Ubuntu Engineering Lead

About Canonical and Ubuntu

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.

Ubuntu is not just the world’s 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 and hobbyists to high-performance engineering teams in corporate and academic environments.

The Role of an Ubuntu Engineering Lead

We are hiring engineering leaders to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organisation. We seek 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. This leadership track includes roles for managers and Senior+ engineers alike. At Canonical, managers are expected to stay technical and close to the code, and our Senior+ engineers lead and develop software projects, 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. You'll 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. Technical leadership experience and a background in software engineering are necessary prerequisites for this role. You will be expected to lead, challenge, and develop strong engineers, positively influence the culture, facilitate technical delivery, and work with your team on strategy and execution.

At Canonical, you will have the opportunity to engage with and contribute to the broader open source community. We're looking for individuals who can help build a thriving community and contribute with enthusiasm and precision to a broad range of technologies.

Key Teams in Ubuntu Engineering

• 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.

Responsibilities of the Ubuntu Engineering Lead

Based on initial interviews, we identify specific teams where you might be an excellent fit and conduct second-round interviews with those teams. Our leads are:

• 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.

What We Are Looking For In You

• 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.
• 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 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.

What We Offer You

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, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.

• 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.

Key skills/competency

• Linux
• Open Source
• Software Engineering
• Technical Leadership
• Rust
• Go
• Python
• Architecture Design
• Team Management
• Distributed Systems