About Canonical

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems, powering global enterprise and technology markets with its flagship platform, Ubuntu. Ubuntu drives breakthrough initiatives in public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. The company serves the world's top public cloud and silicon providers, alongside industry leaders across sectors. As a pioneer in global distributed collaboration, Canonical employs over 1200 colleagues across 75+ countries, with minimal office-based roles. Teams align on strategy and execution during 2-4 yearly in-person meetings in captivating global locations. Founder-led, profitable, and rapidly growing, Canonical champions open source innovation.

Role Overview

Canonical seeks a Software Engineering Manager (Backend SaaS) to spearhead the reboot of Landscape, its systems management solution for Ubuntu. As Ubuntu surges in enterprise adoption—from cloud and bare metal servers to vSphere clusters, desktops, and devices—organizations demand robust tools for policy compliance, patch management, and access control across expansive estates. Landscape, serving thousands of deployments, now receives a significant investment for a fresh vision. This role provides critical engineering leadership, blending technical depth with team management to elevate SaaS and on-prem solutions. Current stack includes Python, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, HAProxy, and ReactJS frontend, with opportunities to integrate more Golang. The goal: empower enterprises to manage global Ubuntu estates intuitively amid diverse versions, substrates, and flavors. This home-based role in the Americas offers a chance to shape high-scale systems management at a premium open source firm.

Key Responsibilities

In this leadership position, you will build and guide a regional engineering team, fostering talent via coaching, mentoring, feedback, and hands-on career growth. Demonstrate engineering excellence by contributing directly to goals, upholding principles in code reviews, architecture, documentation, quality, and performance. Set expectations with engineering teams, management, and stakeholders while leading agile practices. Cultivate a collaborative culture aligned with Canonical values. As part of the leadership cadre, collaborate organization-wide and with the open source community. Key technical duties include building automated, reliable pipelines for image delivery, testing, and publication, ensuring Landscape's next wave raises the bar on technologies, architectures, patterns, and operations.

Qualifications & Requirements

Success demands technical prowess and management acumen. Prerequisites include technical leadership experience and a software engineering background. Fluency in Python and Golang is essential, alongside familiarity with team-specific languages, architectures, and components. You must lead, challenge, and develop strong engineers, influence culture, facilitate delivery, and strategize execution. Engineering managers commit to healthy practices, fair management, and high-performing teams. Work closely with product managers to craft ambitious, achievable roadmaps, providing updates on progress and improvements. Experience in SaaS, backend systems, and enterprise-scale management is ideal for this reboot mission.

What We're Looking For

• Proven track record growing engineering teams
• Hands-on coding and architectural contributions
• Expertise in distributed systems and modern web tech
• Passion for open source and Ubuntu ecosystem

Benefits & Perks

Join Canonical for unparalleled perks in a remote-first environment. Enjoy full flexibility working from home anywhere in the Americas, backed by a global team culture. Participate in inspiring offsites 2-4 times annually in diverse locations. Benefit from a profitable, founder-led company investing heavily in growth. Shape enterprise tools impacting millions of Ubuntu deployments. Access comprehensive professional development, fostering technical and leadership skills. Engage with cutting-edge projects in cloud, AI, and IoT, collaborating with top talent worldwide.

Career Growth

Canonical prioritizes colleague development. As manager, actively coach your team toward engineering excellence, personal satisfaction, and seamless collaboration. Gain exposure across engineering, product, and business units. Influence strategy in a high-impact reboot project. Leverage Canonical's distributed model for broad networks and mentorship. Advance in a meritocratic culture valuing open source contributions, with pathways to senior leadership.

Why Join Canonical

Canonical stands at open source's forefront, with Ubuntu as the enterprise Linux gold standard. This role lets you lead Landscape's evolution, addressing real enterprise challenges in compliance and management. Thrive in a remote-first, global powerhouse—profitable, innovative, and collaborative. Contribute to technologies shaping cloud, AI, and beyond. With minimal hierarchy and maximum autonomy, drive meaningful impact while growing professionally in an exciting, values-driven organization.

Role FAQs

Is this a fully remote position?

Yes, home-based anywhere in the Americas, with occasional global in-person meetings.

What tech stack will I work with?

Python, Golang, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, HAProxy, ReactJS, evolving toward modern SaaS architectures.

Do I need prior Canonical or Ubuntu experience?

No, but passion for open source and enterprise systems management is key.

How large is the team I'll manage?

You'll build and grow a regional team of engineers focused on Landscape.

What is the focus of the Landscape reboot?

Enhancing policy, compliance, and intuitive global estate management for Ubuntu deployments.