Graduate Software Engineer, Open Source and Linux, Canonical Ubuntu at Canonical

About Canonical

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, as well as industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with over 1200 colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. Teams typically meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution. Canonical is a founder-led company, profitable, and consistently growing.

We are actively hiring 2025 and 2026 Graduate Software Engineers to join engineering teams globally. As a global platform company, we offer a wide range of software engineering challenges in both open source products and commercial business systems. Our teams work with a variety of languages, primarily Python, Golang, Rust, C/C++, JavaScript, and Bash. We operate from the very lowest levels of the Linux system, including BIOS, bootloaders, firmware, kernel, and drivers, all the way up to desktop applications and containers. We work on diverse devices, from tiny ones like the Raspberry Pi and new RISC-V boards, to supercomputers, clouds, and Kubernetes clusters. Our work encompasses compilers, toolchains, security, cryptography, performance, and documentation. Some teams focus on packaging thousands of software pieces, while others specialize in deep contributions to a single codebase. If you are passionate about the potential of open source for humanity and enterprise, have outstanding academic achievements, and are eager to contribute to the open source stack, this is the ideal opportunity to apply to Canonical. We will collaborate with you to identify teams and projects that align with your skills and motivations. This process is highly competitive, requiring effort and excellence to succeed.

Most of our engineering teams work from home. We strive to align single teams within a single time zone: EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), APAC (Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean), and AMER (North, South, and Central Americas). Even while working remotely, we ensure you have colleagues for coaching, mentorship, and collaborative problem-solving, including pair programming. Larger projects often involve multiple teams and may span the globe. We engage with the open source community and specialize in building teams that excel in the 'fishbowl' environment of open source engineering. This is a full-time role, five days a week, often involving challenging problems with significant responsibility. While we generally maintain a healthy work-life balance with good holidays and avoid weekend/night work, we expect productive and intense engagement Monday to Friday. We bring all our engineering teams together in person twice a year for an intensive 'sprint' with other teams, fostering discussion and enabling diverse career development paths. This is an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate and develop your software skills, learn about a wide range of technologies, make a meaningful impact on open source, and explore interesting new cities you might not otherwise visit. If you find the open source stack inspiring and have been a consistently high-performing student throughout your academic career, this will be a challenging and exciting start to your journey.

The Role Entails:

• Shaping the roadmap for your product at global sprints held every six months.
• Focusing on design and user experience, even for developer tooling and command-line applications.
• Writing high-quality, resilient, and performant code, potentially serving millions of demanding daily users.
• Working towards mastery of key programming languages and deep Linux system knowledge.
• Engaging with users and the open source community through code reviews and issue trackers.
• Responding to customer issues as a priority, developing a strong understanding of enterprise requirements.
• Developing skills and awareness of security in software design and implementation.

What We Are Looking For In You:

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university.
• Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Business Informatics, Mathematics, or another STEM discipline with programming courses.
• Confidence to get started and deliver high-quality code in one of Python, Rust, C++, Golang, Javascript, or Java.
• Experience with Ubuntu or another Linux distribution.
• Proven track record of going above and beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results.
• Results-oriented and organized, with the drive to meet commitments.
• Personal projects in technology and software engineering beyond academic curriculum.
• Professional written and spoken English.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability.
• Strong personal responsibility and accountability.
• Thoughtfulness, self-awareness, and the ability to reflect and develop.
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events, each up to two weeks long.

Nice-to-Have Skills:

• Upstream open source contributions.
• Packaging and Linux distribution contributions (e.g., Debian, Fedora, Arch, Nix).
• Leadership and organizational skills.
• Presentation and writing skills.
• Business and commercial interests.

What We Offer Colleagues: Benefits

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We review compensation annually (and more frequently 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 that reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure global fairness.

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person (Company Retreats)
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year (Learning Budget)
• Annual compensation review
• Recognition rewards
• Annual holiday leave (Paid Time Off)
• Maternity and paternity leave (Paid Parental Leave)
• Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform (Wellness Programs)
• 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

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global movement 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 fundamentally changing the world of software. We recruit globally and maintain a very high standard for individuals joining our company. We expect excellence, as to succeed, we must 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, challenging you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and elevate your game.

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and superior products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.

Requisition ID: 1339