Canonical
Overview
Join to apply for the
Chief Revenue Officer
role at
Canonical . 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 enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. Our customers include leading public cloud and silicon providers and industry leaders across sectors. The company is founder-led, profitable and growing, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and a distributed model; most roles are not located in a single office. We are hiring a
Chief Revenue Officer
to lead our enterprise sales, sales development, partner, channel, alliance, customer success and field engineering teams. This role reports to the CEO and collaborates with Canonical’s senior leaders to drive sustainable growth. It is program-, process- and metric-oriented, requiring leadership, rigor and insight into the global dynamics of enterprise software selection and procurement. It is not solely a sales position but a role that combines strategic planning with operational execution. We are seeking a leader who is insightful and passionate about the impact of open source in the world. Across compute categories from microcontrollers to GPUs, open source is growing in share and reputation. Our mission is to deliver the majority of open source software globally, efficiently and at low cost, while accelerating progress and preserving fair competition in silicon and cloud. We work with silicon and cloud providers to maximize performance and align with differentiated offerings, and we aim to earn trust with customers for the broadest open source software and best infrastructure and compute capabilities. As Chief Revenue Officer you will be accountable for:
Go-to-market strategy — prioritize sectors and markets, identify organizational gaps and lead hiring to close them
Planning — challenge teams to develop ambitious but sustainable execution plans and metrics with cascading goals
Execution — review data and adjust course on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis
Sponsorship — support leaders to close large ($10M+ ARR) deals with Global 10K enterprises and large, complex partners
Insight — capture and share patterns and insights from customers and partners to broaden commercial awareness
Staffing — supervise Canonical recruitment, selection and onboarding processes for your organization
Productivity — design and lead career and skills development with continuous improvement
Culture — foster transparent communication, accountability and the work ethic needed for success
Inspirational leadership — demonstrate and cultivate passion for Canonical’s mission, customers and the market
The successful candidate will lead our revenue organization, including:
Direct enterprise sales
— The VP Enterprise Sales will report to the CRO and will set expectations, hire sales leaders, plan by region/sector/product, ensure accurate reporting, review progress and lead for high-quality customer engagement
Alliances, channels and partnerships
— The VP Alliances will report to the CRO; responsibilities include ISVs, IHV partners, silicon providers, cloud partners and customers, and VAR/GSI/distribution partnerships
Sector go-to-market
— CRO will shape sector strategy and execution; focus areas include telco, finance, automotive, energy, retail and health
Field engineering
— VP Field Engineering reports to the CRO; engineers are expert implementers delivering customer adoption
Customer success
— Head of Customer Success reports to the CRO; building processes and relationships as the portfolio expands
Revenue operations
— Head of Revenue Operations reports to COO or CRO; includes pipeline reporting, contracting standards, commercial variances and incentive design
Required experience
University degree, preferably in CS or STEM with additional business disciplines
Progressive operational and leadership experience in high-growth, recurring-revenue, global technology firms
Experience leading a sales, partnership or field engineering organization to maturity and world-class performance
Experience and deep insights into the enterprise software and infrastructure markets
Additional Skills And Experience We Value
Software engineering and architecture experience or related skills
Software industry insights on trends, strategy and competition
Insight into open source history, dynamics, strategy and competition
What we offer you
Distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints
Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
Annual compensation review and a performance-driven annual bonus
Additional benefits aligned with our values
Global fairness in compensation and local adaptation
Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience and background is valued, and every applicant will be given fair consideration.
Seniority level Executive Employment type Full-time Job function Marketing and Sales Industries Software Development
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Join to apply for the
Chief Revenue Officer
role at
Canonical . 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 enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. Our customers include leading public cloud and silicon providers and industry leaders across sectors. The company is founder-led, profitable and growing, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and a distributed model; most roles are not located in a single office. We are hiring a
Chief Revenue Officer
to lead our enterprise sales, sales development, partner, channel, alliance, customer success and field engineering teams. This role reports to the CEO and collaborates with Canonical’s senior leaders to drive sustainable growth. It is program-, process- and metric-oriented, requiring leadership, rigor and insight into the global dynamics of enterprise software selection and procurement. It is not solely a sales position but a role that combines strategic planning with operational execution. We are seeking a leader who is insightful and passionate about the impact of open source in the world. Across compute categories from microcontrollers to GPUs, open source is growing in share and reputation. Our mission is to deliver the majority of open source software globally, efficiently and at low cost, while accelerating progress and preserving fair competition in silicon and cloud. We work with silicon and cloud providers to maximize performance and align with differentiated offerings, and we aim to earn trust with customers for the broadest open source software and best infrastructure and compute capabilities. As Chief Revenue Officer you will be accountable for:
Go-to-market strategy — prioritize sectors and markets, identify organizational gaps and lead hiring to close them
Planning — challenge teams to develop ambitious but sustainable execution plans and metrics with cascading goals
Execution — review data and adjust course on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis
Sponsorship — support leaders to close large ($10M+ ARR) deals with Global 10K enterprises and large, complex partners
Insight — capture and share patterns and insights from customers and partners to broaden commercial awareness
Staffing — supervise Canonical recruitment, selection and onboarding processes for your organization
Productivity — design and lead career and skills development with continuous improvement
Culture — foster transparent communication, accountability and the work ethic needed for success
Inspirational leadership — demonstrate and cultivate passion for Canonical’s mission, customers and the market
The successful candidate will lead our revenue organization, including:
Direct enterprise sales
— The VP Enterprise Sales will report to the CRO and will set expectations, hire sales leaders, plan by region/sector/product, ensure accurate reporting, review progress and lead for high-quality customer engagement
Alliances, channels and partnerships
— The VP Alliances will report to the CRO; responsibilities include ISVs, IHV partners, silicon providers, cloud partners and customers, and VAR/GSI/distribution partnerships
Sector go-to-market
— CRO will shape sector strategy and execution; focus areas include telco, finance, automotive, energy, retail and health
Field engineering
— VP Field Engineering reports to the CRO; engineers are expert implementers delivering customer adoption
Customer success
— Head of Customer Success reports to the CRO; building processes and relationships as the portfolio expands
Revenue operations
— Head of Revenue Operations reports to COO or CRO; includes pipeline reporting, contracting standards, commercial variances and incentive design
Required experience
University degree, preferably in CS or STEM with additional business disciplines
Progressive operational and leadership experience in high-growth, recurring-revenue, global technology firms
Experience leading a sales, partnership or field engineering organization to maturity and world-class performance
Experience and deep insights into the enterprise software and infrastructure markets
Additional Skills And Experience We Value
Software engineering and architecture experience or related skills
Software industry insights on trends, strategy and competition
Insight into open source history, dynamics, strategy and competition
What we offer you
Distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints
Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
Annual compensation review and a performance-driven annual bonus
Additional benefits aligned with our values
Global fairness in compensation and local adaptation
Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience and background is valued, and every applicant will be given fair consideration.
Seniority level Executive Employment type Full-time Job function Marketing and Sales Industries Software Development
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