Ubuntu Package Management - Engineering Manager

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead a team dedicated to the technologies that support software management and system lifecycle within the Ubuntu platform. This role involves a blend of technical leadership and people management to guide engineering direction, nurture developer growth, and oversee key platform technology development including package management, software distribution, updates, and release processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the technical vision and roadmap for system lifecycle and package management technologies aligned with platform goals.
• Participate actively in architectural design reviews and steer critical technical decisions involving software updates, drivers, firmware, and supporting infrastructure.
• Ensure engineering excellence by advocating for high standards in performance, reliability, security, compatibility, maintainability, and software quality.
• Lead and foster a collaborative environment within a team of skilled engineers emphasizing ownership, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
• Mentor team members to enhance their leadership capabilities, ownership, and organizational impact through coaching and performance development.
• Manage delivery across multiple release cycles, balancing innovation with stability, compatibility, and sustainability.
• Advance test automation, release quality, engineering process improvements, and operational reliability of technologies under your team's responsibility.
• Collaborate extensively across functions such as product, security, desktop, server, release engineering, OEM, and others to build strong partnerships.
• Engage with Debian, upstream projects, and the wider open-source community to support collaboration and progress technology development.
• Identify and drive strategic improvements in roadmap clarity, execution, reliability, test coverage, and product quality.

Candidate Requirements

• Distinguished academic record with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, STEM, or an equivalent professional background.
• Proven software engineering experience with complex technical platforms and system design expertise.
• Prior experience managing engineering teams, including coaching, mentoring, and evaluating performance.
• Hands-on experience with Linux distribution technologies, package management systems, or software distribution infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of operating system architectures and systems software concepts.
• Knowledge of package repositories, archives, and software lifecycle management technologies is valuable.
• Familiarity with release engineering processes and challenges of maintaining reliable software over multiple releases.
• Experience contributing to open-source projects such as Debian or Ubuntu is advantageous.
• Background in performance engineering, reliability, security engineering, or related disciplines is beneficial.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with capacity to articulate complex technical topics and effective collaboration.
• Ability to operate effectively within a globally distributed engineering organization and foster cross-functional relationships.
• Willingness and ability to undertake international travel approximately twice a year for company events of up to two weeks.

Benefits

• Remote-first work environment supporting employees across multiple time zones.
• Participation in periodic in-person team sprints and company events held twice annually at various locations.
• Annual personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000.
• Performance-based compensation tailored to location, experience, and contributions, including an annual bonus.
• Regular compensation reviews to recognize performance and maintain competitive salaries.
• Employee recognition programs acknowledging contributions and achievements.
• Paid annual leave to support work-life balance and well-being.
• Parental leave provisions for maternity and paternity.
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme for personal support.
• Opportunities for global travel to meet colleagues and explore new locations.
• Travel benefits such as Priority Pass access and travel upgrades for qualifying long-haul company events.
• Chance to contribute to widely used Linux and open source system infrastructure technologies.