About Canonical

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, stands at the forefront of open source innovation, powering enterprise initiatives worldwide in public cloud, data science, AI, engineering, and IoT. Our customers include leading public cloud providers, silicon manufacturers, and industry pioneers across sectors. With over 1200 colleagues spanning 75+ countries, Canonical exemplifies global distributed collaboration. Teams convene 2-4 times annually in inspiring global locations to align on strategy and execution. As a founder-led, profitable, and rapidly growing organization, Canonical delivers the world's most trusted open source operating system and enterprise solutions.

Role Overview

The Observability Engineering Manager at Canonical leads the development of cutting-edge distributed tracing and service mesh products within our Observability group. This role focuses on building a Kubernetes-native observability stack that seamlessly integrates metrics, logging, telemetry, alerting, tracing, and profiling. Our opinionated, resilient Kubernetes operators deliver deep insights out-of-the-box, polished user experiences, and lightweight Day 1 and Day 2 operations. Join us to advance the state-of-the-art in open source observability, making these tools integral to modern software practices.

Engineering Managers at Canonical are hands-on coders who architect, review code, set expectations, and foster high-performing teams. This home-based role in the Americas offers the chance to work with the brightest minds in technology on meaningful, impactful projects.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Development

• Manage a distributed team of engineers focused on the observability portfolio
• Organize team processes to achieve ambitious objectives
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings to support growth and performance
• Identify and track team health indicators for continuous improvement

Technical Leadership

• Review code and provide architectural guidance
• Collaborate with product managers and architects on engineering roadmaps
• Champion healthy practices in documentation, quality, and performance optimization

Community & Representation

• Interact with vibrant open source communities
• Attend conferences to represent Canonical and our Observability Stack
• Travel up to 4 times yearly for internal strategy sessions

Qualifications & Requirements

Essential Requirements

• Exceptional academic track record from high school and university
• Proven professional experience in software delivery
• Hands-on software development experience, ideally in open source
• Experience with Linux, preferably Debian or Ubuntu
• Professional-level written and spoken English
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, self-motivation, and result-oriented mindset
• Superior communication and presentation abilities

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Prior experience as an Engineering Manager
• Deep expertise in Kubernetes operators and observability tools

Canonical seeks leaders who embody technical excellence and people management prowess, fluent in their team's tech stack and committed to open source principles.

Benefits & Perks

• Remote-First Culture: Fully home-based in the Americas with global collaboration tools
• Global Travel: 2-4 annual in-person meetings in exciting worldwide locations
• Competitive Compensation: Market-leading salary with performance upside
• Open Source Impact: Contribute to Ubuntu and industry-leading observability solutions
• Professional Development: Grow through mentorship, conferences, and leadership opportunities
• Work-Life Balance: Flexible hours in a supportive, high-trust environment

Career Growth

At Canonical, Engineering Managers advance by scaling teams, driving product innovation, and shaping open source strategy. You'll collaborate with elite engineers, product leaders, and executives, gaining exposure to enterprise cloud, AI, and IoT domains. Our remote-first model and global footprint provide unparalleled networking. High performers progress to senior leadership, influencing Canonical's roadmap and the broader tech ecosystem. Invest in your growth while delivering world-class observability tools on Ubuntu.

Why Join Canonical

Canonical isn't just a company—it's the driving force behind Ubuntu, the most widely deployed Linux distribution in the enterprise. Our remote-first culture eliminates geographical barriers, uniting top talent from 75+ countries. Work on breakthrough technologies shaping public cloud, silicon, and AI. As a profitable, founder-led organization, we prioritize sustainability, innovation, and employee success. Join a team where your code impacts millions, your leadership builds careers, and your passion advances open source observability.

Role FAQs

Is this role fully remote?

Yes, this is a home-based position in the Americas region, with occasional travel for team events.

What tech stack will I work with?

Kubernetes operators, distributed tracing, service mesh, Linux/Ubuntu, and open source observability tools like metrics, logging, and profiling.

Do I need prior management experience?

It's a nice-to-have; strong individual contributor experience with leadership potential is essential.

How does Canonical support open source?

We pioneered enterprise open source with Ubuntu and actively contribute to upstream projects across observability and cloud-native technologies.

What makes Canonical's observability unique?

Our stack offers seamless Kubernetes integration, resilience, scalability, and polished UX for metrics, tracing, alerting, and more—advancing open source standards.