Canonical
Software Engineering Manager (Backend SaaS)
4 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants
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 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 an engineering manager to lead the reboot of our Landscape systems‑management solution for Ubuntu. Ubuntu is growing rapidly in the enterprise, with estates expanding from cloud, to bare‑metal servers, to vSphere clusters, and of course desktops and devices. While Ubuntu is easy to deploy and configure node‑by‑node, it is difficult to know where you stand on policy and compliance, patch management, or access control across a large estate. The new Landscape platform will provide a high‑quality way for enterprises to manage their Ubuntu estate, giving them visibility across mixed Ubuntu versions, substrates, and flavours.
We started work on Landscape many years ago, and the current generation of the service reflects the choices of the day. We now have the opportunity to invest significantly in a team to bring a fresh new vision for large‑scale Ubuntu estate management to the project. That is not a greenfield opportunity – we have a system that serves thousands of deployments – but we want to step back, simplify, and embrace new priorities. This role is the critical engineering leadership role for that mission.
Today we use Python, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, HAProxy, and a ReactJS front end. In other web‑services projects we use more Golang. Our next wave of Landscape engineering is an opportunity to raise the bar on SaaS and on‑prem solution technologies, architectures, patterns, and operations. Our goal is to make it easy for enterprises to own a few Landscape instances that serve their global estate, and to apply policy and understand their status globally.
Engineering managers at Canonical bring both technical and management skills to the leadership of their teams. You will work closely with product managers, produce an engineering roadmap with ambitious and achievable goals, grow a team of engineers, collaborate with other engineering and business teams, and provide periodic updates about successes and areas of improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Build and lead a team of engineers in your region
Develop talent through coaching, mentoring, feedback, and hands‑on career development
Demonstrate sound engineering principles and directly contribute toward your team's goals
Set and manage expectations with other engineering teams, management, and external stakeholders
Lead modern, agile software development practices
Ensure a healthy, collaborative engineering culture in line with the company values
Be an active part of the leadership team and collaborate with other leaders in the organization
Build automated, highly reliable image delivery, testing, and publication pipelines
Engage with many other teams at Canonical, as well as the open‑source community and commercial partners
Work from home with global travel 4‑6 weeks per year for internal and external events
Valued Skills and Experience
You love to mentor, develop and grow people, and have a track record of doing it
You are knowledgeable and passionate about software development
You are focused on success and the delivery of timely, high‑quality software
You have experience and commitment to agile development methodologies
You have a Bachelor's or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM, or a similar degree
Software development experience in Python or Golang
Effective written and verbal communication skills
Practical experience with Linux system administration
What We Offer
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
Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
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.
Equal Opportunity Employer Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background creates a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.
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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 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 an engineering manager to lead the reboot of our Landscape systems‑management solution for Ubuntu. Ubuntu is growing rapidly in the enterprise, with estates expanding from cloud, to bare‑metal servers, to vSphere clusters, and of course desktops and devices. While Ubuntu is easy to deploy and configure node‑by‑node, it is difficult to know where you stand on policy and compliance, patch management, or access control across a large estate. The new Landscape platform will provide a high‑quality way for enterprises to manage their Ubuntu estate, giving them visibility across mixed Ubuntu versions, substrates, and flavours.
We started work on Landscape many years ago, and the current generation of the service reflects the choices of the day. We now have the opportunity to invest significantly in a team to bring a fresh new vision for large‑scale Ubuntu estate management to the project. That is not a greenfield opportunity – we have a system that serves thousands of deployments – but we want to step back, simplify, and embrace new priorities. This role is the critical engineering leadership role for that mission.
Today we use Python, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, HAProxy, and a ReactJS front end. In other web‑services projects we use more Golang. Our next wave of Landscape engineering is an opportunity to raise the bar on SaaS and on‑prem solution technologies, architectures, patterns, and operations. Our goal is to make it easy for enterprises to own a few Landscape instances that serve their global estate, and to apply policy and understand their status globally.
Engineering managers at Canonical bring both technical and management skills to the leadership of their teams. You will work closely with product managers, produce an engineering roadmap with ambitious and achievable goals, grow a team of engineers, collaborate with other engineering and business teams, and provide periodic updates about successes and areas of improvement.
Key Responsibilities
Build and lead a team of engineers in your region
Develop talent through coaching, mentoring, feedback, and hands‑on career development
Demonstrate sound engineering principles and directly contribute toward your team's goals
Set and manage expectations with other engineering teams, management, and external stakeholders
Lead modern, agile software development practices
Ensure a healthy, collaborative engineering culture in line with the company values
Be an active part of the leadership team and collaborate with other leaders in the organization
Build automated, highly reliable image delivery, testing, and publication pipelines
Engage with many other teams at Canonical, as well as the open‑source community and commercial partners
Work from home with global travel 4‑6 weeks per year for internal and external events
Valued Skills and Experience
You love to mentor, develop and grow people, and have a track record of doing it
You are knowledgeable and passionate about software development
You are focused on success and the delivery of timely, high‑quality software
You have experience and commitment to agile development methodologies
You have a Bachelor's or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM, or a similar degree
Software development experience in Python or Golang
Effective written and verbal communication skills
Practical experience with Linux system administration
What We Offer
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
Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
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.
Equal Opportunity Employer Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background creates a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.
#J-18808-Ljbffr