HED Sales Manager

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design. Where and how you can work

Our flagship office is in Sydney, Australia, and Austin, Texas is our North America Sales Headquarters. This role supports the HED vertical across the entire North America region.

As Canva continues to scale, change will always be part of our DNA. Here’s a flavour of the work you’ll take on — with the understanding that HED evolves quickly alongside our customers’ needs.

• Driving revenue growth across Higher Education
  • Lead and coach a team of AEs covering Higher Ed accounts across North America.
  • Accelerate Canva Enterprise adoption in highly complex, compliance-driven environments with significant variation in procurement, risk posture, and contracting requirements.
• Bring direct and recent experience leading B2B SaaS sales into Higher Ed institutions
• Guide AEs through procurement rules, budget cycles, competitive processes, offline purchasing pathways, and multi-layered oversight found in the Higher Ed sector
• Elevating customer trust and enthusiasm
  • Extend Canva’s reputation for exceptional user experience into regulated industries.
  • Coach AEs to partner effectively with IT/security teams, procurement officials, program leaders, and executive sponsors across GHNFP.
• Building a best-in-class operating rhythm for Higher Ed
  • Establish clear processes, cadences, and expectations that reinforce disciplined execution: pipeline development, deal inspection, forecasting, outbound strategy, and cross-functional partnership.
  • Strengthen performance management, enablement, and coaching frameworks that support both accountability and internal mobility.
• Hiring and developing strong Enterprise talent
  • Recruit, develop, and retain senior sellers who can succeed in Higher Ed’s unique operating environment.
  • Provide structure, confidence, and clarity for early-career AEs as they grow into enterprise-ready sellers.
• Partnering across Canva
  • Collaborate deeply with Legal, Security, Deal Desk, and Sales Operations.
  • Champion brand governance, procurement, and risk alignment essential to Higher Ed customer success.
• Tools we use
  • Salesforce, Sales Loft, Pocus, Gong, Govspend, and other enterprise systems built to support our entire GTM org.

You have proven success managing individual sellers in Enterprise SaaS, including complex sales motions.

You have direct and recent experience leading Higher Ed sales in the U.S.

You have strong experience negotiating with CIO offices and procurement teams at universities.

You have experience coaching early-career AEs and developing them into confident, capable enterprise sellers, while also coaching tenured reps.

You know how to sustain a strong rhythm of business and consistent sales execution, including structured weekly cadences, disciplined pipeline practices, and clarity around operational excellence.

You manage a rigorous forecast and excel at coaching deal qualification, deal control, inspection, and progression from 0–100%.

You bring depth in coaching outbound sales strategy, including building repeatable, high-quality outbound motions across all HED accounts

You understand the unique complexities of higher education institutions, particularly around procurement, multi-threading, and navigating a decentralized landscape.

You simplify complex concepts and turn them into clear, actionable guidance.

You are a self-starter—accessible, collaborative, and grounded in high trust and accountability.

You thrive in fast-paced environments and consistently drive clarity, focus, and results.

You bring humility, curiosity, and a strong desire to continually improve.

The mission of the North America Higher Ed Coach is to ensure we have the people, practices, and strategy in place to bring Canva Enterprise and Canva Campus to as many Higher Ed institutions as possible. You will report into Higher Ed leadership, partnering closely with teams across Legal, Security, Deal Desk, Operations, and Customer Success to drive disciplined execution and exceptional customer outcomes.

We work hard to hit our big goals — but you’ll also experience moments of magic,…