About the Company

Canonical is a globally recognized leader in open source software and operating systems, renowned for its flagship platform, Ubuntu. Ubuntu powers significant enterprise initiatives in areas like public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. The company collaborates with leading public cloud and silicon providers, as well as industry leaders across various sectors. Canonical is a pioneer in distributed global collaboration, employing over 1200 individuals in more than 75 countries, with a strong emphasis on remote work. The company facilitates in-person team gatherings two to four times annually in diverse global locations to foster strategic alignment and execution. Canonical is founder-led, profitable, and experiencing continuous growth.

Job Description

Canonical is seeking 2025 and 2026 Graduate Software Engineers to join its global engineering teams. This role offers a broad spectrum of software engineering challenges, encompassing both open source products and commercial business systems. Engineers will work with languages such as Python, Golang, Rust, C/C++, JavaScript, and Bash, engaging with the Linux system from its lowest levels (BIOS, boot loaders, firmware, kernel, drivers) up to desktop applications and container technologies. Projects range from embedded systems like Raspberry Pi and RISC-V boards to large-scale infrastructure such as supercomputers, clouds, and Kubernetes clusters. The work also includes developing compilers, toolchains, security features, cryptography, performance optimizations, and documentation. Some teams specialize in packaging thousands of software components, while others focus on in-depth contributions to specific codebases. This is an ideal opportunity for individuals passionate about open source’s potential, possessing outstanding academic achievements, and eager to contribute to the open source ecosystem. Canonical will collaborate with successful candidates to identify suitable teams and projects based on their skills and motivations. The application process is highly competitive and demands significant effort and excellence.

Most engineering roles are home-based, with teams typically aligned to specific time zones (EMEA, APAC, AMER). The company emphasizes continuous support through colleagues for coaching, mentoring, and collaborative problem-solving, including pair programming. Larger projects may involve multiple teams and span globally. Canonical actively engages with the open source community, cultivating teams adept at working within the transparency of open source development. This is a full-time, five-day-a-week position focused on solving complex problems with substantial responsibility. While work-life balance is valued, with standard working hours and holidays, productive and focused engagement from Monday to Friday is expected.

Twice a year, all engineering teams convene in person for intensive ‘sprint’ sessions to foster cross-team collaboration, stimulate discussion, and support diverse career development paths. These events provide a platform for demonstrating and developing software skills, learning about various technologies, making a significant impact on open source, and experiencing new global cities.

Responsibilities

• Shaping the product roadmap during global sprints held every six months.
• Focusing on design and user experience, extending to developer tooling and command-line applications.
• Writing high-quality, resilient, and performant code that may serve millions of daily users.
• Achieving mastery in key programming languages and Linux system knowledge.
• Engaging with users and the open source community through code reviews and issue trackers.
• Prioritizing and responding to customer issues, developing a comprehensive understanding of enterprise requirements.
• Developing expertise and awareness in software security design and implementation.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic record from both high school and university.
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Business Informatics, Mathematics, or another STEM discipline with programming coursework.
• Confidence to initiate and deliver high-quality code in at least one of the following languages: Python, Rust, C/C++, Golang, JavaScript, or Java.
• Experience with Ubuntu or another Linux distribution.
• Demonstrated track record of exceeding expectations to achieve outstanding results.
• Result-oriented and organized, with a strong drive to meet commitments.
• Completion of personal technology and software engineering projects beyond academic requirements.
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, coupled with curiosity, flexibility, and accountability.
• High degree of personal responsibility and accountability.
• Demonstrated thoughtfulness, self-awareness, and the capacity for reflection and development.
• Ability to travel internationally up to two weeks, twice per year for company events.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Other Information

Canonical is committed to fostering a workplace free from discrimination and values diversity of experience, perspectives, and background. All applications will be given fair consideration regardless of identity. The #LI-remote tag indicates this is a remote position.

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