About Canonical

Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu, the world's leading open source operating system powering enterprise innovation in public cloud, data science, AI, engineering, and IoT. As a pioneer in global distributed collaboration, Canonical employs over 1200 colleagues across 75+ countries with very few office-based roles. Teams align on strategy through in-person meetings two to four times yearly in exciting global locations. Founder-led and profitable, Canonical serves top public cloud providers, silicon leaders, and industry giants, shaping the future of open source software.

Role Overview

This Staff Design Engineer - Cloud Networking UX position offers a chance to define the user experience for cloud networking at Canonical. Reporting to the Infrastructure Design Manager, you'll make complex networking intuitive for developers and operations teams. Focus areas include MAAS, MicroCloud, and Ubuntu Server networking, tackling network topologies, configurations, and scalable infrastructure management. This remote EMEA role drives company-wide impact through exceptional design leadership in a remote-first environment.

Key Responsibilities

Drive UX Strategy

Define and lead UX strategy across Canonical's cloud networking portfolio, ensuring seamless experiences from visualization to observability.

Design Complex Interfaces

Create intuitive designs for VPCs, subnets, routing tables, security groups, load balancers, and network troubleshooting tools, supporting both GUI and CLI users.

User Research & Prototyping

Conduct research with DevOps engineers, SREs, network admins, and cloud architects. Build high-fidelity prototypes using Figma to validate workflows and pain points.

Scale Design Systems

Evolve design systems and patterns for multi-product scalability, enhancing information architecture for complex systems.

Lead & Mentor

Mentor designers, contribute to design culture, and own a working group to advance Canonical's horizontal design efforts.

Qualifications & Requirements

Canonical seeks candidates with an exceptional academic track record from high school and university, plus a Bachelor’s or equivalent in User Experience, Design, STEM, or a compelling alternative path. Require 8+ years in product, UX, or interaction design with a strong B2B/enterprise portfolio. Essential: solid cloud computing and networking fundamentals, experience with developer/operations workflows, strong information architecture, user research expertise, and excellent communication for technical and non-technical audiences. Must be self-motivated for remote work, passionate about UX-technology intersection, committed to learning, result-oriented, and able to travel internationally twice yearly for up to two weeks.

Benefits & Perks

Canonical offers competitive base pay based on location, experience, and skills, with equity across its global workforce. Additional rewards may include annual bonuses and incentives. All team members enjoy fully remote working—pioneered since 2004—personal learning and development budgets, and benefits tailored to location. Collaborate in a distributed, remote-first culture with global all-hands and strategic offsites.

Career Growth

At Canonical, career progression is driven by impact and ownership. As a Staff Design Engineer, you'll shape product direction, mentor peers, and lead initiatives with visibility to executive leadership. Continuous learning is core: access resources for skill-building in UX, cloud tech, and design leadership. The company's growth trajectory offers paths to principal roles, management, or specialized expertise in open source UX.

Why Join Canonical

Join a profitable, founder-led innovator at the forefront of open source. Work on Ubuntu, the platform enabling breakthrough enterprise tech. Thrive in a remote-first culture emphasizing autonomy, collaboration, and results. Impact millions of users worldwide while enjoying work-life balance, global travel perks, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Canonical's Ubuntu powers hyperscalers and startups alike—your designs will redefine cloud networking UX.

Role FAQs

Is this role fully remote?

Yes, fully remote in the EMEA region, with occasional international travel for company events.

What tools will I use?

Figma for prototyping, plus collaboration tools suited to distributed teams. Experience with GUI/CLI design is key.

What's the team structure?

Report to the Infrastructure Design Manager within the design team, collaborating cross-functionally with engineering and product.

How does Canonical support learning?

Generous personal learning budgets, mentorship, and a culture of curiosity and continuous improvement.

What's the interview process?

Expect portfolio review, UX case studies, user research exercises, and discussions on cloud networking design.