Remote Executive Assistant at Canonical - EMEA — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Remote-First Since 2004: Canonical is genuinely distributed — this is not a hybrid role with a secret office requirement. The Executive Assistant role operates across all time zones, meaning schedule flexibility depends largely on which department you support. Expect some synchronous overlap with your assigned team lead, but the async-first culture at Canonical means long blocks of independent, self-directed work are normal.
Travel Commitment: This role requires travel up to four times per year for company events of up to two weeks each. For nomads, this is actually a perk: Canonical covers these trips, includes Priority Pass lounge access, and offers travel upgrades on long-haul flights. You'll see new cities while staying on payroll.
Visa Considerations for EMEA Nomads: Since the role is open to all time zones with an EMEA hint, popular nomad bases that work well include:
- Lisbon, Portugal — Digital Nomad Visa available; affordable CoL relative to Western Europe; strong tech community
- Tbilisi, Georgia — Remotely Green visa; very low CoL; no income tax for foreign-sourced income under certain conditions
- Cape Town, South Africa — No formal nomad visa, but long tourist stays possible; competitive CoL for USD/EUR earners
The USD 2,000 annual learning budget can fund co-working memberships or professional tools, adding practical value for location-independent workers. No coworking stipend is explicitly mentioned, but the L&D budget is flexible.
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 Executive Assistants and Corporate Administrators to join our Corporate Operations team. We ensure that the business runs smoothly and that travel, expenses and events are efficiently and correctly managed.
We look for positive team players who are self-driven and results oriented, with excellent attention to detail. The best candidates show that they are forward planners, reliable and determined, and keen to assume responsibility for projects, processes and policy. We are a unique global business, so we are not looking for candidates with extensive experience so much as excellent organisers and communicators who are keen to develop skills and strive for continuous improvement.
This team plays a crucial role in the overall operation of the business. They run significant business operations and processes, supporting the respective department leads but also taking central responsibility for logistics, expenses, travel and scheduling. They are the secret to our success! We look for confident and effective people who have good judgment and the self-assurance to hold firm on a point of policy regardless of the seniority of people on the other side of a discussion. If you like to take responsibility and you like to ensure that things are done properly and efficiently then you will enjoy the role tremendously.
Location: This is a global operation; we have open roles in teams in all time zones.
Responsibilities
- Support operations for one or more departments in the company
- Coordinate monthly reports and schedule meetings and interviews
- Organise and run international company events including logistics
- Manage quarterly and annual executive meetings
- Collaborate across teams on activities and initiatives
- Manage suppliers and stakeholders
What We Are Looking For in You
- Excellent academic results at school and university
- A degree in a business or technical subject
- Excellent communication skills
- Responsibility, integrity and accountability
- Self-awareness and thoughtfulness
- Ability to travel up to four times a year for company events of up to two weeks duration
- Ability to learn new technology and software quickly
Additional Skills We Value
- Experience in operations and executive support
- Project management experience
- Event related experience
- Travel industry experience
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. Work at Canonical is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game. Canonical provides a unique window into the world of 21st-century digital business.
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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