Embedded Linux Manager at Canonical - Remote Global — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Remote-First DNA Since 2004: Canonical has operated as a fully distributed company for over 20 years, making this role genuinely location-independent — not just remote-tolerant. There is no office to report to, and the async-first culture is deeply embedded in how teams operate.
Timezone Constraints: The role is anchored to one of three geographic regions (Americas, EMEA, or APAC). If you are hired for the Americas team, you'll need to operate within a few timezones of your reports — meaning nomads hopping between, say, Medellín, Mexico City, and Lisbon would need to plan carefully. Long stays in LATAM or North American timezones work well; extended stints in Southeast Asia would create friction for an Americas manager.
Visa Considerations: Many LATAM countries offer tourist stays of 90–180 days, suitable for short-term nomads. Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina have digital nomad or remote worker visas. For Americas-based managers, destinations like Medellín (Colombia) or Buenos Aires (Argentina) offer excellent infrastructure at low cost. For EMEA managers, Portugal's D8 digital nomad visa is a strong option.
Travel Perks: This role includes meaningful travel benefits:
- Twice-yearly team sprints in interesting global locations
- Priority Pass lounge access and travel upgrades for long-haul flights
- $2,000 annual learning budget (can fund coworking memberships or courses)
Cost of Living Comparison: Without a disclosed salary, exact comparisons are hard, but senior engineering manager roles at Canonical-scale companies typically pay $120K–$180K+ USD. At that range, living in Bangkok (~$1,800/mo), Medellín (~$1,500/mo), or Lisbon (~$2,500/mo) would allow significant savings versus US-based living costs.
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 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. 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 an Embedded Linux Field Engineering Manager to lead a regionally-focused team of Field Engineers in Presales and Professional Services activities, helping customers with solution architecture, design and delivery.
Our Embedded mission is to enable companies to make fleets of very secure connected devices. Canonical provides Ubuntu, Ubuntu Core and a unique Long Term Support, with secure update and management mechanisms. Our customers create mission-critical control systems, gateways and appliances that need to meet stringent quality and security requirements, and we aspire to bring this level of security to the wider consumer electronics and device market.
Our Field Engineers are thought leaders helping customers through their journey toward a more secure and durable solution. They are accomplished technologists who take a hands-on approach to embedded Linux strategy and delivery. They have a passion to help customers achieve ambitious technical and business goals, and to show how the Canonical approach to open source and connected devices brings best-of-breed thinking to the emerging field of edge compute. They also care to develop their colleagues, helping them deepen their understanding of the technology, their ability to manage time, and their awareness of customer business thinking for continuous improvement and personal development.
This career opportunity requires a unique blend of skills. Successful candidates will know Linux well, understand how a distribution works, understand the unique challenges of the Internet of Things, and will also carry team building and management skills. They enjoy the pace of change and diversity of client engagements with driven and ambitious technology entrepreneurs. Competitive, business-focused technologists at heart, they are also team drivers that take pride in team and company wins.
Location: This is a globally remote role, running a team in one of three Geos: Americas, EMEA, or APAC. You will need to be located in one of those three Geos to manage that specific team that spans a few timezones from you.
The Role Entails
- Leading and developing a team of Field Engineers, ranging from graduate to senior, in the areas of Presales and Professional Services
- Planning and driving progress on agreed goals and projects
- Partnering with the leadership team
- Developing and championing engineering excellence and organisational practices
- Coaching, mentoring, and offering career development feedback
- Solving customer problems by promoting our technologies and being a trusted advisor
- Working remotely in a single major time zone
- Identifying and measuring team health indicators
- Implementing disciplined engineering processes
- Representing your team and product to stakeholders, partners, and customers
- Providing market feedback to Product and Engineering teams, and being a critical part of Ubuntu's future
What We Are Looking For
- Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path
- Extensive embedded Linux experience — Yocto or other
- Extensive Linux experience — Debian or Ubuntu preferred
- Ability to manage a small team
- Experience with customer engagements
- Professional written and spoken English
- Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
- Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments
- An ability to communicate the business benefits of technology
- A humble learner and quick study
- Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events up to two weeks long
- Other desirable traits include RTOS experience, additional languages (both programming and human), and previous experience working in a remote-first, diverse, distributed company
What We Offer
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 recognize 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
- Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform
- 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.