Security Engineering Manager at Canonical | Linux CVE in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
This role sits at the intersection of high-impact open-source security and people leadership — a rare combination that commands significant market value. Security Engineering Managers at companies of Canonical's scale typically earn $130k–$180k USD annually in the US market; Canonical's geo-adjusted model may yield somewhat lower base in lower-cost regions, but the global scope of the role remains senior-level.
Skills this role develops:
- CVE/vulnerability lifecycle management at enterprise scale — highly sought-after in both public and private sectors
- Open-source security collaboration — builds credibility and visibility in the broader Linux/security community
- Engineering people management — mentoring from graduate to senior engineers accelerates leadership maturity
- Cross-functional stakeholder communication — direct engagement with customers and community strengthens executive presence
Green flags: Canonical has been remote-first since 2004 — not a pandemic pivot. The $2,000 L&D budget signals investment in engineer growth. Annual compensation reviews with merit-based bonuses are above average for the open-source world. Ubuntu's ubiquity means your work has verifiable, massive real-world impact — a strong career narrative asset.
Watch for: Canonical's "exceptional academic track record" requirement from high school onwards is unusual and may reflect a high-bar, high-pressure culture. The role spans a wide remit (technical leadership + people management + stakeholder relations), so boundary-setting will be important for work-life balance.
Best suited for: A senior security engineer or existing engineering lead ready to step into full people management, ideally with Linux/Debian/Ubuntu experience.
As the most widely used Linux distribution, Ubuntu underpins the security of the entire internet. The role of Security Engineering Manager directly impacts the safety and security of millions of users worldwide. Join a team of security experts dedicated to protecting the open-source ecosystem and driving innovation. Your leadership will be instrumental in addressing emerging threats, developing robust security measures, and ensuring the continued integrity of Ubuntu.
The security engineering team's first responsibility is to respond to emerging threats and aim to secure the open source ecosystem for community and enterprise use. Your work will improve the security of millions of people, by addressing potential CVEs and vulnerabilities alongside the lifecycle of Canonical products such as Ubuntu. You will engage directly with our community and customers, as well as coordinating efforts across multiple engineering teams and projects to make this happen.
An Engineering Manager is responsible for line management and career guidance. The ability to develop engineering talent, to represent your team and product from a technical perspective, and to drive collaboration with other teams and customers are all critical to success in this role.
What you will do in this role
- Lead and develop a team of engineers, ranging from graduate to senior
- Provide technical guidance on vulnerability remediation
- Drive the development of new security engineering projects
- Work with upstream open source projects on vulnerability lifecycle handling
- Coach, mentor, and offer career development feedback
- Identify and measure team health indicators
- Implement disciplined engineering processes
- Represent your team and product to stakeholders, partners, and customers
- Develop and evangelise great engineering and organisational practices
- Plan and manage progress on agreed goals and projects
- Be an active part of the security engineering leadership team, collaborating with other leaders
What we are looking for in you
- An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about your alternative path
- Drive, and a track record of going above-and-beyond expectations
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
- A love of developing and growing people and a track record of it
- Organised and able to ensure your team delivers timely, high quality results
- Professional manner interacting with colleagues, partners, and community
- Solid background in software development, including expertise in support and maintenance
- Mastery in any programming language (Go, Java, C, Python, ...)
- Knowledgeable and passionate about software and application security
- Solid experience working in an agile development environment
- A demonstrated drive for continual learning
- Builds trust, relationships and confidence
- Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
- Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each
Optional things we value
- Strong technical understanding of the inner-workings of Linux distributions (ideally Ubuntu or Debian)
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 review
- Recognition 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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