Join to apply for the Performance Engineer - Open Source 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 worlds 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.

We have created a new career path at Canonical for Performance Engineers who bring exceptional clarity to software performance, correctness and efficiency. These roles are added to every engineering team in the company. As an open‑source platform, we have teams that work at every level of the software stack – from the kernel up through server and desktop applications, all the way to the web. The new roles focus on driving performance engineering skills, tools, culture and insights across our entire product range. A central performance engineering team will drive shared tools, dashboarding capabilities, measurement frameworks and analytical capabilities. We call this career focus "percorr" because the same deep insights used for sophisticated performance measurement also enable teams to improve harnesses and frameworks for correctness. Understanding not only the application but the runtime, compiler and system down to the CPU gives engineers the ability to think creatively about what to measure and how to verify correctness. Performance engineers often improve the deepest and trickiest areas of our test harnesses, unblocking teams to test and measure previously "dark" aspects of their work.

We also have teams that work with every major silicon vendor and cloud, focusing on performance optimisation of the entire stack for that architecture, CPU family or hypervisor. Our goal is to ensure that Ubuntu users can select the platform they want for their workloads and know they have access to the best performance and efficiency across the entire stack from kernel to codec.

Performance and correctness engineers may move between products every two years, raising the bar for performance in an array of products and bringing fresh eyes to processes, harnesses, dashboards and code. Our leaders are expected to be truly exceptional individuals, confident setting expectations, sharing insights, running initiatives and programs. This career path is for perfectionists and precision artists who have a love of the kernel, hardware, CPU instruction set or the language of choice (C, C++, Rust, Golang, Python, Java, Flutter‑Dart or others). Whether you see yourself driving perceived user experience through performance or optimising the efficiency of data centres to reduce carbon footprint, this path is the best way to find a role that speaks to precision, rigour, insight and drive.

Location

We have teams in every time zone and can accommodate applications from almost any country.

Nice‑to‑have skills we value

• Low‑level CPU insights and assembly language – understanding cache, registers, vectorisation, memory
• Kernel performance insights – scheduling, context switching, hardware acceleration
• Distributed systems performance insights – tracing, debugging
• Compiler‑level performance insights – profile‑guided optimisation, inlining, assembler
• Runtime performance insights – Golang, Python, JVM, NodeJS
• Database performance evaluation – plans, indexing, data modelling, tracing, monitoring
• Web browser performance insights – JS, web frameworks, tracing, CSS
• Performance measurement tooling – profiling, eBPF, D‑Trace, flamegraphs
• Benchmarks and performance measurement tools – Phoronix Test Suite, others
• Test harnesses and capabilities in C, C++, Rust, Python, Golang, NodeJS, JavaScript

The role entails

• Drive software performance and correctness in a specific project
• Collaborate with colleagues and community around the globe
• Work on shared tools and infrastructure for performance measurement, analysis and reporting
• Teach, train and develop skills in your team for performance culture and design
• Strengthen test capabilities, harnesses and pipelines
• Analyse systems and code to understand performance and scalability
• Solve problems directly or through influence, leadership and skills development
• Review code and technical designs

What we are looking for in you

• Exceptional academic track record from school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics
• Demonstrable personal initiatives to measure and improve performance, efficiency and correctness in code
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback and share ideas without hesitation
• Track record of going above and beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results
• Leadership and commitment to skills development and mentorship
• Passion for technology evidenced by personal projects and initiatives
• The work ethic and confidence to shine alongside motivated colleagues
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skills
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Appreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi‑cultural, multi‑national organisation
• Thoughtfulness and self‑motivation
• Result‑oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long

What we offer colleagues

• 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

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 of software. 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. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home 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.

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.