Software Engineer, Sustaining Engineering

Canonical; London; Remote; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading open-source technology firm is hiring a Software Engineer in London for a fast-paced role focusing on sustaining engineering. You will troubleshoot software issues across various technologies and maintain strong relationships with support teams. The position allows for remote work globally and requires expertise in Linux and cloud technologies. You'll participate in community collaborations and drive solutions for critical problems in the Ubuntu stack.

Benefits

Personal learning and development budget

Annual compensation review

Maternity and paternity leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Travel opportunities for team meetings

Qualifications

• Professional experience as a software engineer.
• Strong experience with Linux and cloud technologies.
• Development-level experience with at least one programming language on Linux.

Responsibilities

• Resolve complex customer problems related to Ubuntu and other software.
• Maintain close relationships with support and engineering teams.
• Participate in upstream communities.

Skills

Linux

Ceph

OpenStack

Kubernetes

Python

Go

C

C++

Education

Background in Computer Science, STEM or similar

Tools

gdb

git

Job description

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Software Engineer, Sustaining Engineering, London

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Client:

Canonical

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

6ec5c9289d0b

Job Views:

11

Posted:

12.08.2025

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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 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 + 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.

We are hiring a Software Engineer, Sustaining Engineering for ...

...a fast-paced engineering role in Linux-based software-defined infrastructure and applications, covering all layers of the stack, including bare metal, virtualization (KVM) and containerization (Docker/LXC/LXD), storage (Ceph and Linux filesystems), networking (OVS, OVN and Core networking), up to OpenStack and Kubernetes, and the open source applications running on top of them. It will challenge you to show the breadth of engineering skill needed to work on almost any aspect of Ubuntu and the open source things people run with it.

This role is an opportunity for a technologist with a passion for Linux and open source to build a career with Canonical and drive success for our customers, community and the company. If you have an affinity for open source development, great communication skills, and a passion for troubleshooting and fixing issues in technology used by millions across the world, then you will enjoy working with some of the best people in the industry at Canonical.

Location: This is a remote role, we have teams in all time zones.

This role deals with critical issues in the open source stack that require software engineering for upstream bug fixes. Our engineers have to be able to work productively at any level of the stack above the kernel, in a wide range of languages, to understand and address the software issues at hand. Our group is critical to the success of our enterprise customers, partners and Ubuntu itself.

You will help with troubleshooting and driving issues to resolution with workarounds, guidance, and bug fixes to be released upstream and in Ubuntu.

This role entails

• Resolving complex customer problems related to Ubuntu, Kernel, Ceph, OpenStack, or Kubernetes and other open source software
• Maintaining a close working relationship with Canonical's Field, Support and product engineering teams
• Participating in upstream communities
• Developing bug fixes, backporting patches, and working with upstream for inclusion
• Reviewing code produced by other engineers
• Demonstrating good judgement in technical methods and techniques
• Prioritizing work and managing your time effectively against those priorities
• Participating in team discussions to improve processes, tools, and documentation
• Maintaining clear, technical and concise communications
• Working from home and travel internationally up to 10% of work time for team meetings, events and conferences

What we are looking for in you

• Professional experience as a software engineer
• Background in Computer Science, STEM or similar
• Strong experience with Linux, and at least one of the following: Ceph, OpenStack, Kubernetes or other cloud technologies
• Strong development-level experience with at least one of Python, Go, C or C++ on Linux
• Ability to troubleshoot with debugging tools like gdb
• Familiarity with git source code repositories and branches
• An exceptional academic track record
• Willingness to travel up to 4 times a year for internal events

Nice-to-have skills

• You love technology and working with brilliant people
• You are curious, flexible, articulate, and accountable
• You value soft skills and are passionate, enterprising, thoughtful, and self-motivated
• You have interest in, and experience with most of the following: Ubuntu Linux - kernel or userspace, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Ceph, QEMU/KVM, LXC/LXD, Python, Go, C, Postgresql, Mongo, Debian packaging, distributed systems

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 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 - we’ve been working remotely since !
• 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 from your team and others
• Priority Pass for travel and travel upgrades for long haul company events