Performance Engineer

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 1000+ colleagues in 70+ 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 have created a new career path at Canonical for Performance Engineers who bring exceptional clarity to software performance, correctness, and efficiency. We are adding these roles to every engineering team at the company.

As an open source platform, we have teams that work at every level of the software stack - from the kernel up through server and desktop applications, all the way to the web. We are adding roles with this focus in every engineering team in the company, to act as drivers of performance engineering skills, tools, culture, and insights to our entire product range. We have also created a central performance engineering team, where we will drive shared tools, dashboarding capabilities, measurement frameworks, analytical capabilities, and skills. We call this career focus 'percorr' because we have found that the same deep insights that enable sophisticated performance measurement and design also enable teams to improve their harnesses and frameworks for correctness. Understanding not only the application, but the runtime, the compiler, and the system, all the way down to the CPU, gives an engineer the ability to think creatively and with insight about the right things to measure, and the right ways to verify correctness. We have found that performance engineers will often improve the deepest and trickiest areas of our test harnesses, and unblock their teams to test and measure previously 'dark' aspects of their work.

We also have teams that work with every major silicon vendor and cloud, with a particular emphasis on performance optimisation of the entire stack for that architecture, CPU family, or hypervisor. Our goal is to ensure that Ubuntu users can select whatever platform they want for their workloads and know they have access to the very best performance and efficiency across the entire stack from kernel to codec.

If they wish, we will enable performance and correctness engineers to move between products every two years, so that they have the opportunity to raise the bar for performance in an array of products over time, and also that teams have the benefit of fresh eyes on their processes, thinking, harnesses, dashboards, and code. Our performance and correctness leads are expected to be truly exceptional individuals, and also leaders who are confident setting expectations of change, sharing insights and skills, running initiatives and programs. There is no way to move a meaningful codebase without also moving the people behind it.

This is a career path for perfectionists and precision artists. Whether you have a particular language focus - C, C++, Rust, Golang, Python, Java, Flutter-Dart, or others - or a particular love of the kernel or hardware or CPU instruction set, whether you see yourself as driving perceived user experience through performance or optimising the efficiency of data centers to reduce carbon footprint, this process is the best way to find a role at Canonical that speaks to your precision, rigour, insight, and drive.

Location: We have teams in every time zone, and can accommodate applications from almost any country.

Nice-to-have skills we value: Low-level CPU insights and assembly language - understanding cache, registers, vectorization, memoryKernel performance insights - scheduling, context switching, hardware accelerationDistributed systems performance insights - tracing, debuggingCompiler level performance insights - profile guided optimization, inlining, assemblerRuntime performance insights - Golang, Python, JVM, NodeJSDatabase performance evaluation - plans, indexing, data modelling, tracing, monitoringWeb browser performance insights - JS, web frameworks, tracing, CSSPerformance measurement tooling - profiling, eBPF, D-Trace, flamegraphsBenchmarks and performance measurement tools - Phoronix Test Suite, othersTest harnesses and capabilities in C, C++, Rust, Python, Golang, NodeJS, JavaScript The role entails: Drive software performance and correctness in a specific projectCollaborate with colleagues and community around the globeWork on shared tools and infrastructure for performance measurement, analysis, and reportingTeach, train and develop skills in your team for performance culture and designStrengthen test capabilities, harnesses, and pipelinesAnalyze systems and code to understand performance and scalabilitySolve problems directly or through influence, leadership, and skills developmentReview code and technical designs What we are looking for in you: Exceptional academic track record from both high school and universityUndergraduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or PhysicsDemonstrable personal initiatives to measure and improve performance, efficiency, and correctness in codeConfidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitationTrack record of going above-and-beyond expectations to achieve outstanding resultsLeadership and commitment to skills development and mentorshipPassion for technology evidenced by personal projects and initiativesThe work ethic and confidence to shine alongside motivated colleaguesProfessional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skillsExperience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred)Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountabilityAppreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi-cultural, multi-national organisationThoughtfulness and self-motivationResult-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitmentsAbility to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long What we offer colleagues: Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in personPersonal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per yearAnnual compensation reviewRecognition rewardsAnnual holiday leaveMaternity and paternity leaveEmployee Assistance ProgrammeOpportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleaguesPriority 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.
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