Global Head of Workplace Engineering

Canonical is a unique tech company – global, remote first, open source, with 650 colleagues across 50 countries. Our goal is to be the world’s best, not biggest, global software company. With almost every team remote by default, Canonical sets the pace on the 21st-century digital workplace.

Canonical and Ubuntu are at the forefront of cloud and IoT computing, helping customers master the challenge of operations on hybrid cloud, bare metal, and container-based systems. We are recruiting people that love Linux, automation, operations, and are interested in cracking some of the world’s toughest problems at scale.

We are interested in the technology, of course, but we are also interested in the human mission of enabling and supporting many of the world’s brightest and hardest working people, passionate about open source which benefits millions, to live where they want and work from anywhere. All of these people could move to a tech hub and work for a FAANG but they choose Canonical because of our mission and our approach to the workplace.

Role Summary

Canonical is seeking an exceptional candidate to help us build a new definition for the 21st century digital workplace. You will lead a team of researchers and engineers to figure out what *really* drives productivity, effectiveness and happiness in a remote-first globally distributed company.

You will direct research that helps identify areas of development in various aspects of our digital workspace and lead the team to gather and use data to drive evidence-based decision making. You will design and execute programs to find new ways to use technological innovation for efficient collaboration.

Informed by a deep understanding of our current teams and future potential, you will be responsible for development of a workplace that manifests our culture and brand: Accessible, Adroit, Precise and Reliable.

This role is likely to be home-based out of EMEA or the Americas.

Key Responsibilities

You will…

• Establish relationships with Canonical’s CEO & COO to define our workplace engineering strategy
• Lead research to understand the trends shaping the ways our employees work and utilise that data to implement initiatives to increase productivity across a global, remote first, organisation
• Drive the product roadmap of an engineering team to improve the data and tool ecosystem supporting our digital workplace
• Produce a regular cadence of data analytics to drive business insight
• Tell the story of Canonical’s workplace and help differentiate our employment brand.
• Lead the growth of the workplace engineering discipline across Canonical, while building strong relationships with all of our teams

Required Skills And Experience

• Minimum of a BA/BSc degree in research, psychology, social sciences, or engineering (PhD or MA degree preferred)
• Able to influence C-level stakeholders as well as challenge the status quo
• Previous research / strategy leadership experience from in a global, high growth company
• Ability to translate business questions to key research objectives, identify the best methodology to execute research, synthesise and analyse findings
• Excellent writing and communication skills, a storyteller with a knack for taking technical language and making it understandable.
• Data savvy with a passion for technology
• Experience managing a global team

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer

Canonical believes a diverse workforce enhances our ability to deliver world class software and services which meet the world’s computing needs. We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals.