Lead Counsel, Corporate

Location: San Francisco, United States. Flexible work arrangements are available, with occasional early-morning or late-evening meetings to overlap with stakeholders in Sydney, Australia.

Salary: $228,000–$345,000 per year.

Company

Canva is a global design technology company whose legal team supports the business across financings, acquisitions, global expansion, governance, and employee equity.

What you will do

• Lead complex corporate securities matters, including secondary sales and tender offers.
• Own strategic mergers and acquisitions from start to finish.
• Shape global expansion strategy with global entities teams and local counsel.
• Advise the board and leadership on corporate governance, board actions, and stockholder communications.
• Oversee capitalization, share transfers, employee equity, executive compensation, and corporate insurance programs.
• Design processes, agreements, frameworks, and AI-enabled ways of working while managing external counsel and mentoring attorneys.

Requirements

• 8+ years of corporate legal experience, including substantial in-house experience with venture-backed or high-growth technology companies.
• Extensive experience leading venture financings, secondary transactions, acquisitions, and complex corporate matters.
• Strong knowledge of equity, cap table mechanics, investor rights, corporate governance, and subsidiary records across multiple jurisdictions.
• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• Ability to advise founders, the board, investors, and senior leadership with strong written, verbal, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Proficiency with G Suite, Slack, Microsoft Word, and Excel; willingness to use AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Glean.

Nice to have

• Training at a law firm specializing in venture-backed or high-growth technology companies.
• Deep cross-border corporate legal experience.
• Experience with board portals and subsidiary management databases.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible work arrangements with a globally distributed legal and business organization.
• Equity package.
• Health benefits and a 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution.
• Inclusive parental leave and flexible leave options.
• Annual allowance supporting wellbeing, social connection, and office setup.

Hiring process

• Interviews are conducted virtually.
• Candidates may request reasonable adjustments during the interview process.