Staff Engineer

Roles and responsibilities

• Lead design and architecture of an impactful open source project
• Code in Golang, Rust, Python, C/C++ or Typescript / React
• Collaborate proactively with a globally distributed team
• Mentor, develop and advise colleagues in their career progression
• Display technical leadership in Canonical and our communities
• Debug issues and produce high-quality code to fix them
• Contribute to technical documentation with the aim to make it the best of its kind
• Work from home with global travel twice annually for company events
  

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
• Technical leadership as well as team motivation, direction and pace
• Well-organised, self-starting and able to deliver to schedule
• Professional manner interacting with colleagues, partners, and community
• Deep experience with at least one of Go, Rust, Python or C
• Subject matter expertise in your engineering domain
• Conscientiousness and detail orientation, with a focus on performance
• Professional written and spoken English
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, and self-motivation
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks each
  

Additional Skills That You Might Also Bring

• Experience with container technologies such as LXD, Docker and Kubernetes
• Experience with highly concurrent, distributed systems
• Experience with embedded systems
• Performance engineering – from kernel to web – benchmarks, optimisation
• Experience with software security – fuzzing, tabletop threat models, analysis, audit
• Experience build systems and toolchains, including for cross-compilation
• Experience with public clouds or OpenStack
• Experience with Debian/Ubuntu packaging
• Experience with systems programming or scalable web services
• Deep quality and test engineering
• Web or Flutter front-end experience
• REST and gRPC API experience
• SQL and NoSQL data store expertise
• Experience with public clouds or OpenStack
• Experience with Debian/Ubuntu packaging
• Experience with systems programming or scalable web services

Desired candidate profile

1. Technical Leadership

• Complex Problem Solving: Lead the solution of difficult technical problems by applying in-depth knowledge of the technology stack and domain. Take ownership of critical technical challenges and help the team navigate complex scenarios.
• Architecture and Design: Contribute to and sometimes lead the design of software architectures and technical solutions. Ensure that designs are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with the company’s long-term goals.
• Code Quality and Best Practices: Set high standards for coding practices and ensure the codebase remains clean, efficient, and well-tested. Advocate for best practices in software engineering, such as design patterns, testing strategies, and performance optimization.
• Technical Decision Making: Influence technical decisions across the team and organization. Evaluate different approaches and technologies to select the most suitable ones for the given challenges.

2. Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing

• Mentoring Junior Engineers: Provide mentorship to junior and mid-level engineers. Help them develop their skills and grow in their careers. Review their work, provide feedback, and help them learn from mistakes.
• Cross-team Collaboration: Work closely with engineers from other teams (e.g., product, QA, DevOps) to ensure alignment and consistency in software development across the organization.
• Knowledge Sharing: Act as a technical resource for the team by sharing knowledge through documentation, internal presentations, and code reviews. Promote a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

3. Ownership of Key Systems and Features

• End-to-End Ownership: Take ownership of significant parts of the product, from design and development through to deployment and maintenance. This may involve leading large technical initiatives or projects that impact multiple teams.
• Collaboration with Product Managers: Work closely with product managers to understand business requirements, ensure technical feasibility, and prioritize work. Translate business needs into technical solutions.
• System Reliability and Performance: Monitor and optimize the performance of the systems you own. Focus on scalability, reliability, and efficiency, and ensure that any critical issues are addressed quickly.

4. Innovation and Improvement

• Driving Innovation: Stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and emerging technologies. Propose and implement new tools, technologies, and frameworks that can improve the team’s productivity or product performance.
• Process Improvement: Contribute to process improvements, such as refining the development workflow, adopting new tools, or enhancing the CI/CD pipeline to speed up delivery without sacrificing quality.

5. Cross-Functional Communication

• Clear Communication: Communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. This includes explaining complex technical challenges, offering solutions, and providing updates on progress.
• Collaboration with Leadership: Work closely with engineering managers, architects, and other senior engineers to ensure technical direction aligns with business goals and overall company strategy.