Graduate Software Development 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 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office-based roles. We are hiring 2025 and 2026 Graduate Software Engineers into engineering teams around the world. As a global platform company we offer a wide range of software engineering challenges, in both open source products and commercial business systems. We have teams that work in a variety of languages, typically Python, Golang, Rust, C/C++, JavaScript and of course... We work from the very lowest levels of the Linux system - BIOS and boot loaders, firmware, kernel and drivers, all the way up to desktop applications and containers. We work on compilers and toolchains, and we work on security, cryptography, performance and documentation. Some of our teams focus on packaging thousands of pieces of software, others focus on deep contributions to a single body of code.
If you are excited about the potential that open source has for humanity and the enterprise, you have outstanding results in your academic career, and you are excited to contribute to the open source stack, this is the best way to apply to Canonical. We will work with you to identify teams and projects that would be interesting and a good fit for your skills and motivations. Most of our engineering teams work from home. We try to align a single team in a single time zone - EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), APAC (Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean), and AMER (North, South and Central Americas). Even though you work from home, we try to ensure you always have colleagues alongside to coach and mentor you, and for the companionship of shared problem solving and pair programming. Larger projects have multiple teams and might span the globe. We work with the open source community and specialize in building teams that work well in the 'fishbowl' of open source engineering. This is full time work, five days a week, often solving hard problems with significant responsibility. We don't generally work weekends and nights and we do enjoy good holidays but we also expect productive and intense engagement Monday to Friday.
This is a fantastic way to demonstrate and develop your skill in software, learn about a wide range of technologies, make a meaningful impact to open source, and see some very interesting new cities that you might never otherwise get to visit.
If you find the open source stack amazing, and you have been a consistent high-performing student in your school and university, then this will be a challenging and exciting start to your career.
Location: This is a Globally remote role.

Focusing on design and user experience, even for developer tooling and command line apps
Writing high quality, resilient and performant code, potentially serving millions of demanding daily users
Working towards mastery of key programming languages and Linux system knowledge
Engaging with users and the open source community through code reviews and issue trackers
Responding to customer issues as a priority, develop an understanding of enterprise requirements
Developing skills and awareness of security in software design and implementation

Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Business Informatics, Mathematics or another STEM discipline with programming courses
Confidence to get started and deliver high quality code in one of Python, Rust, C/C++, Golang, JavaScript or Java
Experience with Ubuntu or another Linux distribution
Personal projects in technology and software engineering beyond the curriculum
Professional written and spoken English
Personal responsibility and accountability
Ability to travel internationally twice a year for company events up to two weeks long

Packaging and Linux distribution contributions - Debian, Fedora, Arch, Nix or another
Presentation and writing skills
Business and commercial interests

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 balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.
Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
Annual holiday leave
Maternity and paternity leave
Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events

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. 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.

Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products.