Director, Talent Science

Director, Talent Science at Canonical

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is 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. Our Talent Science team has a mission to ensure that we follow objective, scientifically rigorous and efficient processes to select the very best new colleagues regardless of location, culture or background. We work closely with our key stakeholders to ensure that decisions are being made in the right way and that our hiring model supports the selection of world‑class talent. We lead an effective hiring ecosystem to deliver talent acquisition excellence. We leverage data to enable evidence‑based decisions, weaving behavioural science throughout our selection process, working closely with our Hiring Leadership team who drive hiring at Canonical.

Due to growth of our team we are now hiring into four new leadership roles in our Talent Science team, to lead on delivery excellence. You will work directly with the Global Head of Talent Science to plan and drive work within the team against our strategic objectives. With overall accountability for project delivery relating to hiring outcomes you will drive efficiencies and create new processes while coaching and developing team members to grow their careers.

Responsibilities

• Leading and delivering the strategic Talent Science project roadmap using exceptional project management capability and influencing skills to manage multiple projects at any given time.
• Leveraging expertise from your experience to design and implement solutions to complex problems that ultimately ensure we hire exceptional talent.
• Ensuring all talent selection initiatives map to high‑performance outcomes and career frameworks.
• Designing professional processes and frameworks, allowing efficient delivery of our agenda.
• Coaching and mentoring team members to grow and develop skill sets specifically around analytical capabilities and thought leadership, developing training materials and documentation to support team members.
• Driving and representing the team in the absence of the Head of, acting as a credible and trusted adviser and an inspiring leader.
• Working closely with company leaders to understand, appreciate and communicate our vision for talent at Canonical.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university, with an undergraduate degree in a psychology or people‑based subject.
• A track record of team leadership within the technology or consulting industry, with exceptional project management, to lead roadmap execution and delivery.
• Proven ability to coach and mentor a team to deliver exceptional results.
• Deep understanding of selection, career frameworks and building internal products to ensure that talent selection criteria matches desired outcomes.
• Advanced analytical ability to dissect and analyse data using either SQL, Python and/or statistical analysis.
• Exceptional written and spoken English with strong presentation skills for a senior audience.
• Ability to travel internationally four times a year for company events.

Nice‑to‑Have Skills

• Advanced psychometric assessments with an excellent understanding of the marketplace and vendors.
• A deep understanding of human behaviour and what drives intrinsic motivation.
• Experience of using Superset and advanced dashboarding.

Benefits

• 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.

Location: This role will be based remotely in the EMEA region.

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.