Language Manager, Arabic speaking (12-month contract)

Overview

About The Role

• This is the Arabic language lead for Canva - the person who sets the bar for what great Arabic localisation looks and sounds like, across every surface and every market.
• You won't be translating generic MSA and calling it done.
• You'll be building a dialect-aware, market-specific approach that respects the way people in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and beyond actually communicate and embedding that thinking into everything from our vendor briefings to our QA standards.
• You'll own the Arabic language programme end-to-end: from defining our linguistic guidelines to reviewing output, managing external translators, and partnering with product teams to make sure localisation is considered early - not bolted on at the end.
• You'll be the subject-matter expert Arabic speakers at Canva turn to, and the person who makes the case internally for what good looks like.
• What you’ll do
• Own Canva's Arabic language quality end-to-end — from defining standards to reviewing and approving localised content across product, marketing, and educational surfaces
• Build and maintain Canva's Arabic Style Guide and terminology glossary, covering MSA norms, dialect preferences by market, and guidance on Canva's tone in Arabic
• Brief, manage, and quality-review work from external Arabic translators and language vendors, providing clear, structured feedback grounded in market and linguistic expertise
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and content teams to ensure Arabic localisation is considered during the design and build phase — not just at handoff
• Identify and prioritise localisation gaps across Arabic-speaking markets (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others), and advocate for resources to close them
• Serve as the internal expert for Arabic language decisions, including dialect choices, RTL considerations, and culturally sensitive content adaptations
• Contribute to Canva's broader localisation standards and processes, sharing learnings that can shape how we approach other languages and markets
• What we're looking for
• You're a native Arabic speaker with genuine command of both Modern Standard Arabic and the regional dialects that matter most for Canva's MENA markets - Gulf, Egyptian, and Levantine at minimum.
• You understand that the right dialect choice depends on the surface, the audience, and the market, and you can articulate why.
• You've worked in a localisation, language, or content role before - ideally in a tech or product context - and you know what it looks like when localisation is done well versus when it's just translation.
• You're structured enough to build frameworks and style guides from scratch, and collaborative enough to make them stick across teams who don't live and breathe language the way you do.
• You're comfortable pushing back when a translation misses the mark, and you're credible enough to be heard.
• We're looking for someone who takes real ownership of their domain - you don't wait to be told where the gaps are, you find them and make the case for fixing them.
• Also, we’d love it if you had the following but it’s not a prerequisite!
• You have experience as a Language Lead at an LSP
• You’re an expert with CAT tools (experience with Smartling gets full marks)
• You have copy-writing experience — you maintain a blog or, even better, you have experience in localisation for a SaaS product
• You showcase a solid understanding of organic growth (SEO and Wordpress)
• You have some design experience
• You’ve got a tertiary education in linguistics, literature, or localisation
• You have experience as a Language Lead at a software company
• About the Team
• Every month, more than 200 million Canva users create a design in one of the 100 languages other than English, that Canva supports.
• The Localisation specialty is a small team of linguists, project managers, and engineers distributed throughout the company.
• Our mission is to celebrate the diversity of our global users and make their experience delightful by delivering a hyperlocalised experience.
• Our job is to make Canva feel at home in every language and market around the world.
• Our work goes beyond translation - we localise the full product experience, from UI strings and templates to marketing pages and educational content, so that every Canva user feels like the product was built for them.
• We partner closely with Product, Design, and Go-To-Market teams across Canva to make sure our work ships with quality and at pace.
• As Canva grows its footprint in MENA, the Arabic language function is one of our most strategically significant areas of focus.
• Other stuff to know
• 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!
• Check out lifeatcanva.com for more info.