Associate Support Engineer at Canonical - Remote Global

Job4Travelers; United States; Remote; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Distributed work environment

Learning budget USD 2,000/year

Annual compensation review

Travel opportunities

Priority Pass and travel upgrades

Job summary

Canonical is a pioneer in open source software with a fully distributed workforce. The Associate Support Engineer role is globally remote, requiring strong Linux skills and customer-facing support across time zones.

You'll triage and resolve complex issues, contribute to knowledge base, and collaborate with engineering teams while traveling internationally a couple of times per year. This position offers flexible scheduling and ongoing learning.

Qualifications

• Experience with Linux troubleshooting and log collection.
• Hands-on programming basics in multiple languages.
• Familiarity with networking concepts.
• Knowledge of virtualization or cloud computing concepts.
• Strong written and verbal communication in English.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support for employees remotely.
• Own cases from qualification to resolution within SLA.
• Contribute to knowledge base and release notices.
• Communicate updates to customers and team.
• Travel internationally approximately twice per year.
• Learn and adapt as Canonical's products evolve.

Skills

Linux troubleshooting

Programming fundamentals

Networking

Virtualization/Cloud computing

Education

Undergraduate degree in a technical subject

Tools

KVM

VirtualBox

VMWare

Job description

Associate Support Engineer at Canonical - Remote Global — Remote

Canonical is one of the most nomad-friendly employers in tech. With 1,100+ staff across 75+ countries and a fully distributed model since 2004, this role is genuinely location-independent — you can work from virtually anywhere in the world.

Schedule flexibility: The role is customer-facing support, which typically involves shift-based or on-call windows rather than pure async work. You will participate in a weekend working rotation, which means you'll need reliable internet and a predictable environment on some weekends. Factor this into your nomad planning — coworking spaces or stable accommodation with backup connectivity are essential.

Visa considerations: Since no specific country restriction is listed, you have broad options:

• Portugal (Lisbon): Portugal's Digital Nomad Visa (D8) suits remote workers earning above Portugal's minimum threshold (~€3,280/month). Lisbon's cost of living is moderate for Europe, making it a comfortable base.
• Thailand (Bangkok/Chiang Mai): Thailand's LTR (Long-Term Resident) visa or the standard tourist visa + border-run approach work for shorter stays. Very low cost of living stretches any tech salary significantly.
• Colombia (Medellín): Colombia's digital nomad visa (Visa de Nómada Digital) allows up to 2-year stays for remote workers. Medellín offers affordable living and a large expat tech community.

Travel perks: Canonical offers Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events and twice-yearly team sprints — a genuine perk for nomads who appreciate business-class or lounge access on company trips.

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 1100+ 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 an Associate Support Engineer to build a career with Canonical and support the technical needs of customers leveraging Ubuntu and open source products. This role is an opportunity for a hands-on engineer with eagerness to learn, a passion for Linux and open source technologies to work with some of the best people in the industry at Canonical.

We regularly solve interesting, technical problems. From triaging complex cloud environments, desktop and server issues, Linux kernel crashes we've never seen before to OS configuration issues and root cause analysis, we provide an expert level of support and satisfaction to our peer groups and customers. You will be accountable for delivering an outstanding technical support experience on the full technical stack at Canonical, across cloud, desktop and IoT. From problem qualification to full resolution, you will own and manage your cases. When needed, you will transfer your cases to your colleagues or involve senior engineers. This is a globally remote role.

Location: This is a globally remote role.

The role entails

• Working from your remote home office to provide technical support for employees.
• Being available to take ownership of new cases via telephone, email and web
• Acting as an internal customer advocate keeping them updated in a timely manner
• Ensuring that each support case owned by you is handled according to our Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the highest possible customer satisfaction by setting the right expectations and fulfilling your commitments.
• Contributing new knowledge base articles and maintaining existing articles, ensuring shared knowledge and lessons learned are available to customers.
• Drafting and distributing technical notices for internal and external communication.
• Prioritising your work in order to accomplish the most important and urgent tasks first
• Keeping on learning as our products and services grow and evolve
• Understanding Ubuntu development process to be able to set customer expectations correctly on timeline for a fix
• Maintaining regular communication and information exchange with the rest of the team, locally and remotely
• Identifying and suggesting any opportunities to provide a better service

What we are looking for in you

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in a technical subject or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path. Preferable majors: Computer Science, MIS, Electrical Engineering, etc.
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation
• Track record of going above-and-beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results
• Experience with Linux troubleshooting (collecting logs and stack traces, fine-tuning by editing configuration files)
• Knowledge or basic hands‑on experience on 2 or more of:
  • Linux server administration
  • Programming fundamentals in any language (bash, Perl, Ruby, Javascript, C or C++, Go)
  • Networking (bonding, firewalling, bridging, switching, network file system tuning, MTU issues, etc.)
  • Virtualization / Cloud computing concepts (provisioning, monitoring, orchestration, etc.)
• Ability to learn quickly, thrive on change and handle the pressure of a customer facing job
• Strong written and verbal English communication skills
• Appreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi‑cultural, multi‑national organisation
• Result‑oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long

Noting that we require and will perform a background check for this role.

Nice-to-have skills

• Experience supporting virtualized environments (KVM, Virtual Box, VMWare)
• Experience with other open-source desktop technologies
• Active contribution to open-source projects/forum/code

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 its 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

Is this role truly fully remote, or are there location restrictions? This is a globally remote role with no stated country restrictions. Canonical has operated a distributed work model since 2004, with colleagues in 75+ countries, making it one of the most location‑flexible employers in tech. What does the weekend working rotation involve? The role requires participation in a regular weekend working rotation as part of supporting customers across different time zones. The frequency and exact structure would be clarified during the hiring process. Is there a salary range provided for this position? No specific salary range is published. Canonical states that compensation is shaped by geographical location, experience, and performance, and is reviewed annually — more frequently for associates and graduates. How much travel is required for this remote role? You'll need to be able to travel internationally approximately twice a year for company team sprints, each lasting up to two weeks. Canonical provides Priority Pass access and travel upgrades for long‑haul company events. What technical background is needed to apply as an Associate Support Engineer? You need Linux troubleshooting experience and hands‑on knowledge in at least two areas: Linux server administration, programming fundamentals, networking, or virtualization/cloud computing. A technical undergraduate degree is preferred but not strictly required if you have an alternative compelling background.

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