Ubuntu Engineering Manager

About the role

Canonical is hiring engineering leaders to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organization. These roles are for Managers and Senior Managers 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. At Canonical, managers are expected to stay technical and close to the code, as well as the processes and people around them.

Our teams integrate the freshest open source software, provide robust upgrade paths, and engineer the future of Ubuntu. The four key teams that ship Ubuntu are:

• Foundations: maintaining foundational software: architectures, package managers, compilers, toolchains, bootloaders, filesystems, and core utilities
• Server: leading the design, evolution, and future of our Ubuntu Server distribution
• Desktop: driving Ubuntu Desktop, our future immutable desktop: Ubuntu Core Desktop, WSL, gaming technology, and a suite of modern applications for the desktop crafted with Flutter
• Debcrafters: a new team responsible for the forward movement, maintenance, and overall health of the Ubuntu archive: one of the most abundant repositories of open source software available today

You will be accountable for your technical roadmap and responsible for your team, helping them grow as engineers, do important and satisfying work, and have a great time while doing it. You will lead, challenge, and develop strong engineers, positively influence the culture, facilitate technical delivery, and work with your team on strategy and execution.

Responsibilities

• 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
• Take responsibility for planning, estimation, and execution
• Work with product management to define the vision and strategy for Ubuntu
• Set expectations with other engineering teams, senior management, and external stakeholders
• Offer coaching, mentoring, technical feedback, and hands-on career development
• Contribute to upstream and neighboring open source projects
• Author and improve technical and community documentation

Requirements

• 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
• Ability to drive and deliver technical work streams going above and 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 managing technical teams
• 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

Benefits

• 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

Pay

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus.

About Canonical

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 on a daily basis. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence—in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do.

Canonical has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.