Data Platform Engineer at Canonical - Remote EMEA — Columbus
Traveler-Friendly Insight
Canonical is one of the most nomad-friendly employers in tech, having operated as a fully remote company since 2004. This role is explicitly open across EMEA time zones, giving you significant flexibility in where you base yourself — from Lisbon and Berlin to Nairobi and Dubai.
Schedule flexibility: The role involves collaborating with a distributed global team, which implies a degree of async-friendly work culture. However, EMEA timezone alignment is required, so you'll need to be generally available during European/African/Middle Eastern business hours. This suits nomads based in Western Europe, East Africa, or the Gulf region especially well.
Visa considerations: Popular nomad destinations within EMEA that offer digital nomad visas include Portugal (D8 visa), Spain (Digital Nomad Visa), Georgia (Remotely from Georgia), and the UAE (Virtual Working Programme). All align well with this role's timezone requirements.
- Lisbon: Monthly living costs ~$2,000–$2,800. Canonical's competitive (undisclosed) tech salary would stretch well here.
- Tbilisi, Georgia: Costs ~$1,000–$1,500/month. Excellent value with easy remote worker entry.
- Cape Town, South Africa: ~$1,200–$1,800/month; fits EMEA hours perfectly.
Travel perks: The role includes 2–4 weeks of company-sponsored travel per year to internal sprints, plus a Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul events — a genuine bonus for travel enthusiasts. A $2,000 USD annual learning budget can also fund certifications useful for remote career growth.
Canonical is building a comprehensive automation suite to provide multi-cloud and on-premise data solutions for the enterprise. The data platform team is a collaborative team that develops a full range of data stores and data technologies, spanning from big data, through NoSQL, cache-layer capabilities, and analytics; all the way to structured SQL engines.
We are facing the interesting problem of fault-tolerant mission-critical distributed systems and intend to deliver the world's best automation solution for delivering data platforms.
We have a number of openings ranging anywhere from junior to senior level. We will help you identify a suitable position depending on your experience and interests. Engineers who thrive at Canonical are mindful of open-source community dynamics and equally aware of the needs of large, innovative organisations.
Location: This role can be filled in European, Middle East and African time zones.
What your day will look like
The data platform team is responsible for the automation of data platform operations. This includes ensuring fault-tolerant replication, TLS, installation, and much more; but also provides domain-specific expertise on the actual data system to other teams within Canonical. This role is focused on the creation and automation of features of data platforms, not analysing the data in them.
- Collaborate proactively with a distributed team
- Write high-quality, idiomatic Python code to create new features
- Debug issues and interact with upstream communities publicly
- Work with helpful and talented engineers including experts in many fields
- Discuss ideas and collaborate on finding good solutions
- Work from home with global travel for 2 to 4 weeks per year for internal and external events
What we are looking for in you
- Proven hands-on experience in software development using Python
- Proven hands-on experience in distributed systems
- Bachelor's or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM, or a similar degree
- Willingness to travel up to 4 times a year for internal events
Additional skills that you might also bring
You might also bring a subset of experience from the following, which will determine the exact role and level we consider you for:
- Experience operating and managing data platform technologies like PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, OpenSearch, Kafka, Yugabyte, Trino, Superset, Atlas, Ranger, and Redis
- Experience with Linux systems administration, package management, and operations
- Experience with the public cloud or a private cloud solution like OpenStack
- Experience with operating Kubernetes clusters and a belief that it can be used for serious persistent data services
What we offer you
Your base pay will depend on various factors including your geographical location, level of experience, knowledge and skills. In addition to the benefits above, certain roles are also eligible for additional benefits and rewards including annual bonuses and sales incentives based on revenue or utilisation. Our compensation philosophy is to ensure equity right across our global workforce.
In addition to a competitive base pay, we provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. Please note that additional benefits may apply depending on the work location and, for more information on these, please ask your Talent Partner.
- Fully remote working environment - we've been working remotely since 2004!
- Personal learning and development budget of 2,000 USD per annum
- Annual compensation review
- Recognition rewards
- Annual holiday leave
- Parental Leave
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues at 'sprints'
- Priority Pass for travel and travel upgrades for long haul company events
About Canonical
Canonical is a pioneering tech firm that is 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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