---
title: 'Ubuntu Security Engineer at Canonical'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ubuntu-security-engineer-canonical-worldwide-an0fgh52kjv5'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Ubuntu Security Engineer at Canonical

- **Company:** Canonical
- **Location:** Worldwide
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2021-03-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/canonical/jobs/2925180

## 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.

Canonical is building a team dedicated to providing security coverage across a wide range of ecosystems and environments, working to make the world a better, safer place. We are hiring an Ubuntu Security Engineer to join an industry-leading security engineering team and help protect the open source community and Ubuntu users from emerging threats. We are looking for candidates across all levels of experience, from Graduate to Senior.

As part of the Ubuntu Security Team, you will work with some of the best and brightest people in technology to monitor, triage, respond to, and document new and existing vulnerabilities in open source software. You will collaborate with internal teams and external partners to identify issues, prioritize them, and coordinate remediation.

This is an engineering-focused role that may also involve activities such as producing security assessments, building features, conducting code reviews, developing internal tools, engaging with the open source community, and participating in industry initiatives and events.

This role requires international travel at least twice a year, usually for one week. It also requires the ability to be productive in a globally distributed team through self-discipline and self-motivation.

Location: Worldwide, this is a globally remote role

## The role entails

- Analyzing, fixing, and testing vulnerabilities in open source packages
- Keeping track of vulnerabilities in the Ubuntu ecosystem as they are discovered, researched, and fixed, leveraging internal tools
- Collaborating with other teams in the Ubuntu community and upstream developers, as needed, to exchange or develop vulnerability patches and ensure that Ubuntu includes the most robust security features
- Auditing source code for vulnerabilities
- Building features and tools to help teams strengthen the security of their products and contribute to the overall security of Ubuntu

## What we are looking for in you

- You have a thorough understanding of the common categories of security vulnerabilities and techniques for fixing them
- You are familiar with coordinated disclosure practices
- You are familiar with open source development tools and methodologies
- You are skilled in one or more of C, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, PHP or JavaScript/TypeScript
- You have excellent logic, problem-solving, troubleshooting, and decision-making skills
- You can clearly and effectively communicate with the team and Ubuntu community members
- Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)
- Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability
- Appreciative of diversity, polite, and effective in a multi-cultural, multi-national organization
- Thoughtfulness and self-motivation
- Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments

## 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 recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. 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
- 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 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 our 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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