From the listing
About the role
Our Ubuntu Engineering teams build the operating system platform used by millions of developers, enterprises, device makers, cloud providers, and open source communities worldwide.
The Ubuntu Foundations Package Management team develops and maintains the software management infrastructure that underpins every Ubuntu system, including APT, dpkg, firmware management, and driver management.
We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager to lead the Ubuntu Foundations Package Management team. This is a technical leadership role combining people management with active engineering involvement.
What you'll do
- Define the technical vision and roadmap for Ubuntu's package management and system lifecycle platform.
- Participate in design reviews and key technical decisions affecting software management and system lifecycle technologies across the Ubuntu ecosystem.
- Promote high standards for performance, reliability, security, and maintainability.
- Lead and support a team of engineers responsible for key Ubuntu platform technologies.
- Mentor and grow engineers, helping them expand their technical leadership, ownership, and organizational impact.
- Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Plan and deliver improvements across multiple Ubuntu release cycles.
- Balance innovation with stability, compatibility, and long-term maintainability.
- Improve test automation, release quality, and operational reliability.
- Build strong partnerships across Ubuntu Engineering, including Release Engineering, Launchpad, Desktop, Server, Security, OEM, and Product teams.
- Collaborate with Debian, upstream projects, and the Ubuntu open source community.
- Report to the Ubuntu Foundations Engineering director and collaborate closely with other Ubuntu Engineering teams.
What they're looking for
- 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.
- Strong background in software engineering and system design.
- Experience leading engineering teams, including people management, coaching, and performance development.
- Experience developing or operating Linux distribution technologies, package management systems, or software distribution infrastructure.
- Strong understanding of systems software and operating system architecture.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively in a globally distributed engineering team.
- Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with package repositories, archives, or release engineering processes.
- Experience contributing to Debian, Ubuntu, or other open source infrastructure projects.
- Performance, reliability, or security engineering experience.
Benefits, as listed
The hot takeJeff's read on Canonical
Canonical is a bit tricky for me to review for a few reasons:
Their Glassdoor reviews have dropped down to 3.1 (March 25, 2026), right at my threshold. I'd want to see this start trending in the correct direction in order to consider them for inclusion again.
I like they they have yearly sprints in cool locations like Cape Town, Madrid, and London.
I like that hire-from-anywhere/work-from-anywhere roles are clearly labeled on the job listings as "worldwide."
I'd like to read more about how they feel about their employees traveling as a digital nomad, or being location-independent in general.
I'd like to see more details about the perks they do or don't offer employees, though I suspect they vary by hiring region.
Please get back to me, because I would like to include you again, but need a few more details to do so.