Ubuntu Engineering Lead

Overview

Ubuntu Engineering Lead position onical 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 cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration with 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and mostly remote roles.

We are hiring engineering leaders to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organisation. The leadership track includes roles for managers and Senior+ engineers; managers stay technical and close to the code, while Senior+ engineers lead and develop software projects as well as processes and people.

Our teams integrate the freshest open source software, provide robust upgrade paths, and engineer the future of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a platform for innovation used by millions of users worldwide. The community spans students, hobbyists, freelancers, and high-performance teams in corporate and academic environments.

• Foundations
  : maintaining foundational software: architectures, package managers, compilers, tool chains, bootloaders, file systems and core utilities
• Server
  : design, evolution and future of Ubuntu Server distribution
• Desktop
  : driving Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Core Desktop, WSL, gaming tech, and Flutter-based applications
• Debcrafters
  : forward movement, maintenance and health of the Ubuntu archive

• Lead and be accountable for the technical roadmap and for your team: helping engineers grow, do important and satisfying work, and enjoy their work
• Provide technical leadership and stay close to the code; lead, challenge and develop strong engineers and influence culture
• Facilitate technical delivery and work with the team on strategy and execution
• Engage with the broader open source community and contribute with enthusiasm and precision
• Lead teams in elevating the Linux developer and user experience; design, build and ship high quality, performant software in Rust, Go and Python
• Demonstrate sound engineering principles through architecture, development and code reviews
• Plan, estimate and execute work; collaborate with product management to define the vision and strategy for Ubuntu
• Set expectations with other engineering teams, senior management, and external stakeholders
• Provide coaching, mentoring, technical feedback, and hands-on career development
• Contribute to upstream and neighboring open source projects
• Optimize the distribution for performance, reliability, and security; debug complex system-level issues
• Author and improve technical and community documentation

• An exceptional academic track record from high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling alternative-path narrative
• Ability to drive and deliver technical work streams beyond expectations
• Lead and coach others to deliver exceptional engineering work
• 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 personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel twice a year for company events up to two weeks each

• Experience contributing to or leading open source projects
• Experience with Linux distributions and distribution engineering
• Experience with software packaging and distribution mechanisms
• Performance or Security Engineering experience

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually and offer a performance-driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits, reflecting our values and ideals.

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints
• 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
• Opportunities to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• 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 behind Ubuntu, Canonical publishes technologies for AI, IoT and cloud. We recruit on a global basis and maintain remote-first practices. Canonical has been remote-first since 2004.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We 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.

We have remote roles open in every time zone.