Senior IoT Linux Engineer at Canonical - Remote EMEA

Canonical; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Team sprints

Travel upgrades

Wellness platform

Job summary

Canonical is hiring a Senior Ubuntu Embedded IoT System Engineer to represent the company with OEMs/ODMs and deliver Ubuntu on partner hardware across robotics, automotive, and other industries. You will enhance Linux systems for broad device ecosystems.

The role is fully remote within the EMEA region, with occasional international travel for team sprints and partner visits. Strong C, Python, Bash and kernel expertise are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in STEM with strong academic record.
• Professional English communication skills (spoken and written).
• Proficiency in C, Python and Bash; Linux boot, kernel, and system-level knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Provide software and system engineering services for OEM/ODM customers.
• Collaborate with partners on platform bring-up and patches.
• Perform root cause analysis and communicate results to teams.

Skills

C

Python

Bash

Linux

Linux kernel

ARM

u-boot

English

distributed team

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM

Tools

u-boot

Job description

Senior IoT Linux Engineer at Canonical - Remote EMEA — Remote

Remote-First DNA:

Canonical has operated as a fully distributed company since 2004, making this one of the most nomad-compatible employers in the tech industry. The role is explicitly remote within the EMEA region, which means your physical base must be somewhere in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa — but within that vast area, you have significant flexibility.

Schedule & Timezone:

Working with OEM/ODM partners in Taiwan, China, the EU, and the USA means occasional cross-timezone calls are unavoidable. EMEA placement suggests a roughly UTC±3 sweet spot. Cities like Lisbon (UTC+0/+1), Tallinn (UTC+2), or Tbilisi (UTC+4) all fall comfortably within this range.

Cost of Living Comparison (no salary disclosed):

• Lisbon, Portugal: ~$2,000–$2,800/month comfortable living. Strong digital nomad visa (D8) available for remote workers.
• Tbilisi, Georgia: ~$1,200–$1,800/month. Georgia allows visa-free stays of up to 1 year for most nationalities — very nomad-friendly.
• Tallinn, Estonia: ~$2,500–$3,500/month. Home of the world’s first Digital Nomad Visa; ideal for EU-based remote professionals.

Travel Perks:

Twice-yearly in-person team sprints (company-covered), Priority Pass lounge access, and travel upgrades for long-haul events are standout perks. The role itself also involves occasional international travel to EU, USA, Taiwan, and China — expect roughly 2–4 trips per year combining company events and partner visits.

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 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’s OEM Delivery Team works with tier-one OEM, IHV, and ODM customers to pre-load Ubuntu Classic, Ubuntu Core, and bring Ubuntu directly to millions of users. You will have the opportunity to enable cutting edge technology with world leading partners, and become the first contributor to the innovation.

We are hiring a Senior Ubuntu Embedded IoT System Engineer to represent Canonical with leading OEMs, ODMs, and silicon partners and to deliver the best user experience of Ubuntu on partner hardware for Robotics, Automotive, SmartNIC, Medical device, Industry gateway and many other products.

In this role, you will use your knowledge of Linux and hardware to improve Ubuntu for millions of users.

We work with the world’s most significant silicon companies — Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Mediatek, Hisilicon, Samsung and more — to optimize Ubuntu on their next-generation chips. We also work with OEMs and ODMs — Dell, HP, Lenovo, Advantech, ADLink and many more — to ensure that Ubuntu works perfectly on their hardware.

This fast-paced environment requires excellent time management, insightful debugging, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and deep knowledge of the Linux system.

Location: This role will be based remotely in the EMEA region.

The role entails

• Provide software and system engineering services for OEM and ODM customers
• Work closely with partners on platform bring up
• Work with project managers and Field/QA engineers to identify, triage, and fix critical problems
• Work with individual upstream projects to find and apply patches for bugs
• Conduct root cause analysis, collect and organize details to reproduce and explain results
• Facilitate communication between Ubuntu, firmware and hardware engineering teams
• Occasional international travel to the EU, USA, Taiwan and China

What we are looking for in you

• A Bachelor or higher degree in STEM, preferably Computer Science or Electrical Engineering
• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skills
• Familiar with C, Python and Bash
• Familiar with Linux boot up process
• Linux kernel, boot and system-level architecture skills
• Experience of bootloader development, such as u-boot
• Software development on Arm or non-X86 platforms
• Linux debugging and resolution abilities
• Ability to be productive in a globally distributed team
• Ability to learn fast to work on cutting edge technologies
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events up to two weeks long

Nice-to-have skills

• Experience with system firmware, including uboot, UEFI, ACPI, DSDT, boot loaders, device firmware
• Experience debugging power management on PCI ASPM, SATA ALPM, low power profiles
• Experience in board design, bring up, and validation
• Experience with electrical engineering design tools (e.g. schematic capture, layout)
• Computer architecture knowledge of x86, ARM, RISC-V
• Familiarity with Ubuntu development model
• Shell/Python scripting skills

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 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
• Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events

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.

Is this role truly fully remote or does it require occasional office visits? The role is fully remote within the EMEA region. There are no office requirements, though you will be expected to travel internationally twice a year for company team sprints (up to two weeks each) and occasionally for partner visits to the EU, USA, Taiwan, and China. What countries in EMEA are eligible for this position? Canonical hires across the entire EMEA region, which spans Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The job description does not specify excluded countries, and Canonical states it recruits on a global basis with colleagues in 75+ countries. What is the salary for the Senior Ubuntu Embedded IoT System Engineer role? Canonical has not disclosed a specific salary range for this position. The company states it considers geographical location, experience, and performance when shaping compensation, and conducts annual compensation reviews with performance-driven bonuses. What hardware and firmware experience is required versus nice-to-have? Required experience includes Linux kernel/boot architecture, bootloader development (e.g., u-boot), and software development on ARM or non-x86 platforms. UEFI, ACPI, DSDT, power management debugging, and board design experience are listed as nice-to-have but not mandatory. How often does the team meet in person? Canonical holds team sprints two to four times per year in various locations around the world. Employees should be able to travel internationally for up to two weeks at a time for these events.

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