Software Engineer - Go - Container Images in Manchester

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. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1100+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. Canonical is building a new generation of Ubuntu‑based container images to simplify open‑source application deployment across the world.

In this role, you’ll be developing the tools and technology for building and maintaining this new generation of container images. You’ll be working with multiple teams, both inside and outside Canonical, to ensure we deliver container images with the highest quality whilst maintaining a seamless Ubuntu user experience. You will also be highly involved in the implementation and maintenance of the Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery automation around these container images, for which you are expected to demonstrate deep insights into container‑based DevOps.

You will be contributing to fast‑moving products like Rocks (OCI images) and Chisel, and thus have the chance to help steer and consolidate this new team. You’ll gain experience with numerous container technologies and participate in exciting and exploratory tasks, where your feedback will be critical for the decision‑making process. As an engineer, your seniority will be based on your software development background and ability to lead junior team members.

Location: EMEA

Responsibilities:

• Build robust, scalable, leading‑edge container images
• Work on automated CI/CD processes for building, testing, and publishing our container images
• Write tools and tests for assessing security compliance and cloud‑native compatibility
• Work in Go to deliver new functionalities to our container‑building tools
• Participate in strong engineering process through code and architectural review
• Provide technical feedback for the team’s decision‑making process
• Engage with the open‑source community as a subject‑matter expert
• Grow our knowledge base and write documentation
• Work in a collaborative, agile, and globally distributed environment
• Mentor and help hiring
• Work from home with global travel up to 15% for internal and external events

Qualifications:

• You are knowledgeable and passionate about software development
• You are a team player and have experience in collaborative development
• You have worked with CI/CD systems (e.g. Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Concourse CI, etc.)
• You have a track record of delivering timely, high‑quality software
• You have experience with container images and containerised operations
• You master at least one container management/orchestration tool (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)
• You have significant experience with Go
• You are experienced with Linux systems administration and package management
• You have strong written and verbal communication skills to convey technical concepts
• You bring clarity to technical and engineering discussions
• You are someone who strongly believes that sharing is caring, and knowledge is power
• Your skills range from those of a Graduate to a mid‑senior Software Engineer
• You have a Bachelor’s or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM or a similar degree

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

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. 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. Canonical has been a remote‑first company 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.