Job Description

About the Role

We’re looking for a highly strategic, systems-savvy operator to join Canva Japan as our Strategic Program Manager. This person will serve as the glue for the Japan leadership team—driving clarity, alignment, and execution across the business. You’ll orchestrate programs, optimise workflows, and ensure the right people are focused on the right things at the right time. This is a mission-critical role for operational excellence, team cohesion, and sustainable growth.

What You’ll Do

• Operational Rhythm & Planning

  • Drive strategic planning and translate high-level goals into actionable plans with clear metrics.

  • Coordinate team cadences including stand-ups, offsites, retros, and all-hands meetings.

  • Keep the team aligned, paced, and focused on the most impactful work.

• Program & Workflow Management

  • Turn half-baked ideas into structured initiatives—with frameworks, diagrams, and clear next steps.

  • Partner with cross-functional leaders across Product, Engineering, Finance, and more to unblock bottlenecks and keep work moving.

  • Audit and streamline workflows, tooling, and processes to reduce friction and increase throughput.

• Enablement & Culture

  • Build and maintain SOPs, onboarding flows, and knowledge-sharing systems.

  • Manage tooling, vendor onboarding, and systems that enable the team to operate efficiently.

  • Champion team culture by creating clarity, reducing noise, and ensuring everyone feels connected and seen.

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For

• Composed Operator: You thrive in ambiguity and pressure. When things get tense, you’re the calm eye of the storm—clear, collected, and solution-oriented.

• Stakeholder Whisperer: You align people with diverging views and make space for tricky conversations, building consensus before resistance sets in.

• Sharp Communicator: You write and speak with intention, precision, and empathy. Your messages land. Your decks clarify. Your emails get read.

• Cultural Barometer: You sense when the team is drifting into silos or theatre—and course-correct with grace. You’re a people-first operator who brings rhythm, cohesion, and heart to the way we work.

• Strategic Amplifier: You anticipate what needs shaping, what needs saying, and what just needs to be done. You quietly make the team look more thoughtful, aligned, and on top of it than we sometimes are.