Program Manager - AI Product Ops

Location: Team Operations

Team: Country Melbourne / Australia

About the Role

Join Canva's innovative User Help Experience group within the User Voice organization, one of our most advanced AI product teams. We're building agentic, AI-powered support experiences like the Canva Help Assistant to empower millions of users to find answers and solve problems instantly. Home to 50+ cross-functional specialists in Engineering, Product, and Design, this team is redefining AI-first support at scale in Canva's collaborative, design-focused culture. As a Program Manager - AI Product Ops in our Operations team, you'll bring rhythm and clarity to fast-moving AI initiatives, partnering with leadership, Technical Program Managers, and Data teams to connect strategy to execution in our hybrid Sydney/Melbourne role (Sydney preferred). In this newly created role, you'll own and evolve our group-wide JIRA ecosystem, streamline delivery, and scale operational excellence across disciplines. Proactively orchestrate collaboration through agile cadences, clear Confluence documentation, retrospectives, and early escalations to keep projects on track. Partner with leads to turn goals into actionable plans, deliver data-driven insights via Looker/Streamlit—including AI cost modeling and forecasts—and pilot AI automations that free teams for creative, high-impact work. As the 'Chief Wrangler,' you'll align diverse stakeholders, unblock initiatives, and surface strategic opportunities, embodying Canva's can-do attitude in a high-growth environment. Thrive at the intersection of technology, data, and operations with 5+ years in program management, deep JIRA/Agile expertise, and experience aligning Product, Engineering, and Design. Bring strong communication, analytics skills (Excel, Looker), and curiosity for AI efficiencies to help our teams move faster and smarter. At Canva, you'll enjoy equity, inclusive leave, wellbeing allowances, and a culture of magic and connectivity, all while shaping the future of AI-powered design tools.

Key Responsibilities

• Scale operational excellence by orchestrating collaboration across engineering, product, design, and operations teams through clear communication, documentation in Confluence, discovery templates, agile retrospectives, and early issue escalation
• Action improvements from retrospectives and continuously evolve best practices to keep AI initiatives on track
• Partner with group leads to translate strategic goals into actionable plans, supporting cross-team delivery and owning smaller initiatives to build scalable processes
• Deliver regular data-driven reports and forecasts using Looker/Streamlit to inform leadership decisions on AI projects
• Set up experiment tracking, analysis, and reporting for key projects, including AI cost modeling and usage projections
• Surface delivery risks, recommend course-corrections, and identify strategic opportunities to improve long-term metrics
• Act as the 'Chief Wrangler', aligning teams, providing visibility, and jumping in to unblock initiatives proactively
• Identify and pilot AI-driven automation opportunities to reduce manual effort, enhance visibility, and free teams for high-impact work
• Evolve the group-wide JIRA ecosystem to streamline delivery across Engineering, Product, and Design
• Build scenario models to forecast AI costs, usage, and operational impacts

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years in program or project management, product operations, Chief of Staff or strategy roles, ideally within Big Tech, high-growth SaaS, or startup environments
• Deep expertise in JIRA, Confluence, OKR/goal frameworks, and hands-on experience with Agile methodologies such as sprint planning and backlog management
• Proven track record of coordinating cross-functional teams and initiatives, driving operational cadences, and delivering strategic projects on time and within scope
• Experience working closely with Product, Engineering, and Design teams, bringing alignment across disciplines to deliver shared outcomes
• Strong communicator able to visualize complex ideas, create data visualizations, and present clear recommendations to stakeholder audiences
• Advanced Excel analytics and familiarity with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker) to transform insights into actionable reports and projections
• Skilled in stakeholder engagement and influence, building rapport quickly across engineering, product, design, and leadership levels

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in consulting or investment banking
• Curiosity or hands-on experience leveraging AI to drive automation and operational efficiency
• Experience optimizing delivery velocity in fast-paced product teams
• Familiarity with experiment tracking, cost modeling, and AI impact forecasting
• Proven ability to act as a 'Chief Wrangler' in high-growth environments

Required Skills

• JIRA administration and optimization
• Confluence for documentation and knowledge sharing
• OKR and goal framework implementation
• Agile methodologies (sprint planning, retrospectives, backlog management)
• Cross-functional team coordination
• Data reporting and forecasting (Looker, Streamlit)
• Advanced Excel analytics
• Data visualization (Tableau, Looker)
• Stakeholder engagement and influence
• AI-driven automation identification
• Experiment tracking and analysis
• Cost modeling and scenario planning
• Clear communication and presentation skills
• Proactive issue escalation and risk management
• Visualizing complex ideas for diverse audiences
• Building rapport across engineering, product, design, and leadership

Benefits

• Equity packages to share in Canva's success
• Inclusive parental leave policy supporting all parents and carers
• Annual Vibe & Thrive allowance for wellbeing, social connection, office setup, and more
• Flexible leave options to recharge and support personal needs
• Hybrid work model with flagship campuses in Sydney and growing presence in Melbourne
• Collaborative culture fostering innovation in a design-focused environment
• Opportunities to work on cutting-edge AI products redefining user experiences
• Endless moments of magic, connectivity, and fun woven into daily life at Canva

Canva is an equal opportunity employer.