of modern AI technology and products, with informed perspectives on generative and agentic AI and their privacy, IP, safety, and regulatory implications
- Comfort collaborating with team members across different time zones
- Collaborative, pragmatic, business-minded approach to legal counsel
- Ability to bring clarity to complexity and simplify compliance without compromising standards
- Enthusiasm for collaborating with engineers, product managers, and marketers in fast-moving environments
- Risk-aware mindset (not risk-averse)
- Creative, curious, and motivated by meaningful work
BONUS QUALIFICATIONS:
- AI Governance Professional or Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) certifications; willingness to obtain CIPP certification within 6 months of joining is a must
- Knowledge and understanding of Canva
- High comfort level with technology and AI experimentation
- Hands-on experience advising rapidly growing technology companies on privacy and product-related regulatory requirements
