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Ubuntu Package Management - Engineering Manager

Remote, Home based - Worldwide·Full-time·Added 7 months ago (last checked 6 Nov)

Canonical

236 open roles

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Our summary

Work mode
Remote (Home based - Worldwide)
Contract
Full-time
English
Required
Education
University degree

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Skills

Requirements

Nice to have

  • Familiarity with package repositories, archives, or release engineering processes
  • Experience contributing to Debian, Ubuntu, or other open source infrastructure projects
  • Performance, reliability, or security engineering experience

We know that strong candidates may not meet every qualification. If you are excited by this role and our mission, we encourage you to apply.

Pay & benefits

What you'll get

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 recognize 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

The role

We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager to lead the Ubuntu Foundations Package Management team.

This is a technical leadership role combining people management with active engineering involvement. You will lead a team of experienced engineers responsible for the package management and system lifecycle technologies that underpin Ubuntu. Working closely with stakeholders across Ubuntu Engineering, you will define technical direction, grow engineering talent, build strong cross-team partnerships, and ensure the continued evolution of Ubuntu's software, driver, firmware, and upgrade experience.

You will report to the Ubuntu Foundations Engineering director and collaborate closely with other Ubuntu Engineering teams, including Desktop, Server, Security, Release Engineering, Launchpad, Debcrafters, OEM, and Product.

What you'll do

  • Lead and support a team of engineers responsible for key Ubuntu platform technologies.
  • Mentor and grow engineers, helping them expand their technical leadership, ownership, and organizational impact
  • Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement

The Role

Our Ubuntu Engineering teams build the operating system platform used by millions of developers, enterprises, device makers, cloud providers, and open source communities worldwide.

About the team

Location: We have remote roles open in every time zone.

Technical Leadership

  • Define the technical vision and roadmap for Ubuntu's package management and system lifecycle platform
  • Participate in design reviews and key technical decisions affecting software management and system lifecycle technologies across the Ubuntu ecosystem
  • Promote high standards for performance, reliability, security, and maintainability

Delivery and Engineering Excellence

  • Plan and deliver improvements across multiple Ubuntu release cycles
  • Balance innovation with stability, compatibility, and long-term maintainability
  • Improve test automation, release quality, and operational reliability

Collaboration and Community

  • Build strong partnerships across Ubuntu Engineering, including Release Engineering, Launchpad, Desktop, Server, Security, OEM, and Product teams
  • Collaborate with Debian, upstream projects, and the Ubuntu open source community

Required

  • 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
  • Strong background in software engineering and system design
  • Experience leading engineering teams, including people management, coaching, and performance development
  • Experience developing or operating Linux distribution technologies, package management systems, or software distribution infrastructure
  • Strong understanding of systems software and operating system architecture
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to work effectively in a globally distributed engineering team
  • Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

First 3 Months

  • Build strong relationships with the team and stakeholders across Ubuntu Engineering
  • Gain a deep understanding of Ubuntu package management, update flows, archive interactions, and release processes
  • Identify key improvement opportunities in reliability, test coverage, engineering processes, and product quality

First 6 to 12 Months

  • Establish strong partnerships with stakeholders across Ubuntu Engineering, including Release Engineering, Launchpad, Desktop, Server, Security, OEM, and Product
  • Grow the team and raise the overall level of engineering excellence, ownership, and technical leadership
  • Improve roadmap clarity, planning, and execution across the team's portfolio
  • Deliver meaningful improvements to Ubuntu's package management and system lifecycle platform

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.

Hiring process

6 steps5 interviewsa task to doabout 3 months in all

  1. Application

  2. Written interview

    In your own time

    A written submission tailored to the role presenting your academic and professional accomplishments; you choose format and length, and two domain experts grade it.

  3. Psychometric assessment (GIA)

    Online test · 30–45 min

    A cognitive-ability test measuring aptitude, problem solving and speed of learning, required for all applicants.

  4. Technical assessment

    Not every role

    A domain-specific assessment for some roles, graded by domain experts and discussed in later interviews.

  5. Early stage interviews

    With future colleagues and stakeholders · 3 sessions

    Three interviews with future colleagues and stakeholders focused on technical and domain skills.

  6. Talent interview

    With Talent Science team

    Interview with the Talent Science team including a 10-minute Personality Profile Analysis; compensation is first discussed here.

  7. Late stage interviews

    With potential manager, Hiring Lead and senior stakeholders

    Meet your potential manager, the Hiring Lead and senior stakeholders; management and leadership candidates also meet the CEO.

  8. Offer and onboarding · With a Hiring Lead

  • After application review you get a personal dashboard showing your assessment and interview plan.
  • The written interview is submitted anonymously to reduce bias early on.
  • You may apply to a single job once, or to four different jobs, in any 180-day period.

About Canonical

Canonical is the publisher of Ubuntu, the world's most widely used open-source operating system for cloud, IoT, and enterprise environments. Founded in 2004, the company is a global leader in open-source software, providing secure, supported Ubuntu solutions to enterprises, developers, and device manufacturers. With a distributed workforce spanning over 80 countries, Canonical drives innovation in areas like AI, edge computing, and cloud-native technologies, making it a key player in the open-source ecosystem.

Canonical has a strong presence in Spain, with a significant number of open roles across engineering, product, marketing, and sales. The company is known for its fully remote-first culture, allowing employees to work from anywhere, including Spain. For international professionals, Canonical offers a unique opportunity to contribute to world-class open-source projects, collaborate with a global team, and enjoy flexible work arrangements. The company values autonomy, excellence, and a passion for open-source, making it an attractive employer for those seeking a dynamic, remote-friendly environment.

Industry
Cloud/Ubuntu
Founded
2004
Employees
1,000–5,000
Headquarters
London, UK

Good to know if you are moving

  • Canonical is a remote-first company, allowing employees to work from anywhere, including Spain, with no requirement to relocate to a central office.
  • The company offers a diverse, international work environment with colleagues from over 80 countries, providing a global perspective.
  • Canonical is a major contributor to open-source projects, offering opportunities to work on widely-used technologies like Ubuntu, Kubernetes, and OpenStack.
  • Employees often receive a competitive salary and benefits, including home office setup allowances and professional development opportunities.
  • The company values autonomy and self-motivation, making it ideal for professionals who thrive in a flexible, results-driven culture.

In their own words

About the company & team

The Ubuntu Foundations Package Management team, as part of the broader Ubuntu Foundations organisation, develops and maintains the software management infrastructure that underpins every Ubuntu system.

The team owns technologies at the heart of Ubuntu's software, driver, firmware, and upgrade experience, including APT, dpkg, firmware management, and driver management.

Its mission is to provide the technologies that enable Ubuntu systems to be installed, maintained, updated, upgraded, and managed throughout their lifecycle. The team balances innovation with the stability and reliability expected from one of the world's most widely used Linux distributions.

The team works across the full engineering lifecycle, from roadmap definition and architecture through implementation, testing, release engineering, and upstream collaboration, ensuring the continued evolution of the technologies that manage software, drivers, firmware, and upgrades across Ubuntu systems.

Additional information

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.

All open roles at Canonical

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