Engineering Manager - Ubuntu Desktop Apps

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 1200+ colleagues in 75+ 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.

Our Ubuntu Desktop engineering teams build the modern Linux desktop experience used daily by millions of developers, enterprises, and open source communities worldwide.

Location
:
We have remote roles open in every time zone.

The Ubuntu Desktop Apps team
, as part of the broader Ubuntu Desktop team, designs and builds the core user-facing applications that shape the Ubuntu desktop experience.

This includes key projects such as the Ubuntu Desktop Installer
, the Ubuntu App Center
, the Ubuntu Security Center
, TPM-backed full disk encryption integration and Application Permission prompting
.

Our applications are primarily built using Flutter and Dart
, with system components and services implemented in Go and Rust
.

The team works across the full engineering lifecycle, defining the roadmap, contributing to product design and system architecture, implementing features and conducting code reviews, maintaining CI/CD pipelines and automated testing, improving quality, reliability, and performance, and ensuring smooth release management and delivery to users.

We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager to lead the Ubuntu Desktop Apps team.

This is a technical leadership role combining people management with active engineering involvement. You will guide the team in delivering modern desktop applications that integrate seamlessly with the Ubuntu platform while ensuring high standards of quality, performance, and security.

You will report to the Ubuntu Desktop Engineering director and collaborate closely with design, product management, and other Ubuntu engineering teams to deliver a coherent and forward-looking desktop experience for millions of users.

Technical Leadership

• Guide architecture and technical direction for Ubuntu desktop applications
• Ensure strong integration with the Ubuntu platform, Snap ecosystem, and system services
• Participate in design reviews and key technical decisions
• Promote high standards for performance, reliability, and security

Team Leadership

• Lead and support a team of talented engineers
• Mentor and grow engineers across frontend and systems domains
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement

Delivery and Engineering Excellence

• Plan and deliver features across multiple release cycles
• Balance innovation with reliability and maintainability
• Improve CI/CD pipelines, test coverage, and release quality

Collaboration and Community

• Work with product and design teams to deliver intuitive user experiences
• Collaborate across Canonical engineering teams
• Engage with the Ubuntu open source community

Required

• An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about your alternative path
• Strong background in software engineering and system design
• Experience building and shipping graphical applications
• Experience leading engineering projects or teams
• Expertise in Flutter and Dart
  , with experience in Go or Rust as a plus
• Experience working with modern Linux desktop technologies such as Wayland, D‑Bus, Systemd, or GNOME
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work effectively in a globally distributed engineering team
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

Nice to Have

• Experience contributing to or leading open source projects
• Experience with Linux distribution development
• Familiarity with software…