Remote opportunity at
CanonicalSoftware Engineering Director
Canonical seeks a Software Engineering Director to lead multiple teams spanning time zones, manage engineering managers and staff engineers, and drive open source software initiatives. Canonical…
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About This Role
Canonical seeks a Software Engineering Director to lead multiple teams spanning time zones, manage engineering managers and staff engineers, and drive open source software initiatives. Canonical publishes Ubuntu and operates as a remote-first enterprise. Candidates who pass the initial interview round will discuss specific software products aligned with their expertise. The position requires leading developer teams from graduate to senior levels, establishing engineering processes, setting benchmarks, and managing delivery. Directors…
Job Description
Canonical seeks a Software Engineering Director to lead multiple teams spanning time zones, manage engineering managers and staff engineers, and drive open source software initiatives. Canonical publishes Ubuntu and operates as a remote-first enterprise. Candidates who pass the initial interview round will discuss specific software products aligned with their expertise.
The position requires leading developer teams from graduate to senior levels, establishing engineering processes, setting benchmarks, and managing delivery. Directors are expected to act as hands-on developers who lead by example across diverse engineering domains such as Python, Golang, C, C++, Rust, data infrastructure, web technologies, kernel development, and security.
This role offers a distributed work environment with mandatory international travel twice per year for company events lasting up to two weeks each. Canonical evaluates compensation based on location, experience, and performance, with annual reviews and a performance-driven bonus.
Responsibilities
- Lead multiple engineering teams ranging from graduate to senior levels
- Develop engineering managers and maintain company culture
- Hire staff-level engineers for performance and quality roles
- Coach, mentor, and provide career development feedback
- Monitor indicators of team health, productivity, speed, and efficiency
- Ensure complete delivery including documentation and community participation
- Implement and enforce disciplined engineering processes
- Represent products to stakeholders, partners, and customers
- Collaborate with other organizational leaders and dependent product leads
Requirements
- Extensive management experience with the ability to set high expectations
- Strong Linux-based software engineering background
- Advanced expertise in a relevant engineering domain
- Strong verbal and written English communication skills
- Public speaking and presentation abilities
- Experience leading, coaching, and mentoring software developers
- Familiarity with agile development environments
- Capacity to travel internationally twice a year for up to two weeks per trip
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or a STEM field, or an equivalent alternative path
- Exceptional academic record from high school and university
- Experience in developer advocacy or community roles
- Open source community leadership experience
- Operations and system administration background
- Performance engineering and security experience
Core Skills
Benefits
- Annual compensation reviews
- Performance-driven annual bonus
- Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
- Recognition rewards
- Annual holiday leave
- Maternity and paternity leave
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Is this position remote?
Yes, the role is remote with positions available in all time zones, though it requires global travel twice per year for trips up to two weeks long.
What is the employment type?
The posting specifies a full-time employment status.
What salary does this position offer?
The specific salary is not stated in the job posting, though compensation considers geographical location, experience, and performance worldwide, and includes a performance-driven annual bonus.
What qualifications are expected for this role?
Candidates need an undergraduate degree in Computer Science or a STEM field (or a compelling alternative path), an exceptional academic track record, and extensive management experience.
Sample Interview Questions
AI-generated questions tailored to this specific role — a preview of the full practice set.