Engineering Manager, MAAS

Canonical; Madison (WI); Remote; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in open source software is seeking an Engineering Manager for the MAAS team. This role focuses on leading a distributed team, fostering growth, and delivering high-quality software solutions. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership qualities and extensive Linux knowledge, with responsibilities including talent development and advocating modern software practices. This is a remote position available in EMEA or the Americas, offering a dynamic work environment and opportunities for professional growth.

Benefits

Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 annually

Annual compensation review and recognition rewards

Annual holiday leave, maternity and paternity leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Opportunities to travel and meet colleagues

Travel perks for company events

Qualifications

• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred).
• Proven track record of exceeding expectations.
• Strong work ethic and confidence in collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead a distributed team of engineers.
• Manage expectations with senior management.
• Participate in code and architectural reviews.

Skills

Leadership

Linux

Communication

Mentorship

Collaboration

Problem Solving

Education

Undergraduate degree in a technical subject

Tools

Python

Go

Typescript

Job description

Join to apply for the Engineering Manager, MAAS role at Canonical

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 enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include top public cloud and silicon providers, along with industry leaders across sectors. We are a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1200+ colleagues in over 80 countries and few office-based roles, with teams meeting 2-4 times annually in interesting locations worldwide to align on strategy and execution.

The company is founder-led, profitable, and growing.

We are hiring an Engineering Manager to expand the MAAS team. Our mission with MAAS ("Metal as a Service") is to provide the best solution for building and managing private bare-metal infrastructure, offering a cloud-style on-demand API for physical server provisioning, network configuration, and storage. We seek engineering managers with experience in high-quality software development and high-performance team leadership, with deep familiarity with Linux on physical servers, Linux storage, and data center networking.

MAAS components cover the entire software stack: from hardware detection and provisioning to the management web interface, API, and CLI. Our most effective engineers are fluent across these layers and can anticipate the impacts of design choices in a complex distributed system.

At Canonical, you must have a solid technical background but your main responsibility is to run an effective team and develop your colleagues. You are expected to foster growth, deliver outstanding work, find professional and personal satisfaction, and collaborate well with colleagues and the community. Technical leadership and a background in software engineering are prerequisites. You will lead, challenge, and develop engineers, influence culture positively, facilitate technical delivery, and work on strategy and execution. You will also collaborate across engineering teams, including those responsible for cloud-init, LXD, and public cloud offerings.

The ideal candidate will have leadership attributes, deep Linux knowledge, and the ability to solve challenging distributed systems problems.

Location: This is a work-from-anywhere position available in EMEA or the Americas.

The role entails:

1. Leading a distributed team of engineers in your time zone.
2. Talent development through coaching, mentoring, feedback, and career planning.
3. Managing expectations with other engineering teams, senior management, and external stakeholders.
4. Advocating for and advancing modern software development practices.
5. Participating in code and architectural reviews.
6. Engaging with broader teams at Canonical, the open source community, and partners.
7. Traveling to global events for 4 to 6 weeks per year.

What we are looking for in you:

1. Exceptional academic record from high school and university.
2. Undergraduate degree in a technical subject.
3. Confidence in speaking up, exchanging feedback, and sharing ideas.
4. A track record of exceeding expectations to achieve outstanding results.
5. Leadership qualities and commitment to mentorship.
6. Passion for technology demonstrated through personal projects.
7. Strong work ethic and confidence to collaborate with motivated colleagues.
8. Professional English communication skills.
9. Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred).
10. Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability.
11. Appreciation for diversity and effectiveness in a multicultural environment.
12. Thoughtfulness and self-motivation.
13. Result-oriented with a drive to meet commitments.
14. Willingness to travel internationally twice a year for up to two weeks.
15. Understanding of modern Linux cloud computing technologies, including networking, storage, containers, and K8s.
16. Programming experience in Python and Go.
17. Experience in developing and growing people.

Nice-to-have skills:

1. Experience with Typescript and modern web frameworks such as React, Angular, Svelte, or Vue.

What we offer colleagues:

1. A distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints.
2. Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 annually.
3. Annual compensation review and recognition rewards.
4. Annual holiday leave, maternity and paternity leave.
5. Employee Assistance Programme.
6. Opportunities to travel and meet colleagues.
7. Travel perks for company events.

About Canonical:

Canonical is a pioneering open source tech firm, publishing Ubuntu, a key open source platform for AI, IoT, and cloud. We recruit globally, uphold high standards, and expect excellence. Since 2004, most colleagues work remotely. Working here challenges you to think differently, learn new skills, and improve continually.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer, fostering a workplace free from discrimination, valuing diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds.