Software Platform Engineering Manager - Ubuntu for Next-Gen Silicon

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.

We are hiring engineering managers who are passionate about operational systems, open source technologies and cutting-edge hardware to lead engineering teams to enable and optimize Ubuntu for the latest x86, ARM, RISC-V, s390x and POWER systems.

We partner with the world's leading silicon vendors to optimise Ubuntu on their latest platforms. We integrate next-generation features and performance enhancements in Ubuntu while also ensuring a common operating experience for their users.

Engineering Managers should be outstanding developers themselves. They should be completely at home reviewing a patch or a software design spec. You will be expected to drive healthy engineering practices, documentation, quality and performance optimisations as well as lead your team to deliver high-quality design and code.

An Engineering Manager is responsible for line management and career guidance. The ability to develop engineering talent, to represent your team and product from a technical perspective, and to drive collaboration with other teams and customers are all critical to success in this role.

You will have the opportunity to influence the culture, facilitate technical delivery, and work with your team on strategy and execution. 

Location: This is a globally remote role. We have open positions in every time zone.

What your day will look like

• Lead and develop a team of engineers, ranging from graduate to senior
• Oversee commercial engagements and support timely delivery on agreed project milestones
• Participate as technical lead on complex customer engagements involving complete system architectures 
• Implement disciplined engineering processes
• Integrate and maintain platform-oriented software stacks
• Optimize Ubuntu for latest hardware platforms
• Display technical leadership internally and within our external communities 
• Contribute to code reviews and technical documentation 
• Be an active part of the leadership team, collaborating with other leaders

What we are looking for in you

• 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
• Fluency in C, C++, and Python
• Experience with Linux and operational systems software (e.g. kernel or user space) 
• Experience with Debian/Ubuntu or other distro packaging 
• Experience leading software engineering teams
• Professional written and spoken English 
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation
• 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

Nice-to-have skills

• Experience working with open source communities and licenses
• Computer architecture knowledge of x86, ARM, RISC-V or s390x
• Understanding of build systems and toolchains, including for cross-compilation 
• Experience working with customers
• Experience with board bring up and validation 
• Experience with Linux virtualization, networking or graphics stacks
• Experience with one or more of the follow
• Experience with Docker/OCI containers/K8s
• ing technologies: confidential computing, RDMA, Infiniband and high performance computing. 
• Performance engineering, benchmarking and profiling

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 recognise 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

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.

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.

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