Ubuntu Engineering Lead

Join to apply for the Ubuntu Engineering Lead role at Canonical.

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. We are a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with over 1,200 colleagues in more than 75 countries and very few office‑based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person across interesting global locations to align on strategy and execution.

The company is founder‑led, profitable, and growing.

We are hiring engineering leaders to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organization—leaders who care deeply for quality, performance, and resilience in software, and have a proven track record for building, nurturing, and developing high‑performing engineering teams. This leadership track includes roles for managers and Senior+ engineers alike. At Canonical, managers stay technical and close to the code, and our Senior+ engineers lead and develop software projects, as well as the processes and people around them.

Location

We have remote roles open in every time zone.

The role entails

• Leading their teams in elevating the Linux developer and user experience
• Designing, building and shipping high‑quality, performant software in Rust, Go and Python
• Demonstrating sound engineering principles through architecture, development and code reviews
• Taking responsibility for planning, estimation and execution
• Working with product management to define the vision and strategy for Ubuntu
• Setting expectations with other engineering teams, senior management, and external stakeholders
• Offering coaching, mentoring, technical feedback and hands‑on career development
• Contributing to upstream and neighboring open source projects
• Optimizing the distribution for performance, reliability, and security
• Debugging complex system‑level issues and delivering robust solutions
• Authoring and improving technical and community documentation

What we are looking for in you

• An exceptional academic track record from high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about an alternative path
• Ability to drive and deliver technical work streams beyond expectations
• Lead and coach others to deliver exceptional engineering work
• A demonstrated passion for open source software
• Significant experience with Rust, Go, Python, Flutter or C/C++
• Professional written and spoken English
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Result‑oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

Nice‑to‑have skills

• Experience contributing to or leading open source projects
• Experience with Linux distributions/distribution engineering
• Experience with software packaging and distribution mechanisms
• Performance or Security 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 creates a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Canonical by 2x.