Linux Engineering Manager at Canonical - Lead & Grow in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
Career level and market positioning: This is a senior engineering management role at a globally recognized open-source company. Canonical's Partner Engineering Manager titles are equivalent to Director-level technical leadership at many mid-size companies. Salaries for comparable roles at remote-first tech companies typically range from $130,000–$200,000 USD annually depending on region — Canonical does not disclose salary, which is a known concern among applicants.
Skills developed: This role builds a rare combination of deep Linux/kernel technical expertise and enterprise partner relationship management. Silicon partnership experience (working with major chip vendors) is highly sought after, particularly as the ARM and RISC-V ecosystems grow. These skills translate well to roles at Red Hat, Google, AWS, Intel, Qualcomm, and similar companies.
Culture signals: Canonical is a mature, fully distributed company (~1,000 employees) with a strong engineering culture. The emphasis on quality standards, agile methodology, and cross-team alignment suggests structured processes rather than startup chaos.
Green flags:
- Explicit focus on coaching and developing team members — good for leadership skill growth
- Exposure to cutting-edge silicon integration (IoT + server-class hardware)
- Globally respected open-source brand on your CV
Yellow flags:
- No salary transparency in the posting
- Managing fully distributed teams across many timezones can be demanding
Overall, this is an excellent role for a senior Linux engineer ready to step fully into technical leadership with global scope.
Lead an engineering team that partners with the Linux engineers of a major silicon company, and works across the full Linux stack from kernel to GUI, to optimise Ubuntu, the world's most widely used Linux desktop and server, for the latest silicon.
The role is a fast-paced, problem-solving role that's challenging yet very exciting. The right candidate must be resourceful, articulate, and able to deliver on a wide variety of solutions across PC and IoT technologies. Our teams partner with specialist engineers from major silicon companies to integrate next-generation features and performance enhancements for upcoming hardware.
As a Partner Engineering Manager at Canonical, your role is to manage relationships with our key technology partners by ensuring timely delivery on agreed project milestones. Technical leadership experience and a background in software engineering are necessary prerequisites for this role. You will be expected to lead, challenge, and develop strong engineers, positively influence the culture, facilitate technical delivery, and work with your team on strategy and execution.
What you'll do
- Lead a team of distributed engineers to design and implement the best Ubuntu integration for the latest IoT and server-class hardware platforms and software stacks
- Engage with commercial partners to deliver a delightful, optimised, first class Ubuntu experience on their platforms
- Develop your team through coaching, mentoring, leading by example, and feedback
- Oversee commercial engagements and support timely delivery on agreed project milestones
- Ensure an ongoing commitment to strict quality and reliability standards
- Engage with other teams at Canonical to ensure alignment on product architecture and roadmaps
- Work from home with global travel up to twice a year for up to two weeks
Who you are
- You have worked with Linux distributions, Debian packaging and high performance, server-class hardware
- You have experience working directly with customers, resolving their technical issues, interpreting their business challenges and effectively communicating how your solution will meet their needs
- You have demonstrated experience managing or leading a team of software engineers
- You have understanding of agile software development methodologies
- You collaborate effectively across multiple internal teams, building trust and delivering results
- You have effective communications skills in English, both written and oral
- You have a bachelor's (or equivalent university level) degree, preferably in a technology field
What Canonical offers
- Learning and Development opportunities
- Annual Compensation Review
- Recognition Rewards
- Annual Leave
- Priority Pass for travel
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this role fully remote or is office attendance required?
Which regions are eligible to apply for this position?
What technical background is required for this role?
Does Canonical disclose salary for this position?
What does the Priority Pass benefit mean for this role?
