Engineering Manager - Distributed Systems, Python / Go

Home Based - Americas · Home based - EMEA · Remote · Posted Oct 1, 2026

At a glance

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 a leading platform for AI, IoT, and the cloud, we are changing the world of software.
We recruit globally and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence; to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since our 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.
Requisition ID: 1361

Canonical is hiring an Engineering Manager for Distributed Systems Testing to lead a team responsible for the quality engineering platform enabling deployment and validation of distributed systems across Canonical's cloud portfolio.
The role combines strong software engineering judgement with people leadership to develop talent, establish effective practices, and shape technical direction with senior engineers.
This is a globally remote role, typically leading a team concentrated within a major time zone such as EMEA or the Americas.

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of software and quality engineers, ranging from graduate to senior level
Set clear expectations, strengthen engineering practices, and ensure timely delivery against agreed goals
Partner with senior engineers to shape technical strategy, architecture, roadmap, and engineering standards
Guide the development of automated testing infrastructure for the reliability, interoperability, and resilience of distributed systems
Improve CI pipelines, testing tools, and reporting used to validate Canonical's products and solutions across bare-metal, private and public cloud environments
Enable engineering teams across Canonical to adopt effective distributed-systems testing practices and tooling
Contribute technical leadership through design and code reviews, debugging, and hands-on engineering where appropriate
Represent the team with stakeholders and collaborate across Canonical on quality engineering, infrastructure, and developer experience

An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
Experience in leading, coaching, and mentoring software engineers
Professional software engineering experience with Python or Go
Expertise in distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, quality engineering, or a closely related domain
Strong knowledge of modern software testing processes, strategies, and automation
Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
Strong technical judgement and the ability to engage meaningfully in code reviews, architecture discussions, and software design
Experience working in an agile development environment with the ability to organize a team to deliver high-quality results
Professional written and spoken English with excellent communication and presentation skills
Great interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability, demonstrating passion, thoughtfulness, and self-motivation

Experience with cloud technologies such as Kubernetes, OpenStack, Juju, Terraform, AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure
Designing testing strategies for distributed or cloud-native systems
Building or operating large-scale CI/CD and test infrastructure
Applying AI or machine learning to test analysis, failure classification, or engineering workflows
Deploying, operating, or debugging distributed systems
Leading globally distributed teams

Globally remote role with teams concentrated within major time zones such as EMEA or the Americas
Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each

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