Security Software Engineer

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors.

The company is founder‑led, profitable, and growing. Canonical is looking for exceptional security‑focused software engineers to be integrated across product teams. While they also contribute to the product as engineers, their primary focus is to challenge the entire team to think more deeply about security through state‑of‑the‑art practices such as threat modelling, table‑top exercises, architecture and design reviews, static analysis tools, and fuzzing, among others.

These roles encompass all aspects of product security, including feature development, vulnerability response, proactive security, and open source community participation. Engineers in these roles collaborate closely with other Canonical teams, customers, and partners across the open source ecosystem.

Location: Worldwide, this is a globally remote role. The position requires mandatory international travel at least twice a year, typically for one week.

What you'll do

• Define, implement, and document new security features
• Lead security‑focused initiatives within a product engineering team
• Analyze, fix, and test vulnerabilities in open source software
• Contribute to Ubuntu and upstream open source projects to benefit the community
• Audit and analyse source code for vulnerabilities
• Integrate new tools into our security infrastructure, pipelines, and processes
• Achieve and retain various security certifications
• Extend and enhance Linux cryptographic components to meet country‑specific compliance requirements, such as FIPS and Common Criteria (CC) certifications
• Work with external partners to develop Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks
• Design and develop hardening automation for Ubuntu
• Stay up to date with trends and developments in the security industry
• Develop, test, and maintain new software capabilities
• Provide guidance and support to other engineering teams on security best practices

What we are looking for in you

• An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about an alternative path
• A track record of going above and beyond expectations
• Thorough understanding of the common categories of security vulnerabilities and how to fix them
• Knowledge of modern software engineering techniques
• Familiarity with open source development tools and methodologies
• Skill in one or more of C, C++, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, PHP, or JavaScript/Typescript
• Experience as a security champion
• Experience driving security within a wider SSDLC process
• Professional written and spoken English
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, and self‑motivation
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Results‑oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments

Optional skills we also value

• Clear and effective communication with both the team and Ubuntu community members
• Experience working with the Linux kernel
• Experience with security certifications and knowledge of FIPS and/or Common Criteria (CC)
• Experience with OVAL (Open Vulnerability Assessment Language)
• Knowledge of cryptographic modules such as OpenSSL and Libgcrypt
• Knowledge of low‑level Linux cryptography APIs
• Demonstrated ability to learn quickly
• Performance engineering experience

What we offer you

• Distributed work environment with twice‑yearly team sprints in person
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
• Annual compensation review
• Recognition rewards
• Annual holiday leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long‑haul company events

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.