Containerization & Virtualisation Engineer

Join to apply for the Containerization & Virtualisation Engineer 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 very 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 a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and very few office based roles.

Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution. The company is founder led, profitable and growing.

This is a general selection process for software engineers focused on virtualisation and container technology - from the kernel through userspace. Apply here if you are an exceptional Go, Rust, or C/C++ software engineer and want to work on next-generation open source VMM or container technology, or related open source networking and storage. Container, virtualisation and cloud infrastructure have become essentials of modern software deployments.

We invest in open source related to application isolation, workload orchestration, system or OCI containers, micro service architecture or cloud infrastructure.

• RustVMM – new hypervisor for Linux, emphasis on performance, security, operability (work in Rust, VMM and kernel networking/storage)
• The Rockcraft team – elevated Docker image experience for the community
• LXD – modern system container and virtual machine manager, spanning kernel and userspace
• Micro
  
  K8s and Charmed Kubernetes – on‑rails Kubernetes and integration tools
• Charmed Open Stack, OVN / OVS and Ceph – cloud platform technologies for large‑scale computing

• Design and specify new features, building consensus on approach
• Engage with upstream communities in your area of expertise
• Conduct security analysis and reviews to ensure defence in depth
• Create and monitor performance benchmarks to optimise your product
• Collaborate proactively with a distributed team
• Write high quality code to create new features
• Debug issues and produce high quality code to fix them
• Review code produced by other engineers
• Discuss ideas and collaborate on finding good solutions

• Exceptional academic track record from high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or compelling alternative narrative
• Drive and a track record of going above‑and‑beyond expectations
• Experience on open source virtualisation or container tech
• Experience in kernel or low‑level system programming
• Professional written and spoken English
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, self‑motivation
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Result‑oriented, personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel twice a year for company events up to two weeks each

• Performance engineering and security experience

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually and more often for graduates and associates to align with performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance‑driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits that reflect our values and ideals, ensuring fairness globally.

• 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 a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu—one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud—we are changing the world daily. We recruit globally and set a high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence—the best is required to succeed.

Canonical has been a remote‑first company since 2004, and working here challenges you to think differently, learn new skills, and raise your game.

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.