Ubuntu Engineering Lead

Join to apply for the Ubuntu Engineering Lead 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 worlds leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1,200+ 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.

We are hiring engineering leaders to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organisation – leaders 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.

Our teams integrate the freshest open source software, provide robust upgrade paths and engineer the future of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is not just the worlds most deployed open source operating system, it’s a platform that enables innovation for millions of users across the globe. Our community represents the full breadth of the developer experience; from students, hobbyists and freelancers to high performance engineering and creative teams in corporate and academic environments.

Key Ubuntu Shipping Teams

• 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

Your role will be accountable for your technical roadmap and responsible for your team: helping them grow as engineers, doing important and satisfying work, and have a great time while doing it. Technical leadership experience and a background in software engineering are necessary prerequisites for this role.

Responsibilities

• Leading their teams in elevating the Linux developer and user experience
• Designing, building and shipping high quality, performant software in Rust, Go and Python
• Demonstrating sound engineering principles through architecture, development and code reviews
• Taking responsibility for planning, estimation and execution
• Working with product management to define the vision and strategy for Ubuntu
• Setting expectations with other engineering teams, senior management, and external stakeholders
• Offering coaching, mentoring, technical feedback and hands‑on career development
• Contributing to upstream and neighboring open source projects
• Optimizing the distribution for performance, reliability, and security
• Debugging complex system‑level issues and delivering robust solutions
• Authoring and improving technical and community documentation

Qualifications

• An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about an alternative path
• Proven ability to drive and deliver technical work streams exceeding expectations
• Experience leading and coaching others to deliver high‑quality engineering work
• 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 mindset with a personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

Additional Skills

• 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

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. We provide all team members with additional benefits that reflect our values and ideals.

• 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 on a daily basis. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence – 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.

Equal Opportunity

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.