Software Maintenance Engineer at Canonical

Role overview

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution.

The company is founder-led, profitable, and growing.

We are hiring a Software Maintenance Engineer to…

…work in a dynamic and exciting engineering role in Linux-based infrastructure and applications, covering all layers of the stack, including bare metal, virtualization (KVM), containerization (Docker/LXC/LXD), storage (Ceph and Linux filesystems), networking (OVS, OVN and Core networking), OpenStack, Kubernetes and the open source applications running on top of them. It will challenge you to show the breadth of your engineering skills, which will be needed to work on almost any aspect of Ubuntu and the open source applications large enterprise customers run.

This role is an opportunity for a technologist with a passion for Linux and open source to build a career with Canonical and drive success for our customers, community and the company. If you have an affinity for open source software, great communication skills, and a passion for troubleshooting and fixing issues in technology used by millions across the world, then you will enjoy working with some of the best people in the industry at Canonical.

This role deals with critical issues in the open source stack that require upstream bug fixes. Our engineers are able to work productively at any level of the stack including the kernel and in a wide range of languages, to understand and address the software issues at hand. Our group is critical to the success of our customers, partners and Ubuntu itself.

You will help with troubleshooting and driving issues to resolution with workarounds, guidance, and bug fixes to be released upstream and in Ubuntu.

Location: This is a remote role, we have teams in all time zones.

Responsibilities

• Maintain, improve and troubleshoot software for software maintenance, bug fixing and lifecycle support.
• Investigate defects and operational issues and deliver durable fixes.
• Collaborate with distributed engineering, support and product teams on releases.
• Improve automation, documentation, testing and service reliability.

Qualifications

• An exceptional academic track record
• Background in Computer Science, STEM or similar
• Experience with Linux and open source software
• Experience with at least one of Python, Go, C or C++ on Linux
• A drive to learn unfamiliar technology and deep-dive difficult issues
• Willingness to travel up to 4 times a year for internal events
• You love technology and working with brilliant people
• You are curious, flexible, articulate, and accountable
• You value soft skills and are passionate, enterprising, thoughtful, and self-motivated
• You have interest in, or willingness to learn about any of the following: Ubuntu Linux - kernel or userspace, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Ceph, QEMU/KVM, LXC/LXD,Postgresql, Mongo, Debian packaging, distributed systems

Technology in this role

• Python: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• C++: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• Kubernetes: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• Docker: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• Linux: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• Go: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• C: Python C++ Kubernetes Docker Linux .
• PostgreSQL: An exceptional academic track record Background in Computer Science, STEM or similar Experience with Linux and open source software Experience with at least one of Python, Go, C or C++ on Linux A drive to learn unfamiliar technology and deep-dive difficult issues Willingness to .

Role-specific candidate guide

Preparation notes based on the employer’s stated responsibilities and qualifications.

Understanding the scope. This Software Maintenance Engineer position at Canonical is best assessed through the work described in the employer’s posting, rather than the title alone. The available role overview says: “Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as…” Read that statement together with the responsibilities below to understand the likely balance between delivery, coordination and technical decision-making. The role belongs to the technical area, but that label is only a guide to the work; the employer’s own.

Benefits

• We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.
• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
• Employee Assistance Programme & Wellness Platform
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events

About Canonical

Canonical publishes Ubuntu and open-source software for enterprise and technology markets.

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