Engineering Manager

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.

This is a general track for first-level engineering management positions at Canonical.

We believe that open source is just starting to transform the tech sector and enterprise compute. Our goal is to make open source easier, more reliable, and more secure for deployment and development. We strive to be the provider of ‘most software to most companies’. To deliver on that ambition, our engineers are carefully selected from the applicants across the globe. We select for brilliance and motivation to take open source to the next level. Our engineering managers help teams achieve more than they realised they could, and feel proud of the result.

We believe that Engineering Managers should be outstanding developers themselves. They should be completely at home reviewing a patch or a software design spec. They are trusted engineers who understand the importance of a whole-team effort in creating great products and who enjoy seeing colleagues develop. They should contribute code themselves to set the standard for coding, but know that the code they write is far less significant than their ability to shape the whole team’s direction, focus, and delivery. We grow management skills and train engineers who are interested in soft skills to be managers.

A typical first-level software engineering team is based in a single time zone, such as EMEA or Americas, or APAC, with an Engineering Manager and a Senior Engineer dedicated to a single product, who work as a team to shape the roadmap, technical strategy, code, documentation, and community engagement. They are both capable of coding, and are both leaders comfortable assigning work and maintaining expectations of delivery. They will both be expected to take management training at Canonical so they speak the same language when it comes to team behaviours, habits, routines, norms, and standards, but they focus on different sides of the problem.

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.

We have open manager roles across a wide range of engineering domains, including: 

• Python and Golang
• C / C++ / Rust
• Data infrastructure
• HTML / CSS / JavaScript / Typescript / React
• Flutter
• Distro packaging and systems
• SAAS and web microservices
• Kernel
• Servers
• Graphics, Browser and Desktop
• Silicon enablement and embedded devices
• Product Security

If your domain of expertise isn’t listed above, yet you feel it’s relevant to Canonical, then feel free to apply anyway. We will route you to the most suitable team.

Location: we have engineering management positions open in every time zone

What you’ll do

• Lead and develop a team of engineers, ranging from graduate to senior
• Work remotely in a single major time zone, sometimes two
• Coach, mentor, and offer career development feedback
• Identify and measure team health indicators
• Implement disciplined engineering processes
• Represent your team and product to stakeholders, partners, and customers 
• Develop and evangelise great engineering and organisational practices
• Plan and manage progress on agreed goals and projects
• Be an active part of the leadership team, collaborating with other leaders

What we’re 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
• Drive and a track record of going above and beyond expectations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• A love of developing and growing people and a track record of it
• Experience in leading, coaching, and mentoring software developers
• Organised and able to ensure your team delivers timely, high-quality results
• Well-organised, self-starting, and able to deliver to schedule
• Professional manner of interacting with colleagues, partners, and the community
• You have advanced expertise in your domain 
• You are knowledgeable and passionate about software development 
• You have solid experience working in an agile development environment
• You have a demonstrated drive for continual learning
• Builds trust, relationships, and confidence
• Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments 
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

Additional skills we value

• Experience in a developer advocacy or community role
• Ops and system administration experience
• Performance engineering and security experience

What we offer colleagues

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 of software. 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. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since our 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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