Ubuntu Linux Kernel Engineer – Silicon Enablement

Canonical publishes Ubuntu and has been remote-first since 2004, with 1,200+ colleagues across 75+ countries.

The work

Ubuntu is already the most widely used Linux distribution in the world, and Canonical is pushing that further by expanding the number of System on Chip platforms supported natively and tuning them for performance.

The demand is coming from the silicon manufacturers themselves. NVIDIA, Xilinx, MediaTek and Qualcomm all want Ubuntu Linux available to their customers, and Canonical is growing its silicon enablement squads to meet that.

You would join the Canonical Kernel Team, the group responsible for building, maintaining and distributing the Linux kernel for Ubuntu. This is software engineering at the hardware level, where the work is judged on how well the silicon actually performs.

A notably open door

Two things make this listing unusually accessible for a kernel role.

First, direct Linux kernel experience is a substantial advantage but not a hard requirement. Candidates with a background in other RTOS or bare-metal environments are welcome, provided they can demonstrate genuine hardware experience.

Second, Canonical states there are several work-from-home roles available worldwide, spanning early-career candidates with a couple of years of experience through to senior industry veterans. One application covers the full range.

What your day looks like

• Collaborating proactively with a globally distributed team
• Working closely with silicon vendor partners to integrate their platform support into the Ubuntu kernel across their product ranges
• Diagnosing and resolving kernel issues raised by partners, customers and the wider community, plus those your own testing uncovers
• Owning delivery of distinct silicon-optimised variants of the Ubuntu Linux kernel
• Improving tooling and automation for kernel delivery and testing
• Submitting, reviewing and applying kernel patches with internal and external upstream maintainers
• Finding new ways to maximise performance on partner silicon

What they are looking for

• A well-organised self-starter who can thrive working remotely
• A professional manner with colleagues, partners and the open-source community
• Effective written and verbal English
• Significant programming ability in C
• A strong grasp of device drivers, BSPs and hardware-level system engineering
• Solid background with git
• Understanding of operating system kernel fundamentals
• Ability to travel twice a year for company events of up to two weeks

Also useful

• Python and Bash scripting
• Prior work with major SoC families
• Ubuntu, Debian or Snap packaging
• Demonstrated Linux kernel patching and debugging
• Understanding of performance optimisation for silicon platforms

Benefits

• Home-based work with twice-yearly in-person team sprints
• USD 2,000 personal learning and development budget per year
• Annual compensation review, plus performance-driven annual bonus
• Recognition rewards, annual holiday leave, maternity and paternity leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Priority Pass and travel upgrades for long-haul company events

No salary figures are published on this listing.

Location

The structured header, the og:description and the body text all agree here: Home based - Worldwide, with roles available globally. No regional restriction.

Before applying

AI use disqualifies your application. You must confirm you used only your own words.

Expect Canonical's standard academic screening: high-school mathematics and native-language performance bands justified against national scoring systems, plus your degree result. Candidates without a degree may enter "no degree."

The form also asks a practical question worth noting — whether you are comfortable using your own computer running Ubuntu. Three further written answers cover your hardware-level programming experience, your operating system kernel experience, and links to any direct contributions you have made to Linux kernel mainline or other open source projects. That last one effectively rewards a public contribution history, so gather your links before starting.

A cover letter field is available alongside the CV, which is not the case on every Canonical listing.