C

Software Engineering Director

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>This is the general track for Engineering Director at Canonical, apply here if you are confident to run a project which spans teams and time zones, hiring and managing engineering managers and staff engineers.</p>
<p>Canonical’s largest software products are built by multiple teams working together under a single director of engineering. Once you have passed the first round of interviews we will discuss specific software products which would be a good fit for your interests.</p>
<p>We believe that open source is just starting to transform the tech sector and enterprise compute. Our goal is to make open source easier, more reliable and more secure for deployment and development. We strive to be the provider of ‘most software to most companies’. To deliver on that ambition, our engineers are carefully selected from the applicants across the globe. We select for brilliance and motivation to take open source to the next level. Our engineering directors set the pace and the direction to help teams achieve more than they realised they could, and feel proud of the result.</p>
<p>Even though this is a senior management position, managing managers, we expect Engineering Directors to be outstanding developers with the confidence to lead by example across the full range of activities in their teams. You need to understand what great code looks like in the language and genre of your product - whether that is a web service, or a system daemon, or a desktop application, or a distributed system. You’ll need to know how to drive testing and benchmarking to improve the clarity in your teams around quality and performance. You’ll also need to be confident to set and defend high expectations of work ethic, consistency, focus and learning.</p>
<p>We have director level roles across a wide range of engineering domains, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Python and Golang</li>
<li>C / C++ / Rust</li>
<li>Data infrastructure</li>
<li>HTML / CSS / JavaScript / Typescript / React</li>
<li>Flutter</li>
<li>Distro packaging and systems</li>
<li>SAAS and web microservices</li>
<li>Kernel</li>
<li>Servers</li>
<li>Graphics, Browser and Desktop&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Silicon enablement and embedded devices</li>
<li>Product Security</li>
</ul>
<p>If your domain of expertise isn’t listed above, yet you feel it’s relevant to Canonical, then feel free to apply anyway. We will route you to the most suitable team.</p>
<p>Location: The role is remote, with positions available in all time zones. It includes a requirement for global travel for twice per year, for trips up to two weeks long.</p>
<h2>What you’ll do</h2>
<ul>
<li>Lead multiple teams of engineers, ranging from graduate to senior</li>
<li>Develop your engineering managers and maintain Canonical culture</li>
<li>Hire staff level engineers for specific roles like performance and quality</li>
<li>Coach, mentor, and offer career development feedback</li>
<li>Identify and measure indicators of team health and productivity</li>
<li>Ensure rounded delivery including community participation and docs</li>
<li>Implement disciplined engineering processes and defend them</li>
<li>Set and measure progress against benchmark goals for speed and efficiency</li>
<li>Represent your product to stakeholders, partners, and customers</li>
<li>Develop and evangelise great engineering and organisational practices</li>
<li>Plan and manage progress on agreed goals and projects</li>
<li>Be an active part of the leadership team, collaborating with other leaders</li>
<li>Collaborate with leads for related or dependent products</li>
</ul>
<h2>What we’re looking for in you</h2>
<ul>
<li>An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university</li>
<li>Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or STEM, or a compelling narrative about your alternative path</li>
<li>Extensive management experience and confidence to set high expectations</li>
<li>Outstanding Linux based software engineering track record</li>
<li>Drive and a track record of going above-and-beyond expectations</li>
<li>Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English</li>
<li>Public speaking and presentation skills</li>
<li>A love of developing and growing people and a track record of it</li>
<li>Experience in leading, coaching and mentoring software developers</li>
<li>Organised and able to ensure your team delivers timely, high quality results</li>
<li>Well-organised, self-starting and able to deliver to schedule</li>
<li>Professional manner interacting with colleagues, partners, and community</li>
<li>You have advanced expertise in your own domain&nbsp;</li>
<li>You are knowledgeable and passionate about software development&nbsp;</li>
<li>You have solid experience working in an agile development environment</li>
<li>You have a demonstrated drive for continual learning</li>
<li>Builds trust, relationships and confidence</li>
<li>Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ability to travel twice a year,

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 →