Software Architect - Containers / Virtualisation

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 more than 80 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 architect for Canonical LXD and MicroCloud.

Our goal is to make clusters of compute, with system containers or virtual machines, "just work". It should be trivial to stand up a small cloud using one, two or twenty servers. This is a challenging exercise in distributed systems, virtualisation, container technology, networking and storage. As with the Ubuntu desktop, our goal is to make it easy and to make it reliable for people to focus on the things that really matter to them rather than the OS and infrastructure.

LXD is a modern Golang system container and virtual machine orchestrator widely used on Ubuntu, ChromeOS and other Linux platforms. LXD engineering spans the entire software stack from low-level kernel work on namespaces, confinement, security, filesystems, VMMs and networking, to the high level management REST API and CLI. As a software architect, you will drive the architecture, design and evolution of LXD, and also Canonical MicroCloud which combines LXD with Ceph and OVN to make a lean, easy to use and resilient cluster-scale cloud infrastructure.

We are looking for an outstanding software architect and engineer with experience in Golang and C, with the leadership qualities needed to rally a team to ship outstanding products. Knowledge of modern cloud infrastructure offerings, their APIs and their underlying technologies is a must.

This is an opportunity for someone who wants to have a meaningful impact on modern cloud computing technologies. Canonical offers a fun, fast-paced team environment and a career full of learning and development.

Location: This is a home-based position available in EMEA and the Americas.

The role entails

• Leadership of the LXD and MicroCloud architecture

• Mentor, develop and advise colleagues in their career progression

• Develop in Golang and C

• Review code produced by other engineers

• Ensure the product is secure and performant

• Display technical leadership in Canonical and our communities

• Work from home with global travel twice annually for company events

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

• Drive, and a track record of going above-and-beyond expectations

• Technical leadership as well as team motivation, direction and pace

• Well-organized, self-starting and able to deliver to schedule

• Professional manner in interacting with colleagues, partners, and community

• Experience with Go and C

• Experience with storage, networking and virtualization

• Experience with container technologies

• Experience with concurrent, distributed systems

• Conscientiousness and detail orientation, with a focus on performance

• Professional written and spoken English

• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)

• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability

What we offer colleagues

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 recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. 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

• Employee Assistance Programme

• 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 of software. 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. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since our 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.

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