Security Software Engineer

Canonical; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Twice-yearly team sprints in person

Personal learning and development USD

Job summary

Canonical is seeking exceptional security-focused software engineers to be integrated across product teams. The role emphasizes threat modeling, architecture reviews, static analysis tools, and fuzzing, with travel twice a year and a globally remote setup.

Responsibilities include developing secure features, fixing vulnerabilities, and contributing to Ubuntu and upstream projects, while collaborating with partners and customers in a distributed environment.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM or a compelling alternative path.
• Experience as a security champion and driving security within SSDLC processes.
• Familiarity with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred) and open source development practices.
• Strong written and spoken English; capable of communicating complex security concepts.

Responsibilities

• Define, implement, and document new security features and capabilities.
• Lead security-focused initiatives within a product engineering team.
• Analyze, fix, and test vulnerabilities in open source software and contribute to Ubuntu/upstream projects.
• Audit source code and integrate new security tools into pipelines and processes.
• Provide guidance on security best practices across engineering teams.

Skills

Security champion

SSDLC

Linux

Open source development

English proficiency

Security certifications (FIPS/CC)

Education

Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM

Job description

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is 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 + 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.

Canonical is looking for exceptional security-focused software engineers to be integrated across product teams. While they also contribute to the product as engineers, their primary focus is to challenge the entire team to think more deeply about security through state-of-the-art practices such as threat modeling, table-top exercises, architecture and design reviews, static analysis tools, and fuzzing, among others.

These roles encompass all aspects of product security, including feature development, vulnerability response, proactive security, and open source community participation. Engineers in these roles collaborate closely with other Canonical teams, customers, and partners across the open source ecosystem.

Each product engineering team at Canonical reserves one or two openings for security-oriented software engineers. We also develop a number of products driven entirely by security needs, such as our AppArmor kernel investments and the Ubuntu Security Guide (USG). As the publisher of Ubuntu, we also handle long-term security response for the entire operating system and open source ecosystem. Working with tens of thousands of upstreams means that we need to be fluent in every major programming language and design, build, and adopt sophisticated tools that enable us to work at scale and speed with confidence.

This role requires the ability to be productive in a globally distributed team through strong self-discipline and motivation. It also involves mandatory international travel at least twice a year, typically for one week.

Location: Worldwide, this is a globally remote role

What you'll do

Security roles might tackle any of the following:

• Define, implement, and document new security features
• Lead security-focused initiatives within a product engineering team
• Analyze, fix, and test vulnerabilities in open source software
• Contribute to Ubuntu and upstream open source projects to benefit the community
• Audit and analyze source code for vulnerabilities
• Integrate new tools into our security infrastructure, pipelines, and processes
• Achieve and retain various security certifications
• Extend and enhance Linux cryptographic components to meet country-specific compliance requirements, such as FIPS and Common Criteria (CC) certifications
• Work with external partners to develop Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks
• Design and develop hardening automation for Ubuntu
• Stay up to date with trends and developments in the security industry
• Develop, test, and maintain new software capabilities
• Provide guidance and support to other engineering teams on security best practices

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
• A track record of going above and beyond expectations
• Thorough understanding of the common categories of security vulnerabilities and how to fix them
• Knowledge of modern software engineering techniques
• Familiarity with open source development tools and methodologies
• Experience as a security champion
• Experience driving security within a wider SSDLC process
• Professional written and spoken English
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, and self-motivation
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Results-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments

Optional skills we also value

• Clear and effective communication with both the team and Ubuntu community members
• Experience working with the Linux kernel
• Experience with security certifications and knowledge of FIPS and/or Common Criteria (CC)
• Experience with OVAL (Open Vulnerability Assessment Language)
• Knowledge of cryptographic modules such as OpenSSL and Libgcrypt
• Knowledge of low-level Linux cryptography APIs
• Demonstrated ability to learn quickly
• Performance engineering experience

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, 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