System Software Engineer

We are building a team to focus on the modern C and C++ programming language and their ecosystem on Ubuntu. They will deliver the best possible GCC and LLVM runtimes, developer experience and supporting tooling in Ubuntu. They will ensure that the cutting edge of modern programming languages innovation is available to Ubuntu users, to lay the foundation for future inventions and open source communities.

This is an exciting opportunity for a software engineer with a strong passion for compilers, runtimes and tool chains. You will have excellent competencies in modern C/C++, Linux distributions, software architectures and open source software. Come build a rewarding, meaningful career working with the best and brightest people in open source technology at Canonical, a growing international software company and make Ubuntu the best operating system to develop and run C/C++ applications in the cloud, in datacenters, in containers, directly on the operating system, and anywhere Ubuntu can run.

The Ubuntu Foundations Team delivers the core Ubuntu system, the base for the entire Ubuntu family of products and services. Ubuntu strives to deliver the latest-best free software components, in an easy to use and highly reliable form. We build on the technical excellence of keystone open source software like GNU and Debian and bring additional focus and shape to the solutions we offer the industry.

Part of the Ubuntu Foundations team, you will work on one of the most critical toolchains involved in the making of Ubuntu and the pillars of the modern software ecosystem. You will leverage your competencies and experience in C, C++ to make Ubuntu the best platform to develop, distribute and consume software built with GCC and LLVM. You will be passionate about the future of C, C++, of Ubuntu, mindful of the dynamics of the open-source ecosystem, and equally aware of the needs of large but innovative organizations. You will drive the best in class integration in Ubuntu from desktop to cloud in a secure, reliable, performing, efficient and future-proof fashion.

You will be discussing design with other team members , mentor less senior engineers, and participate in code reviews and design reviews. You will also be working with other teams to ensure architecture decisions improve the overall performance and experience of Ubuntu. Your role as part of the Ubuntu Foundations team will have an impact on every aspect of Ubuntu from Desktop, Server, Ubuntu Core and also cloud images., 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, Select… Please describe your experience working on the GCC or LLVM compilers and runtimes, and how much of this experience was on Linux*

Which kinds of projects are you most excited about working on? *

Server Desktop Cloud Performance Security Enterprise Embedded Packaging Observability Identity

Briefly describe your experience as a Linux user, and your interaction with open source projects

We are interested in understanding how you have used Linux - as a user, as an administrator, as a system programmer, through VMs and WSL, through Containers, etc. We are also interested in knowing about your prior interactions with open source software projects, as a consumer, as a contributor, as a maintainer. How did you perform in mathematics at high school?* Select… How did you perform in your native language at high school?* Select… 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.* 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’.*

Universities around the world score degrees in different ways. Please indicate your result, or expected result if you are close to graduation, along with information about the grading system. 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?* Select…

Please note that if you require any accommodation for travel that relates to a physical disability, do let us know during your hiring process and we will be happy to discuss your requirements further. Website LinkedIn Profile In the past ten years, looking only at the time since you graduated your first undergraduate degree, how many companies have you worked for?* Select…

We’re focused specifically on the last ten years, and only the portion of that since you left undergrad university. If you graduated three years ago, just count the number of companies you have worked for in those three years. If you graduated 25 years ago, just count the companies in the last ten years.

If you worked for a company which was acquired or renamed, then please count that as one company not two. Don’t count any university jobs or internships. If you have your own company or do private contracting work in addition to your employment, please count that as one company. In which country do you currently work?* Select…

Please select your current location from the dropdown. Please confirm that you have read and agree to Canonical’s Recruitment Privacy Notice and Privacy Policy.* Select…

Recruitment Privacy Notice

Privacy Policy Which gender do you identify as?* Select…

This information is being requested to help us maintain equal opportunities, best practices and comply with legal requirements. The submission of this information is entirely voluntary. The information you provide will not be used in our decision making and will not subject you to any adverse treatment. Please indicate your nationality:* Select…

This information is being requested to help us maintain equal opportunities, best practices and comply with legal requirements. The submission of this information is entirely voluntary. The information you provide will not be visible to, or used by, our decision makers, and will not subject you to any adverse treatment. Please indicate your race or ethnicity:* Select…

This information is being requested to help us maintain equal opportunities, best practices and comply with legal requirements. The submission of this information is entirely voluntary. The information you provide will not be visible to, or used by, our decision makers, and will not subject you to any adverse treatment.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Canonical’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. Gender Select… Are you Hispanic/Latino? Select… Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A “disabled veteran” is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran’s discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985. Veteran Status Select…

• You have relevant GCC or LLVM experience, ideally in the world of cloud-native software and Linux
• You have experience in packaging software for Debian and Ubuntu
• You are a long-time Linux user
• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in a technical subject or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path
• You love technology and working with brilliant people
• You are passionate, curious, flexible, articulate, and accountable
• You value soft skills and are passionate, enterprising, thoughtful, and self-motivated
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events up to two weeks long, * Experience with Linux distributions and distribution engineering
• Experience with software packaging and distribution mechanisms
• Understanding of build systems and toolchains, including for cross-compilation
• Performance or Security Engineering experience

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:

• Collaborate proactively with a distributed team
• Select, integrate and package best-of-breed tooling with Ubuntu to improve developer and operator experience with GCC and LLVM
• Write high-quality code to create new features
• Debug issues and produce high-quality code to fix them
• Review code produced by other engineers
• Discuss ideas and collaborate on finding good solutions
• Work from home with global travel 2 to 4 weeks a year for internal and external events, School Select… Degree Select… Discipline Select…

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., 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.