Strategic Sourcing Manager - Business Services & Marketing

Job description

Join the team redefining how the world experiences design. Hey, g'day, mabuhay, kia ora,你好, hallo, vítejte! Thanks for stopping by. We know job hunting can be a little time consuming and you're probably keen to find out what's on offer, so we'll get straight to the point. Where and how you can work Our flagship Sydney campus is uniquely Canva - an extension of our Surry Hills neighbourhood. It’s a thoughtfully designed space with plenty of room to collaborate, focus, and connect. This role is based in Sydney, and we’re looking for someone who calls it home. Our hybrid way of working gives you the flexibility to work remotely, and to come together on campus for meaningful in-person collaboration and connection when it matters most. We trust our Canvanauts to choose the balance that empowers them and their team to achieve their goals. About the Team Our mission is simple: maximise the value of every dollar spent while enabling teams to move fast and build what's next. As Canva scales toward its next phase of growth, the Strategic Sourcing team plays a critical role in shaping supplier partnerships, strengthening commercial discipline, and building scalable contracting experiences that reduce friction and increase delight. We operate as a strategic extension of the business, balancing speed, value, and risk, and continuously raising the bar on commercial outcomes across all spend categories. The Marketing & Business Services Sourcing team sits at the intersection of Marketing, People, and Finance. We cover a wide and genuinely interesting portfolio, from Media and Marketing agency partnerships to professional services, contingent labour, and employee experience. We're a team that takes quality seriously, builds trusted relationships, and genuinely enjoys what we do. What You'd Be Doing In This Role As Canva scales, change continues to be part of our DNA, but we like to think that's all part of the fun. This will give you the flavour of the type of things you'll be working on when you start, and this will likely evolve. As a Strategic Sourcing Manager in our Marketing & Business Services Sourcing team, you'll pursue the highest-impact opportunities across a broad portfolio spanning professional and consulting services, staffing & labour, BPO, payment gateways, workplace and facilities, insurance, and system integration, with occasional support into marketing categories as priorities shift. You'll operate with significant autonomy, but the real mark of this role is building: redesigning how sourcing operates across these categories, setting up new processes and pathways, and reviewing the way we work. It sits at the intersection of strategic thinking and hands-on execution, and calls for someone who can drive outcomes independently while bringing genuine commercial depth to a portfolio that spans some of the most varied spend categories in the function. At the Moment, This Role Is Focused On Owning commercial strategy and sourcing execution across a complex portfolio of indirect spend categories, including professional and consulting services, staffing and labour, BPO, system integration, strategy and advisory engagements or related indirect categories such as Marketing Rolling up your sleeves through an initial groundwork phase, the first 6–12 months carry real operational volume and process clean-up, which our ZIP AI agent will increasingly absorb, freeing you to shift toward new category, more and more targeted and strategic work over time Leading sophisticated negotiations with external providers, including management consultancies, outsourcing partners, professional services firms, and contingent workforce suppliers, with clear commercial positions and leverage strategies Embedding with senior business stakeholders to understand strategic priorities, shape supplier decisions, and provide commercial counsel before commitments are made Building and maintaining category strategies that connect short-term sourcing activity to longer-term business outcomes Proactively managing contract pipelines, renewal cycles, and spend visibility across your categories Identifying opportunities for supplier consolidation, cost optimisation, and improved commercial terms through data-led analysis Bringing market benchmarks and external insight into internal decisions to sharpen Canva's commercial positioning Partnering with Legal, Finance, and Risk to balance speed, value, and governance across your portfolio Contributing to scalable processes, knowledge-sharing, and sourcing practice development across the Marketing & Business Services function You're Probably a Match If You have 7+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, or a related commercial discipline, either as an indirect procurement generalist with breadth across professional services, BPO, contingent workforce, workplace, insurance or Marketing or with specific depth in one of those categories You bring strong analytical and influencing skills, you can read and assess a portfolio, spot where the biggest opportunities are, and build the case for where to focus You've set up processes, playbooks, or ways of working from scratch and improved how a team operates, not just delivered within an existing model You have strong commercial instincts and a track record of delivering measurable outcomes in complex, high-value negotiations, you know how to build leverage, manage supplier dynamics, and hold a position under pressure You can operate at both a strategic and executional level: you're capable of setting category direction and building a plan, but you also roll up your sleeves and get things done You bring intellectual curiosity to category management, you stay close to market developments, benchmark against peers, and contribute insight rather than just process You're a natural business partner, you build trusted relationships across stakeholder groups, influence without authority, and get close enough to the business to anticipate needs rather than just respond to requests You're comfortable working independently in ambiguous settings and can create structure and momentum where there isn't a clear playbook Experience in a high-growth technology company, professional services firm, or consulting environment is a strong advantage What Success Looks Like Success in this role isn't measured by the number of contracts completed, it's measured by the commercial and strategic value you create across your portfolio. You influence strategic decisions early, and stakeholders trust your judgement. Your portfolio consistently delivers measurable commercial value through stronger supplier strategies, negotiations and optimisation. Supplier risks and commercial opportunities are proactively identified and managed. Negotiated value is realised well beyond contract signature through effective supplier management and governance. Low-value, low-risk requests are increasingly self-served, freeing your time for the work that actually moves the portfolio forward. You spot broken or overly complex ways of working and fix them - not just for yourself, but in ways others can pick up and use. You leave the portfolio, and the M&BS Sourcing function, in a stronger position than you found it. What's in it for You? Equity packages Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parent carers An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup, and more Flexible leave options that empower you to be a force for good, take time to recharge, and support you personally Virtual, hybrid, and in-person work options to suit you and your team We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance Canva and our culture. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process. We celebrate all types of skills and backgrounds at Canva so even if you don't feel like your skills quite match what's listed above — we still want to hear from you! Please note that interviews are conducted virtually.