---
title: 'Lead HR Generalist - Americas at Canonical'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-hr-generalist-americas-canonical-americas-gwbts8jg6bfk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Lead HR Generalist - Americas at Canonical

- **Company:** Canonical
- **Location:** Americas
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2025-04-07
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/canonical/jobs/6484410

## Job description

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very 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.

We require an HR function that thinks and acts globally.​ We're looking for a Lead HR Generalist to offer their expertise to our AMER region. It's an exciting time to join with the opportunity to help shape and create an HR function for the future. The senior role will serve as a driver and practitioner in both regional and global HR initiatives. You will join a global team of HR professionals to provide precise, compliant and scalable HR operations to the business, advise and execute on HR issues across the whole employee life-cycle, and partner with leadership in your region. You will have an analytical approach, a keen eye for detail and the ability to interpret data trends and themes.

Location: This role will be based remotely in the AMER region

## The role entails

- Deliver precise and compliant HR operations in a timely manner and with the highest degree of accuracy
- Interact closely with the Americas HR Manager and the Global Head of HR to create impact across all HR regions
- Be accountable for HR processes such as talent development, succession planning, performance assessments, onboarding, culture and engagement initiatives that drive a high performing team
- Work with managers across the business on performance management, organizational design, employee engagement, rewards- and workforce planning
- Partner with the HRIS team to develop and refine operational processes for day to day HR administration
- Coach and advise people managers on the full spectrum of employee relations issues across multiple countries
- Partner with people managers to support the delivery of appropriate training and development programs
- Establish a trusted partnership with the business in your region
- Drive diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
- Design new policies and deliver on business-critical HR related projects globally

## What we are looking for in you

- Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
- HR experience leading initiatives across regions within a technology business
- Regional HR experience within Latin America (Brazil and/or Mexico is a plus), with an understanding of local labor laws, competitive awareness and insights
- Experience in business partnering with senior stakeholders
- A good balance between leading and executing, in this role you will need to be hands-on involved in the daily HR routines
- Experience mentoring and developing others
- Strong project management skills with the ability to define done and keep deliverables on track
- Experience in working in a remote first organization
- Able to leverage data to make informed decisions
- Fluent in business English (written and spoken)
- Self motivated, organized, accurate, confident, authentic, results-orientated, open-minded and enthusiastic
- Willingness to travel up to 4 times a year for internal events

## Nice to have skills

- Experience with immigration policies and mobility processes
- Payroll and/or benefits oversight experience
- Knowledge of HR Systems and databases
- Professional HR certification(s)
- Facilitation skills

## What we offer colleagues

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.

- 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

## About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm 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 of software. 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. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since its inception in 2004.​ Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge 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 create a better work environment and better products.[Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.](https://canonical.com/careers/diversity/identity)

#LI-remote

## About Canonical

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Canonical publishes Ubuntu and delivers trusted open source software, security, and support to enterprises worldwide.
- **Entity Type**: Private (founder-funded, bootstrapped)
- **Headquarters**: Not publicly available in provided sources (commonly reported as London, UK)
- **Founded**: 2004
- **Founders**: Mark Shuttleworth

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Enterprise open source software, cloud infrastructure, and security.
- Target customers: B2B – enterprises, cloud providers, developers, and government organizations.
- Mission statement: "We amplify the impact of open source" – helping people and organizations tap into the power of open source to develop new products with speed and confidence.

## Products & Services
- **Ubuntu**: The world’s most popular Linux distribution for desktops, servers, and IoT.
- **Ubuntu Pro**: A single subscription providing security maintenance, compliance features, and support for the entire open source portfolio.
- **OpenStack**: Canonical’s distribution of the open source cloud platform for private and hybrid clouds.
- **Kubernetes (MicroK8s, Charmed Kubernetes)**: Lightweight and production-grade Kubernetes solutions.
- **Landscape**: Systems management and compliance tool for Ubuntu deployments.
- **LXD**: System container manager for running full Linux systems in containers.
- **Netplan**: Network configuration utility for Linux.
- **Vanilla Framework**: Open source CSS framework developed by Canonical’s web and design teams.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – not applicable (bootstrapped). Annual revenue – not publicly available.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founder Mark Shuttleworth is the primary investor. Partners include major cloud providers and hardware vendors (not explicitly listed in provided sources).
- **Growth Signals**: Scaled engineering headcount from 600 to 950 engineers (per blog post). Remote-first since inception in 2004. Over 80 nationalities represented.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Ubuntu ecosystem**: De facto standard for cloud and developer environments.
- **Remote-first culture**: Fully distributed since 2004, attracting global talent.
- **Open source leadership**: Deep involvement in communities (OpenStack, Kubernetes, etc.) and strong brand trust.
- **End-to-end portfolio**: From OS to applications, with consistent security maintenance for up to 15 years.
- **Rigorous hiring**: Manual, human-reviewed process that prioritizes culture fit and potential.

## Strategic Focus
- Expand enterprise adoption of Ubuntu Pro and managed open source services.
- Maintain leadership in cloud, container, and edge computing.
- Strengthen security and compliance offerings for regulated industries.
- Continue investing in open source communities and upstream projects.

## Why Work Here
- **Remote-first**: Truly distributed company with no central office; team members work from anywhere.
- **Culture**: Values of reliability, accessibility, precision, and adroitness. Emphasis on collaboration and open source ethos.
- **Small teams, big impact**: Engineering organized into nimble squads (950 engineers across ~50 teams) prioritizing agility and deep expertise.
- **Diversity**: Team from over 80 nationalities; equal opportunity employer.
- **Career progression**: Focus on impact and potential over rigid experience thresholds; opportunities to shift roles if a better fit is found.
- **Perks**: Personal development budget, learning opportunities, and a global, inclusive environment.

## Sources
1. [canonical.com/careers](https://canonical.com/careers)
2. [canonical.com/company](https://canonical.com/company)
3. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/canonical](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/canonical)
4. [canonical.com/blog/hiring-the-canonical-way](https://canonical.com/blog/hiring-the-canonical-way)

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