Observability Engineering Manager

Observability Engineering Manager

Join to apply for the Observability Engineering Manager role 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 public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT initiatives. Our customers include major cloud and silicon providers, and leaders across many sectors. The company pioneers global distributed collaboration with 1,200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and few office‑based roles. Teams meet two to four times per year in person at interesting locations worldwide to align on strategy and execution.

We are hiring an Observability Engineering Manager who will lead the development of distributed tracing or service mesh products as part of our Observability group. Engineering managers at Canonical are always coders who review and lead architecture and code, judge character sharply, and comfortably set expectations and hold colleagues accountable.

We are building an observability stack that is easy to deploy and operate on Kubernetes. It integrates open‑source offerings for metrics, logging, telemetry, alerting, tracing and profiling, providing deep insights out of the box. The user experience is polished and seamless; administrators enjoy smooth day‑one and day‑two operations. We are excited to improve the state of the art for open‑source observability.

Location: This role can be home based in the EMEA or Americas regions.

Responsibilities

• Manage a distributed team of engineers and its observability portfolio
• Organize and lead the team's processes to achieve objectives
• Conduct one‑on‑one meetings with team members
• Identify and measure team health indicators
• Interact with a vibrant community
• Review code produced by other engineers
• Attend conferences to represent Canonical and its Observability Stack

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record from high school and university
• Proven professional experience delivering software
• Professional software development experience, preferably in open source
• Willingness to travel up to four times a year for internal events
• Professional written and spoken English
• Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
• Passion, thoughtfulness, and self‑motivation
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Result‑oriented with a personal drive to meet commitments

Nice‑to‑have skills

• Experience as an engineering manager, building high‑performance teams
• Professional Python development experience
• Working knowledge of Go
• Open‑source contribution experience
• Interest and experience with container technologies
• Understanding the importance of observability and monitoring for keeping software running smoothly
• Experience designing and implementing observability solutions

What we offer

• 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 publisher of Ubuntu, one of the most important open‑source projects, 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; to succeed, we must be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since our inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future that challenges 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 creates a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.