Overview

Senior Software Engineer - packaging - optimize Ubuntu Server. 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 cloud, data science, AI, engineering, and IoT initiatives. Canonical has 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries with many roles remote-first. Our Ubuntu Server Engineering team maintains and packages a wide variety of software including web servers, databases, virtualization and containerization stacks.

Ubuntu Server is a platform that enables technology worldwide and is a leading OS in public clouds. Applicants to this role will contribute to evolving Ubuntu, work with an experienced team, and grow alongside engineers at Canonical.

Responsibilities

• Collaborating proactively within a distributed team
• Fostering a software ecosystem with seamless user experience for all Ubuntu users
• Evaluating contributions of other engineers to maintain high-quality software standards
• Shaping the future of Ubuntu via new ideas in your areas of interest and advising on related work
• Collaborating with other teams in the Ubuntu and Debian communities, with upstream projects, and commercially supported customers
• Owning the maintenance of Ubuntu Server packages, including but not limited to:
  • Traditional server workloads (web servers, databases, network services, etc)
  • Virtualisation and Containers
  • Package management and dependencies
  • Language runtimes and toolchains
• Work from home with global travel 2 to 4 weeks for internal and external events

What we are looking for in you

• You love technology and working with brilliant people
• You are curious, flexible, articulate, and accountable
• You value soft skills and are passionate, enterprising, thoughtful, and self-motivated
• Interest or experience in open source maintenance or contributions
• Able to replay complex workloads and systems. Able to write detailed test plans and reproducibility steps.
• Feel comfortable contributing and debugging many languages such as C/C++, Python, Rust, Go, Ruby, PHP
• Experience in packaging in one or more ecosystems (e.g., language-specific systems or distro package formats such as deb, rpm, NixOS, etc.)
• Experience using and creating containers and virtual machines
• You have a Bachelor’s or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM or similar degree (or any higher) or equivalent professional experience (5+ years)

What we offer colleagues

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually and offer a performance-driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits reflecting our values and ideals, balancing programs to meet local needs 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 behind Ubuntu, we publish one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and cloud initiatives. We recruit on a global basis and maintain remote-first operations. Canonical has been remote-first since its inception in 2004, and we encourage thinking differently, learning new skills, and raising your game.

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.