Senior Security Operations Engineer

Canonical Ltd.; Johannesburg; Remote; ZAR 2,322,000 - 3,483,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Distributed team sprints

Learning budget USD 2000 per year

Annual compensation review

Annual leave

Parental leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Travel opportunities

Priority Pass travel upgrades

Job summary

Canonical is seeking a Senior or Staff Security Engineer to lead and contribute across the Security Operations Center, security software and tooling, and incident response. You will mentor engineers, publish security content, and help advance open source security initiatives.

The role emphasizes leadership within an agile, security-focused engineering environment, with opportunities to influence Canonical's security posture and open source contributions.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record
• Undergraduate degree in CS or STEM or equivalent
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience
• Professional cybersecurity experience, preferably leading an SOC
• Professional engineering experience
• Eagerness to contribute to open source security
• Proficiency in Python and Bash
• Knowledge of Git, GitOps, IaC, and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes

Responsibilities

• Provide operational and engineering leadership.
• Implement and evolve Canonical’s Security Operations Center.
• Design and develop security software and platforms.
• Monitor for, identify, respond to, and remediate security incidents.
• Assess and improve Canonical’s security controls.
• Mentor early-career Security Operations engineers.
• Plan and deliver work within Canonical's agile engineering framework.
• Contribute to open source security.
• Publish blog posts, whitepapers and conference presentations.

Skills

Python

Bash

Git

GitOps

Kubernetes

Security operations

Leadership

Security engineering

Education

Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM

Tools

GitOps

IaC

Kubernetes tooling

Job description

The Canonical Security Operations team is hiring for a Senior or Staff engineer. The Security Operations team is responsible for designing, building, and operating a world-class Security Operations Center, and the successful candidate will provide leadership, mentorship, expertise, and outstanding individual contributions towards those ends.

We are looking for individuals with engineering and security experience, as well as a history of remarkable achievement. Senior security operations personnel with engineering experience and senior developers with security experience are equally well-suited to this role.

Beyond securing Canonical’s digital estate, this position represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the open source ecosystem. Team members may present at industry conferences, share threat intelligence with the wider community, or publish open source security software.

Junior positions are also available for less-experienced individuals with a compelling academic or professional background.

This Role Involves Aspects Of

• Traditional SOC duties - security monitoring, threat hunting, and response.
• Security engineering - assessing and protecting Canonical platforms and products.
• Software engineering - building custom tools and platforms.
• Site reliability engineering - deploying, maintaining, and automating security tools.

In This Role, You Will

• Provide operational and engineering leadership.
• Implement and evolve Canonical’s Security Operations Center.
• Design and develop security software and platforms.
• Monitor for, identify, respond to, and remediate security incidents.
• Assess and improve Canonical’s security controls.
• Mentor early-career Security Operations engineers.
• Plan and deliver work within Canonical's agile engineering framework.
• Contribute to open source security.
• Publish blog posts, whitepapers and conference presentations.

We Are Looking For

• An exceptional academic track record.
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about your alternative path.
• 10+ years of relevant professional experience
• Professional cybersecurity experience, preferably working or leading a Security Operations Center.
• Professional engineering experience.
• An eagerness to contribute to open source security.
• Proficiency in common scripting languages, such as Python and Bash.
• Knowledge of Git, GitOps, Infrastructure-as-Code, and common orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes)

Though Optional, We Value

• Familiarity with security frameworks such as the NIST CSF, CIS CSC, and ISO 27001
• Knowledge of security architecture and market-leading security tools.
• Experience in a security operations team or a security operations center.
• Experience in offensive or defensive security teams with hands‑on ability.
• Experience with advanced persistent threats.
• Proficiency in additional programming languages, such as Golang.

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 recognise 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 2,000 per year
• Annual compensation reviewRecognition 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 on a daily basis. 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. Canonical has been a remote-first company 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

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.