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Devices & IOT Field Engineering Manager (Americas)

Canonical

Remote OK
Home based - Worldwide
Worldwide
US hours

Hirezar Summary for South African Applicants

This remote ok full time position at Canonical is open worldwide, so South Africans can apply. As a remote position, you can work from anywhere in South Africa — whether you're based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, or a smaller town.

Job Description

<p>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.</p>
<p>The company is founder-led, profitable and growing.</p>
<p>We are hiring an <strong>Embedded Linux Field Engineering Manager</strong> to lead a regionally-focused team of Field engineers in Presales and Professional Services activities, by helping customers with solution architecture, design and delivery.</p>
<p>Our Embedded mission is to enable companies to make fleets of very secure connected devices. Canonical provides Ubuntu, Ubuntu Core and a unique Long Term Support, with secure update and management mechanisms. Our customers create mission-critical control systems, gateways and appliances that need to meet stringent quality and security requirements, and we aspire to bring this level of security to the wider consumer electronics and device market.</p>
<p>Our Field Engineers are thought leaders helping our customers through their journey toward a more secure and durable solution.. They are accomplished technologists that take a hands-on approach to embedded Linux strategy and delivery. They have a passion to help customers achieve ambitious technical and business goals, and to show how the Canonical approach to open source and connected devices brings best-of-breed thinking to the emerging field of edge compute. They also care to develop their colleagues, helping them deepen their understanding of the technology, their ability to manage time, and their awareness of customer business thinking for continuous improvement and personal development.</p>
<p>This career opportunity requires a unique blend of skills. Successful candidates will know Linux well, understand how a distribution works, what are the unique challenges of Internet Of Things, and will also carry team building and management skills. They also enjoy the pace of change and diversity of client engagements with driven and ambitious technology entrepreneurs. Competitive, business-focused technologists at heart, they are also team drivers that take pride in team and company wins.</p>
<p><strong>Location: </strong>This is a globally remote role, running a team in one of three Geos, Americas, EMEA or APAC. You will therefore need to be located in one of those three Geos to manage that specific team that spans few timezones from you</p>
<h3><strong>The role entails</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Leading and developing a team of Field engineers, ranging from graduate to senior, in the areas of Presales and Professional Services</li>
<li>Planning and driving progress on agreed goals and projects</li>
<li>Partnering with the leadership team</li>
<li>Developing and championing engineering excellence and organisational practices</li>
<li>Coaching, mentoring, and offering career development feedback</li>
<li>Solving customer problems by promoting our technologies and being a trusted advisor</li>
<li>Working remotely in a single major time zone</li>
<li>Identifying and measuring team health indicators</li>
<li>Implementing disciplined engineering processes</li>
<li>Representing your team and product to stakeholders, partners, and customers&nbsp;</li>
<li>Providing market feedback to Product and Engineering teams, and being a critical part of Ubuntu’s future</li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>What we are looking for in you</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university</li>
<li>Undergraduate degree in in Computer Science or or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path</li>
<li>Extensive embedded Linux experience - Yocto or other</li>
<li>Extensive Linux experience - Debian or Ubuntu preferred</li>
<li>Ability to manage a small team</li>
<li>Experience with customer engagements</li>
<li>Professional written and spoken English</li>
<li>Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability</li>
<li>Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments&nbsp;</li>
<li>An ability to communicate the business benefits of technology</li>
<li>An humble learner and quick study</li>
<li>Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events up to two weeks long</li>
<li>Other desirable traits include RTOS experience, additional languages (both the programming and human kinds), and previous experience working in a remote-first, diverse, distributed company.</li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>What we offer colleagues</strong></h3>
<p>We consider ge

Tips for South African Applicants

Timezone Advantage

South Africa (SAST, UTC+2) overlaps well with European business hours and has a few hours of overlap with US East Coast. Mention your timezone flexibility in your application.

Salary in Context

Even without a listed salary, international remote roles typically pay 2-3x more than equivalent local positions in South Africa due to the exchange rate advantage.

Application Tips

Tailor your CV to international standards — use a clean format, highlight remote work experience, and include your English proficiency. Many SA applicants succeed by emphasising their strong work ethic and cultural adaptability.

Load Shedding Preparedness

If you're applying for a remote role, having a backup power solution (UPS, inverter, or generator) and mobile data as a backup internet connection shows employers you're prepared for South Africa's infrastructure challenges.

About Canonical

Canonical is a company in the Operations industry that hires remote workers from South Africa. They currently have 230 open positions on Hirezar. View all Canonical jobs →