Performance Engineer - Open Source

Overview Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely used in enterprise initiatives across public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. We work with customers including public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is founder-led, profitable and growing, with a distributed workforce across 70 countries and very few office-based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution. 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 to act as drivers of performance engineering skills, tools, culture and insights across our product range. We have also created a central performance engineering team to drive shared tools, dashboarding, measurement frameworks, analytical capabilities and skills. This career focus is called ' percorr ' because deep insights that enable sophisticated performance measurement and design also help improve harnesses and frameworks for correctness. Understanding the application, runtime, compiler and system, down to the CPU, enables an engineer to measure effectively and verify correctness. Performance engineers often improve the deepest and trickiest areas of our test harnesses and unblock teams to test and measure previously dark aspects of their work. We also work with every major silicon vendor and cloud, focusing on performance optimization of the entire stack for specific architectures, CPU families or hypervisors. Our goal is to ensure that Ubuntu users can choose any platform for their workloads and access the best performance and efficiency across the entire stack from kernel to codec. If possible, we will enable performance and correctness engineers to move between products every two years, providing opportunities to raise the bar for performance across products and to bring fresh perspectives to teams’ processes, harnesses, dashboards and code. Our performance and correctness leads are expected to be truly exceptional individuals and leaders who are confident setting expectations for change, sharing insights and running initiatives. 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 language focus—C, C++, Rust, Golang, Python, Java, Flutter-Dart or others—or a love of the kernel, hardware or CPU instruction set, you may see yourself driving user experience through performance or optimizing data-centre efficiency 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. Responsibilities Drive software performance and correctness in a specific project Collaborate with colleagues and the community around the globe Work on shared tools and infrastructure for performance measurement, analysis and reporting Teach, train and develop skills in your team for performance culture and design Strengthen test capabilities, harnesses and pipelines Analyze systems and code to understand performance and scalability Solve problems directly or through influence, leadership and skills development Review code and technical designs What we are looking for in you Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics Demonstrable personal initiatives to measure and improve performance, efficiency and correctness in code Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation Track record of going above-and-beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results Leadership and commitment to skills development and mentorship Passion for technology evidenced by personal projects and initiatives The work ethic and confidence to shine alongside motivated colleagues Professional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skills Experience with Linux (Debian or Ubuntu preferred) Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability Appreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi-cultural, multi-national organisation Thoughtfulness and self-motivation Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long What we offer colleagues 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 recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally. Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year Annual compensation review Recognition rewards Annual holiday leave Maternity and paternity leave Employee Assistance Programme Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues Priority 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; 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. J-18808-Ljbffr

Location: Pisa, Toscana, IT

Posted Date: 9/17/2025