Junior Engineer

Job Description

Junior Engineer | Canonical

The Tone:
This is an early career opportunity for a Junior Engineer at Canonical, a leading provider of open source software and operating systems globally. Operating as a remote-first company since 2004, Canonical challenges its 1200+ colleagues across 75+ countries to work smarter and innovate. This role is central to the Ubuntu Engineering organization, where you will contribute to the design, maintenance, and evolution of Ubuntu, the world’s most deployed open source operating system. Your work will be critical in enabling innovation for millions of users across public cloud, data science, AI, and IoT initiatives, ensuring software quality, performance, and resilience.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Remote

• Team: Ubuntu Engineering organization
• Mission: Integrate fresh open source software, provide robust upgrade paths, and engineer the future of Ubuntu with a focus on quality, performance, and resilience.
• Tech Stack: Rust, Go, Python, Flutter, C/C++

What You’ll Actually Do
• Develop Software: Design, build, and ship new foundational systems software and applications using Rust, Go, Python, and C/C++.
• Manage Software Lifecycle: Package, integrate, test, and upload a vast catalog of open source software to the Ubuntu repositories, utilizing both Debian and Snap packaging.
• Engineer Solutions: Debug complex issues across the distribution, then design and deliver robust, long-term solutions for the Ubuntu platform.
• Document and Contribute: Author and improve technical and community documentation, while actively contributing to upstream and neighboring open source projects.
• Collaborate Remotely: Work effectively as part of a globally distributed team, continuously learning and enhancing your technical and professional skills in a remote-first environment.

The Must-Haves
• Background: This role is designed for early career engineers, including new graduates, who hold an exceptional academic track record from both high school and university. A compelling narrative about an alternative path may be considered in lieu of an undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM. Candidates must also be able to travel twice yearly for company events, up to two weeks each time.
• Experience: Demonstrated experience with one or more of Rust, Go, Python, Flutter, or C/C++ is required. Candidates should also show a track record of going above and beyond expectations in their projects or prior work.
• Skills: Possess professional written and spoken English, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and a deep passion for open source software and its community.
• Bonus: Familiarity with Linux distributions, system debugging tools and techniques, automation tooling and CI/CD systems, and prior experience contributing to open source projects.