From the listing
About the role
Canonical is hiring a Senior/Staff/Lead Engineer to join the Launchpad team and take the lead in shaping the future of open-source collaboration. Launchpad is a platform for managing open-source development projects, including code hosting and review, bug tracking, package building, and translations.
You’ll architect and refine a mature, Python-driven system that supports major projects like Ubuntu, maintaining business-critical services while driving innovation. As part of Canonical’s globally distributed team, you’ll build essential infrastructure for open-source development.
What you'll do
- Influence and drive design, architecture, and feature decisions across distributed teams to ensure high-impact solutions.
- Craft exceptional, API-first Python code with unit tests, delivering robust, well-structured systems that scale.
- Diagnose and resolve complex technical challenges, implementing high-quality fixes that enhance performance and reliability.
- Mentor fellow engineers and lead code reviews that reinforce best practices and elevate team excellence.
- Travel internationally 2 to 4 times a year to collaborate in key internal discussions and industry-leading external events.
What they're looking for
- Be located within the EMEA region.
- Love technology, working with brilliant people, and solving interesting problems.
- Be a strategic thinker who thrives on solving complex challenges and driving innovation.
- Be curious, adaptable, and articulate with strong leadership and collaboration skills.
- Have proven technical excellence in Python development and delivering high-quality, production-ready code.
- Have expertise in maintaining and improving large-scale web applications and database management.
- Have a deep understanding of integration, infrastructure, and operations in distributed environments.
- Have a security-focused mindset, ensuring robust implementation at every stage of development.
- Have familiarity with Ubuntu as a development and deployment platform.
- Have a solid grasp of software packaging systems, including Debian/Ubuntu packages.
- Have a Bachelor’s or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM or a similar degree.
Nice to have
- PostgreSQL expertise.
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.