Account Executive - Public Sector & Higher Education

<p><strong>About the Role/Specialty</strong><br> <br> As an Account Executive - Public Sector, you will own enterprise-level relationships across higher education institutions and local government organisations. We operate as trusted advisors—navigating complex stakeholder environments, long procurement cycles, and compliance requirements—while clearly articulating Canva’s value to educators, administrators, and public officials. Our work helps institutions scale visual communication, improve accessibility, and empower communities through design.</p><p><strong>What you’ll do (responsibilities)</strong></p><ul><li>You’ll lead end-to-end public sector sales engagements, from prospecting and discovery through procurement, negotiation, and close.</li><li>You’ll manage complex stakeholder groups across universities and local government, balancing educational, operational, and policy-driven needs.</li><li>You’ll collaborate closely with Channel team as well as distributors and resellers to drive scalable growth.</li><li>You’ll tailor Canva’s value proposition to public sector use cases, including teaching, learning, communications, and civic engagement.</li><li>You’ll navigate public sector procurement frameworks, RFPs, tenders, and approval processes with confidence and rigour.</li><li>You’ll collaborate closely with Education, Product, Legal, and Customer Success teams to ensure compliant and successful implementations.</li><li>You’ll forecast accurately and maintain strong CRM hygiene to ensure transparency across long and multi-threaded sales cycles.</li><li>You’ll support onboarding and adoption by partnering with Customer Success to deliver strong, long-term outcomes for institutions.</li><li>You’ll act as a voice of the Japanese public sector internally, sharing insights to influence product roadmaps and policy positioning.</li></ul> <p><strong>What we're looking for</strong></p><p>We’re looking for a senior, consultative seller who understands the nuances of Japan’s public sector and is motivated by long-term impact as much as commercial outcomes.</p><ul><li>5+ years of experience in B2B, GovTech, EdTech, or SaaS sales, with demonstrated success selling into public sector or highly regulated environments.</li><li>Proven experience working with universities, higher education institutions, or government bodies in Japan.</li><li>Strong understanding of Japanese public sector procurement processes, including tenders, RFPs, and multi-year funding cycles.</li><li>Fluency in Japanese (verbal and written) with professional working proficiency in English.</li><li>Ability to manage long, complex sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders and formal decision-making structures.</li><li>Trusted-advisor mindset, with strong relationship-building skills across academic, administrative, and government audiences.</li><li>Strategic thinker who can align Canva’s capabilities to institutional goals such as education quality, accessibility, efficiency, and digital transformation.</li><li>Collaborative and low-ego, able to work cross-functionally with global and regional teams.</li><li>Passionate about Canva’s role in education and public good, and motivated to help institutions empower their communities through design.</li></ul>