Performance Engineer

Join to apply for the Performance Engineer – Open Source role at Canonical . 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 breakthrough initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. We have created a new career path for Performance Engineers who bring exceptional clarity to software performance, correctness and efficiency. These roles exist in every engineering team and are driven by a central performance engineering team that develops shared tools, dashboards, measurement frameworks and analytical capabilities. This career focus, called percorr , enables engineers to improve the deepest and trickiest areas of our test harnesses while enabling teams to measure previously “dark” aspects of their work. We work with every major silicon vendor and cloud, optimising performance across the stack for each architecture, CPU family or hypervisor. Our goal is to ensure Ubuntu users obtain the best performance and efficiency from kernel to codec. Engineers may move between products every two years to raise the bar across multiple products. Location Teams operate in every time zone; we accommodate applications from almost any country. Nice‑to‑have skills we value Low‑level CPU insights & assembly language – cache, registers, vectorisation, memory Kernel performance – scheduling, context switching, hardware acceleration Distributed systems performance – tracing, debugging Compiler‑level performance – profile‑guided optimisation, inlining, assembler Runtime performance – Golang, Python, JVM, NodeJS Database performance – plans, indexing, modelling, tracing, monitoring Web browser performance – JS, frameworks, CSS, tracing Performance measurement tooling – profiling, eBPF, D‑Trace, flamegraphs Benchmarks – Phoronix Test Suite and others Test harnesses – C, C++, Rust, Python, Golang, NodeJS, JavaScript The role entails Drive software performance and correctness in a specific project Collaborate with colleagues and the community worldwide 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 Analyse 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 (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 Track record of exceeding expectations to achieve outstanding results Leadership and commitment to skills development and mentorship Passion for technology evidenced by personal projects and initiatives 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 Thoughtful and self‑motivated Result‑oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for up to two weeks for company events What we offer colleagues 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. 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. Seniority level Entry level Employment type Full‑time Job function Engineering and Information Technology Industries Software Development #J-18808-Ljbffr