Description review

Software Engineer - Data Infrastructure - Kafka

Canonical · EMEA · back to the listing

HR standards

52/100

needs work

Title ↔ description

67/100

needs work

Reads as

DevOps Engineer

82% confident

What this role officially is

ICT system administrator — ESCO, the EU occupation classification

ICT system administrators are responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer and network systems, servers, workstations and peripheral devices. They may acquire, install, or upgrade computer components and software; automate routine tasks; write computer programs; troubleshoot; train and supervise staff; and provide technical support. They ensure optimum system integrity, security, backup and performance.

Also known as: enterprise administrator, IT system administrator, ICT systems administrator, ICT sysadmins, IT systems administrator, ICT sysadmin

How others title the same work

Large employers

  • Senior Software Engineer, Developer Infrastructure Coinbase
  • Senior Software Engineer, Infrastructure - Compute Platform Coinbase
  • Senior Software Engineer, Infrastructure - Core Infra Systems Coinbase
  • Software Engineer - Python - Container Images Canonical Ltd.
  • Software Engineer - Secure Container Images Canonical

Startups

  • Ecosmic | Senior DevOps Engineer | Remote (Italy) | €50,000–€60,000 Ecosmic
  • 3C Digital Solutions | Terraform Module Developer 3C Digital Solutions
  • Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure Accord
  • BCC | Platform Systems Engineers | Bethesda MD | Competitive compensation! BCC
  • DevOps Engineer Cyble

What the listing never says

  • 23 bullet points. Long requirement lists deter qualified candidates, who read them as hard gates. Scope clarity
  • No section describes what the person would actually do. Scope clarity
  • No pay range published. Candidates cannot tell whether applying is worth their time. Pay transparency

The listing, marked up

Nothing in the wording of this listing tripped a check. The scores above still judge how complete and coherent it is.

Canonical is building a comprehensive automation suite to provide multi-cloud and on-premise data solutions for the enterprise. The data platform team is a collaborative team that develops a managed solutions for a full range of data stores and data technologies, spanning from big data, through NoSQL, cache-layer capabilities, and analytics; all the way to structured SQL engines (similar to Amazon RDS approach).

We are facing the interesting problem of fault-tolerant mission-critical distributed systems and intend to deliver the world's best automation solution for delivering managed data platforms.

We are looking for candidates from junior to senior level with interests, experience and willingness to learn around Big Data technologies, such as distributed event-stores (Kafka) and parallel computing frameworks (Spark). Engineers who thrive at Canonical are mindful of open-source community dynamics and equally aware of the needs of large, innovative organisations.

Location: This role can be filled in European, Middle East and African time zones.

What your day will look like

The data platform team is responsible for the automation of data platform operations, with the mission of managing and integrating Big Data platforms at scale. This includes ensuring fault-tolerant replication, TLS, installation, backups and much more; but also provides domain-specific expertise on the actual data system to other teams within Canonical. This role is focused on the creation and automation of infrastructure features of data platforms, not analysing and/or processing the data in them.

• Collaborate proactively with a distributed team

• Write high-quality, idiomatic Python code to create new features

• Debug issues and interact with upstream communities publicly

• Work with helpful and talented engineers including experts in many fields

• Discuss ideas and collaborate on finding good solutions

• Work from home with global travel for 2 to 4 weeks per year for internal and external events

What we are looking for in you

• Proven hands-on experience in software development using Python

• Proven hands-on experience in distributed systems, such as Kafka and Spark

• Have a Bachelor’s or equivalent in Computer Science, STEM, or a similar degree

• Willingness to travel up to 4 times a year for internal events

Additional skills that you might also bring

You might also bring a subset of experience from the followings that can help Data Platform to achieve its challenging goals and determine the level we will consider you for:

• Experience operating and managing other data platform technologies, SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc) and/or NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis, ElasticSearch, etc), similar to DBA level expertise

• Experience with Linux systems administration, package management, and infrastructure operations

• Experience with the public cloud or a private cloud solution like OpenStack

• Experience with operating Kubernetes clusters and a belief that it can be used for serious persistent data services

What we offer you

Your base pay will depend on various factors including your geographical location, level of experience, knowledge and skills. In addition to the benefits above, certain roles are also eligible for additional benefits and rewards including annual bonuses and sales incentives based on revenue or utilisation. Our compensation philosophy is to ensure equity right across our global workforce.

In addition to a competitive base pay, we provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. Please note that additional benefits may apply depending on the work location and, for more information on these, please ask your Talent Partner.

• Fully remote working environment - we’ve been working remotely since 2004!

• Personal learning and development budget of 2,000USD per annum

• Annual compensation review

• Recognition rewards

• Annual holiday leave

• Parental Leave

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues twice a year

• Priority Pass for travel and travel upgrades for long haul company events

About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm that is 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 on a daily basis. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence - in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do.

Canonical has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2004.​ Work at Canonical is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game. Canonical provides a unique window into the world of 21st-century digital business.

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.

#li-remote

How this was produced

Highlights are found by rule, not by a model: each one is a phrase matched at a known position, and every note is a template we wrote. The two scores come from a typed-decision model (Jev) that reads the listing against the official role definition and real listings for the same role, and returns probabilities rather than prose — it never writes any of the words on this page, and never chooses what to highlight.

Deterministic penalty applied to the HR score: 16 points (from 68 before penalties). Reviewed 21 Sep 2026.