Software Engineering Manager – Linux Enablement

About the role

Canonical’s Device Delivery Team is looking for a Software Engineering Manager to lead the Linux Enablement effort for tier‑1 OEM and ODM customers. You will oversee the delivery of Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Core pre‑loads, ensuring high‑quality, on‑time releases for millions of users worldwide.

Key responsibilities

• Recruit, mentor, and motivate a software engineering team to deliver OEM enablement projects.
• Set goals, prioritize tasks, and track team health indicators.
• Coordinate with project managers, hardware engineering, QA, and certification teams.
• Monitor projects from kickoff through post‑mortem and manage escalations.
• Communicate technical challenges and solutions with OEMs, ODMs, SiPs, and IHVs.
• Prioritize global customer requests and align with product engineering groups (Desktop, Foundations, Kernel, Security).
• Provide leadership on methodologies, standards, tools, and best practices.
• Travel to the EU, USA, China, and Taiwan as required.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a STEM field, preferably computer science or software engineering.
• Proven technical experience with Linux, preferably Ubuntu or Debian.
• Management experience leading software engineering teams.
• Strong collaboration skills in a globally distributed environment.
• Fluent English and Chinese communication, both written and verbal.

Required skills

• Linux system expertise and low‑level debugging.
• Ubuntu, Debian, and kernel development.
• Python, Go, C, Bash scripting.
• Deb/snap packaging, QEMU/KVM, LXC/LXD, container technologies.
• PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Ceph.
• CI/CD pipelines and open‑source development participation.