Sustaining Operations Engineer
The Sustaining Operations Engineer role at Canonical is a dynamic position focused on Linux-based software-defined infrastructure and applications. This encompasses all layers of the stack, including bare metal, virtualization (KVM), containerization (Docker and LXC/LXD), storage (Ceph and Linux filesystems), networking (OVS, OVN, and core networking), up to OpenStack and Kubernetes, along with the open-source applications running on top of them. This globally remote role offers technologists passionate about Linux and open source the opportunity to build a career with Canonical and contribute to the success of customers, the community, and the company.
Key responsibilities include resolving complex customer problems related to Ubuntu, OpenStack, Ceph, and Kubernetes. The engineer will maintain close working relationships with Canonical's field, support, and product engineering teams, participate in upstream communities, debug issues, propose workarounds, and liaise with software engineers to produce patches. The role also involves demonstrating good judgment in technical methods, prioritizing work effectively, participating in team activities to improve processes and documentation, maintaining clear and concise communications, and providing subject matter expertise as the final point of escalation on operational issues. Additionally, the engineer will work from home and travel internationally up to 10% of work time for team meetings, events, and conferences.
Candidates should have professional experience troubleshooting advanced Linux issues and a background in Computer Science, STEM, or a similar field. Exceptionally strong experience with Linux, LXD, OpenStack, Ceph, or Kubernetes is required, along with strong debugging experience with Python, Go, C, or C++ on Linux. The ability to troubleshoot with tools like gdb, pdb, and tcpdump, familiarity with git source code repositories and branches, and an exceptional academic track record from both high school and preferably university are also necessary. Willingness to travel up to four times a year for internal events is expected.
Canonical offers a distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints, a personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year, annual compensation reviews, recognition rewards, annual holiday leave, maternity and paternity leave, an Employee Assistance Programme, opportunities to travel to new locations to meet colleagues, and Priority Pass for travel and travel upgrades for long-haul company events. Compensation is shaped by geographical location, experience, and performance, with annual reviews to recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, a performance-driven annual bonus is offered, along with additional benefits reflecting the company's values and ideals, balanced to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.
Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the publisher of Ubuntu, one of the most important open-source projects and the platform for AI, IoT, and the cloud, Canonical is changing the world daily. The company recruits globally and sets a high standard for new hires, expecting excellence to succeed. Canonical has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2004, offering a unique window into the world of 21st-century digital business and challenging employees to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise their game.