This is an Engineering Director position, responsible for the worldwide Sustaining Engineering team of software engineers at Canonical. This position reports to the VP Support at Canonical.

The Sustaining Engineering group is a worldwide team of generalist open source software engineers, responsible for driving software issues reported by Canonical customers to successful resolution. We tackle problems in any package in Ubuntu, and for our largest customers, will engage on deep issues in upstream projects not yet packaged in the distribution. We are Canonical's open source special forces, or SWAT team, or firefighting ladder, as you prefer. We work on the hardest-to-debug production problems in the kernel, and we work in every programming language you can find in open source. Depending on your perspective this is either an absolute engineering nightmare or the world's best way to spend a fully paid day :)

We take care over career and skills development for our colleagues, and we are in a unique position to offer engineers an incredibly wide range of topics into which they can delve deeply to become our first and best expert. As our customer base expands, and as we have become more confident to make service commitments to a wider and wider range of open source, we have expanded the range of technologies in which we can justify investing time and attention. We are now in a push to become the world's leading provider of open source from the public cloud to the edge, from desktops to servers and IoT.

As an Engineering Director role, this position will manage the managers of multiple teams. We try to keep each frontline team in a single timezone, but this position of necessity has global responsibility, so the successful candidate will need to be able to set expectations and manage remotely. In this role, you will:

Define the strategy of the Sustaining Engineering group, as a part of the overall direction set for the wider organization
Act as an escalation point for key customers and internal escalations, occasionally over weekends
Be an advocate for your group and shape the overall Support strategy along with other senior leaders
Hire, organize, grow, nurture and lead a diverse set of technical contributors to provide excellent customer support for the platform at the heart of cloud and enterprise computing
Be involved with contracts, customers and executives across the table in renewal and sales discussions
Influence others and be a committed, vocal leader across the organization
Define and ensure adherence to company and team processes
Use analytics to shape and drive the team and business
Be comfortable and confident leading and working across geographically dispersed teams
Work from home with global travel up to 20% for company and industry events and customer meetings

This role will suit a dynamic and driven leader with a passion for open-source and a penchant for building world class teams, who prefers to tackle hard problems under pressure without needing to manage a long-term roadmap.

Location: This is a home-based role that can be filled in any timezone.

What we are looking for in you

You are an articulate communicator and want to lead a global business
You love technology and working with brilliant people
You have a solid understanding of three or more of: Ubuntu - kernel or userspace, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Ceph, QEMU/KVM, LXC/LXD, Postgresql, Mongo, deb or snap packaging
You value getting things done the right way
You follow industry trends and new technologies
Experience in leading, coaching and mentoring software developers
Experience with Open Source and Open Source Business Models
Outstanding Linux based software engineering track record
You value soft skills and are passionate, enterprising, thoughtful, and self-motivated
You will bring an exceptional academic track record

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.

#LI-remote

Apply for this Job

* Required

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone

Resume/CV *

Dropbox Google Drive

(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)

When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review

+ Add another education

During this application process I agree to use only my own words. I understand that plagiarism, the use of AI or other generated content will disqualify my application. *

Describe your professional experience with Linux and open source. *

Describe your professional software engineering management experience. *

What has been your greatest span of control (number of people reporting up to you directly and through your reports) and which different functions were represented in that span? *

How did you perform in mathematics at high school? *

How did you perform in your native language at high school? *

Please share your rationale or evidence for the high school performance selections above. Make reference to provincial, state or nation-wide scoring systems, rankings, or recognition awards, or to competitive or selective college entrance results such as SAT or ACT scores, JAMB, matriculation results, IB results etc. We recognise every system is different but we will ask you to justify your selections above. *

What was your bachelor's university degree result, or expected result if you have not yet graduated? Please include the grading system to help us understand your result e.g. ‘85 out of 100’, ‘2:1 (Grading system: first class, 2:1, 2:2, third class)’ or ‘GPA score of 3.8/4.0 (predicted)’. We have hired outstanding individuals who did not attend or complete university. If this describes you, please continue with your application and enter ‘no degree’. *

Universities around the world score degrees in different ways. Please indicate your result, or expected result if you are close to graduation, along with information about the grading system.

We expect all colleagues to meet in person 2-4 times a year, at internal company events lasting between 1-2 weeks. We try to pick new and interesting locations that will likely require international travel and entry requirement visas and vaccinations. Are you willing and able to commit to this? *

Please note that if you require any accommodation for travel that relates to a physical disability please do let us know during your hiring process and we will be happy to discuss your requirements further.

Website

LinkedIn Profile

In which country do you currently work? *

Please select your current location from the dropdown.

Please confirm that you have read and agree to Canonical's Recruitment Privacy Notice and Privacy Policy. *

Recruitment Privacy Notice

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Canonical’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Gender

Are you Hispanic/Latino?

Please identify your race

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran Status

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305

Page 1 of 1

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
Blind or low vision
Cancer (past or present)
Cardiovascular or heart disease
Celiac disease
Cerebral palsy
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
Diabetes
Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
Intellectual or developmental disability
Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
Short stature (dwarfism)
Traumatic brain injury

Disability Status

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Our system has flagged this application as potentially being associated with bot traffic. Please turn off any VPNs, clear your browser cache and cookies, or try submitting your application in a different browser. If this issue persists, please reach out to our support team via our help center.

Please complete the reCAPTCHA above.

Engineering Director, Sustaining Engineering