Junior Ubuntu Software Engineer
Canonical · Home based - Worldwide · Engineering
Curated summary
A remote engineering opening from Canonical with official ATS source details and a direct employer apply link.
Full official source details
This section is loaded from the official Greenhouse source for this role.
Additional source fields
- Employment Length: Full-time
- Core skills: Contributor, Developer, Fixer, Problem Solver, Technologist
- External Departments (website): Engineering
- One line job description: Work on a wide-range of impactful software projects that comprise Ubuntu: the world's most deployed Linux operating system
- LinkedIn Posting Level: Entry level
Official description
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 junior engineers to work across the breadth of our Ubuntu Engineering organisation - engineers who care deeply for quality, performance and resilience in software, engineers who are just as comfortable designing and engineering new software as they are packaging, integrating, testing and shipping the incredible catalog of open source software provided by the Ubuntu repositories.
Our engineers integrate the freshest open source software, provide robust upgrade paths and engineer the future of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is not just the world’s most deployed open source operating system, it's a platform that enables innovation for millions of users across the globe. Our community represents the full breadth of the developer experience; from students, hobbyists and freelancers to high performance engineering and creative teams in corporate and academic environments.
The four key teams that ship Ubuntu are
- Foundations: maintaining foundational software: architectures, package managers, compilers, toolchains, bootloaders, filesystems and core utilities
- Server: leading the design, evolution and future of our Ubuntu Server distribution
- Desktop: driving Ubuntu Desktop, our future immutable desktop: Ubuntu Core Desktop, WSL, gaming technology, and a suite of modern applications for the desktop crafted with Flutter
- Debcrafters: a new team responsible for the forward movement, maintenance and overall health of the Ubuntu archive: one of the most abundant repositories of open source software available today
Bring your existing expertise and learn new skills by working on one of the most prolific pieces of open source software. As an engineer working on Ubuntu you could work on any or all of the following categories:
- Development: design, build and ship new foundational systems software and applications in Rust, Go, Flutter, and Python
- Architecture: engineer the integration of open source from boot firmware to cloud applications deployment
- Packaging: a combination of Debian and Snap packaging to ship software in the distribution
- Automation: build and maintain the machinery responsible for building, testing and shipping Ubuntu
- Distro Engineering: the maintenance and evolution of a Linux distribution and its repositories
If you have skills in those areas, or you have other skills you believe could contribute to Ubuntu, and you're keen to get started building your career in open source, then this is the role for you. Our junior career path caters for both new graduates and early careers engineers.
At Canonical, you will have the opportunity to engage with and contribute to the broader open source community. We're looking for individuals who can help build a thriving community and contribute with enthusiasm and precision to a broad range of technologies.
Location: We have remote roles open in every time zone.
The role entails
Based on the first round of interviews, we identify specific teams where you might be an excellent fit and conduct second-round interviews with those teams. Our engineers are:
- Designing, building and shipping software in Rust, Go, Python and C/C++
- Packaging, integrating, testing and uploading open source software to the Ubuntu repositories
- Debugging issues, then designing and delivering robust solutions
- Authoring and improving technical and community documentation
- Contributing to upstream and neighboring open source projects
- Collaborating as part of a globally distributed team
- Continuously learning and progressing their technical and professional skills
What we are looking for in you
- An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about your alternative path
- Drive and a track record of going above and beyond expectations
- A passion for open source software
- Experience with Rust, Go, Python, Flutter or C/C++
- Professional written and spoken English
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each
Nice-to-have skills
- Familiarity with Linux distributions
- Familiarity with system debugging tools and techniques
- Familiarity with automation tooling and CI/CD systems
- Experience contributing to open source projects
What we offer you
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
- Annual compensation review
- Recognition rewards
- Annual holiday leave
- Maternity and paternity leave
- Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
- Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
- Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul company events
About Canonical
Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud, we are changing the world on a daily basis. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence - in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Canonical has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.
Canonical is an equal opportunity employer
We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.
Application questions shown by the source
- First Name (Required)
- Last Name (Required)
- Email (Required)
- Phone (Optional)
- Resume/CV (Required)
- Which programming languages are you most familiar with, and which kinds of projects have you worked on with them? (Required)
- Which kinds of projects are you most excited about working on? (Required)
- Briefly describe your experience as a Linux user, and your interaction with open source projects (Optional)
- During this application process I agree to use only my own words. I understand that plagiarism, the use of AI or other generated content will disqualify my application. (Required)
- How did you perform in mathematics at high school? (Required)
- How did you perform in your native language at high school? (Required)
- What was your bachelor's university degree result, or expected result if you have not yet graduated? Please include the grading system to help us understand your result e.g. ‘85 out of 100’, ‘2:1 (Grading system: first class, 2:1, 2:2, third class)’ or ‘GPA score of 3.8/4.0 (predicted)’. We have hired outstanding individuals who did not attend or complete university. If this describes you, please continue with your application and enter ‘no degree’. (Required)
- Please share your rationale or evidence for the high school performance selections above. Make reference to provincial, state or nation-wide scoring systems, rankings, or recognition awards, or to competitive or selective college entrance results such as SAT or ACT scores, JAMB, matriculation results, IB results etc. We recognise every system is different but we will ask you to justify your selections above. (Required)
- We require all colleagues to meet in person 2-4 times a year, at internal company events lasting between 1-2 weeks. We try to pick new and interesting locations that will likely require international travel and entry requirement visas and vaccinations. Are you willing and able to commit to this? (Required)
- Website (Optional)
- LinkedIn Profile (Optional)
- In the past ten years, looking only at the time since you graduated your first undergraduate degree, how many companies have you worked for? (Required)
- In which country do you currently work? (Required)
- Please confirm that you have read and agree to Canonical's Recruitment Privacy Notice and Privacy Policy. (Required)
- Which gender do you identify as? (Required)
- Please indicate your nationality: (Required)
- Please indicate your race or ethnicity: (Required)
Before applying
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