Opportunity

MLOps & Data Engineer Role at Canonical | Career Growth in Columbus

Location Columbus
Company Canonical Ltd.
Source jobicy
Posted 2026-08-22 17:00:04

Career & Market Insight

Canonical is a genuine remote-first pioneer — not a company that reluctantly went remote, but one built distributed from day one in 2004. For engineers who value autonomy and async-adjacent culture, this is a strong signal of a healthy remote environment.

Skill development: This role sits at the intersection of multiple high-demand areas — Python, Kubernetes, MLOps (Kubeflow, MLFlow), workflow orchestration (Airflow, Temporal), and data warehousing (Trino, ClickHouse). These are precisely the skills commanding top salaries in 2024–2025. Engineers in this space typically earn $120K–$180K+ at comparable companies (Google, Databricks, AWS).

Compensation context: Canonical is transparent that pay is geo-adjusted, which means engineers in lower cost-of-living regions may earn less than US-based peers at FAANG. The annual review cadence and performance bonus are positive, but candidates expecting Silicon Valley rates should calibrate expectations. The $2,000 L&D budget is modest but present.

Green flags:

  • Profitable, founder-led company — no VC pressure for sudden layoffs or pivots
  • Open source work builds a strong public portfolio
  • Exposure to cutting-edge MLOps and data infrastructure tooling
  • High bar for hiring means strong peer caliber

Yellow flags:

  • Emphasis on "exceptional academic track record" may feel exclusionary
  • Geo-adjusted pay can significantly undercut market rates depending on location
  • The role spans a wide tool surface — generalist depth required

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, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and very few roles based in offices. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution.

The company is founder led, profitable and growing. We are hiring Python and Kubernetes Specialist Engineers focused on Data, Workflows, AI/ML and Analytics Solutions to join our teams building open source solutions for public cloud and private infrastructure.

As a software engineer on the team, you'll collaborate on end-to-end data analytics and MLOps solutions composed of popular, open-source, machine learning tools, such as Kubeflow, MLFlow, DVC, and Feast. You may also work on ETL, data governance and visualization tools like Apache SuperSet, dbt, workflow orchestration tools such as Airflow and Temporal, or data warehouse solutions such as Apache Trino or ClickHouse. These solutions may be run on servers or on the cloud, on machines or on Kubernetes, on developer desktops, or as web services.

We serve the needs of individuals and community members as much as the needs of our Global 2000 and Fortune 500 customers; we make our primary work available free of charge and our Pro subscriptions are also available to individuals for personal use at no cost. Our goal is to enable more people to enjoy the benefits of open source, regardless of their circumstances.

Location: This initiative spans many teams that are home-based and in multiple time zones. We believe in distributed collaboration but we also try to ensure that colleagues have company during their work hours. Successful candidates will join a team where most members and your manager are broadly in the same time zone so that you have the benefits of constant collaboration and discussion.

What your day will look like

  • Develop your understanding of the entire Linux stack, from kernel, networking, and storage, to the application layer
  • Design, build and maintain solutions that will be deployed on public and private clouds and local workstations
  • Master distributed systems concepts such as observability, identity, tracing
  • Work with both Kubernetes and machine-oriented open source applications
  • Collaborate proactively with a distributed team of engineers, designers and product managers
  • Debug issues and interact in public with upstream and Ubuntu communities
  • Generate and discuss ideas, and collaborate on finding good solutions

What we are looking for in you

  • Professional or academic software delivery using Python
  • Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
  • Undergraduate degree in a technical subject or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path
  • Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation
  • Track record of going above-and-beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results
  • Passion for technology evidenced by personal projects and initiatives
  • The work ethic and confidence to shine alongside motivated colleagues
  • Professional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skills
  • Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
  • Appreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi-cultural, multi-national organisation
  • Thoughtfulness and self-motivation
  • Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
  • Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long

Additional skills that would be nice to have

The following skills may be helpful to you in the role, but we don't expect everyone to bring all of them.

  • Proven track record of building highly automated machine learning solutions, data pipelines, or orchestrating workflows for the cloud
  • Hands-on experience with machine learning libraries or tools
  • Experience with container technologies (Docker, LXD, Kubernetes, etc.)
  • Experience with public clouds (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
  • Working knowledge of cloud computing
  • Passionate about software quality and testing
  • Experience working on an open source project

What we offer colleagues

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 or commission. 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 of software. 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. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home 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

Is this role truly fully remote or are there office requirements?
This role is fully remote — Canonical has operated distributed since 2004, with colleagues in 70+ countries and very few office-based positions. You will need to attend twice-yearly in-person team sprints, each up to two weeks long.
Are there timezone restrictions for this position?
There is a soft timezone requirement: Canonical tries to place you on a team where most members and your manager share your broad timezone. This ensures real-time collaboration and daily communication, but does not restrict you to a specific country.
What ML and data tools will I work with in this role?
You'll work with tools such as Kubeflow, MLFlow, DVC, Feast, Apache Superset, dbt, Airflow, Temporal, Apache Trino, and ClickHouse, depending on your team assignment within the data and MLOps initiative.
Does Canonical offer a learning and development budget?
Yes, Canonical provides a personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year for all team members.
Does Canonical adjust salaries based on where I live?
Yes, Canonical states that compensation is shaped by geographical location, experience, and performance, and is reviewed annually. This means pay varies by country and region rather than being a fixed global rate.
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