About Canonical

Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu, the world's leading open source operating system powering enterprise innovation worldwide. As a pioneer in open source software, Canonical delivers Ubuntu to global markets including public cloud, data science, AI, engineering, and IoT. Our customers span the top public cloud providers, silicon manufacturers, and industry leaders across sectors. With over 1200 colleagues in more than 75 countries, Canonical embodies a remote-first culture, minimizing office-based roles and fostering global distributed collaboration. Teams align through 2-4 annual in-person meetings in exciting global locations, ensuring strategy and execution stay synchronized. Founder-led and profitable, Canonical continues to grow while advancing open source accessibility.

Role Overview

The Senior Design Manager (Infrastructure) role at Canonical is a leadership position within our Design function, focused on elevating the user experience of software and infrastructure tools. This home-based position in the EMEA region empowers you to lead the Infrastructure Design team, shaping products for cloud experiences, software distribution, and secure packaging delivery. Combining design team management with deep technical expertise, you'll coach designers on tools for developers and cloud engineers, drive cross-functional outcomes, manage roadmaps, and ensure timely delivery. This role demands clear communication with product, engineering stakeholders, and your team to foster sustainable quality improvements and individual growth in an open source environment.

Why This Role Matters

In this position, you'll directly contribute to Canonical's mission of making open source software available to the world. By leading infrastructure design, you'll enhance security, efficiency, and usability in Ubuntu's ecosystem, impacting enterprises relying on our platforms for mission-critical operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Review the work of your design team to ensure outstanding quality in UX for technical products.
• Work one-on-one with designers to support their professional development and skill enhancement.
• Continuously refine operational workflows, including production outsourcing and collaboration with Web Engineering.
• Partner with stakeholders, particularly Engineering, to define, validate, and achieve clear outcomes.
• Evolve design systems and guidelines to promote consistency, quality, and efficiency across projects.
• Coordinate with broader design leadership to mature Canonical's collective design practice.
• Bring teams together for knowledge sharing, strengthening culture and collaboration.
• Engage the open source community to learn from users and demonstrate the impact of design work.

Qualifications & Requirements

To succeed as Senior Design Manager (Infrastructure) at Canonical, candidates must demonstrate:

• A compelling portfolio showcasing exceptional UX design quality and technical savviness.
• Exceptional educational background in design or a related behavioral science discipline.
• Proven full lifecycle experience, from user needs discovery through validation and implementation guidance.
• Strong commitment to transparent project delivery, owning team deadlines, and roadmap execution.
• Experience managing design teams that interface with technical stakeholders like engineers and developers.
• Familiarity with quantitative optimization methods to measure and improve design impact.
• A passion for balancing design consistency with innovative approaches.
• Willingness to travel up to 4 times per year for internal team events.

Technical Focus

Expertise in deeply technical domains is essential, enabling you to guide designers in creating effective tools for cloud engineers and developers within Ubuntu's infrastructure.

Benefits & Perks

Canonical offers a premium compensation package tailored to your experience, skills, and EMEA location. Key benefits include:

• Fully remote work from anywhere in EMEA, supporting work-life balance.
• Competitive base salary with potential for additional incentives based on role eligibility.
• Opportunities to work on cutting-edge open source projects with global impact.
• Annual in-person gatherings in inspiring locations to build connections.
• Access to a collaborative, diverse team across 75+ countries.
• Comprehensive support for professional development and career progression.

Career Growth

At Canonical, career advancement is driven by impact and expertise. As a Senior Design Manager, you'll have visibility into executive leadership, opportunities to influence design strategy across Ubuntu, and paths to higher design leadership or cross-functional roles. Our commitment to individual growth includes coaching, skill-building, and exposure to enterprise-scale challenges in open source, cloud, AI, and IoT. Join a company where your leadership directly shapes the future of technology.

Why Join Canonical

Canonical stands out for its remote-first ethos, profitability, and focus on open source innovation. Work on Ubuntu, the backbone of modern cloud and edge computing, alongside top talent worldwide. Our distributed model eliminates commutes, offering flexibility while maintaining high performance through structured collaboration. Be part of a founder-led organization that's growing and pioneering global teamwork. This role offers not just a job, but a platform to lead design in transformative technologies.

Role FAQs

Is this role fully remote?

Yes, this is a home-based role anywhere in the EMEA region, with occasional travel for team events.

What salary can I expect?

Base pay varies by location, experience, and skills; estimated €95,000-€140,000 annually in EMEA tech markets.

Do I need prior open source experience?

While not required, passion for open source and community engagement is highly valued.

How does Canonical support design teams?

We invest in tools, processes, outsourcing, and leadership coordination to enable high-impact work.

What is the team structure?

You'll lead the Infrastructure Design team, collaborating with engineering, product, and global design peers.