Staff Design Engineer - Cloud Networking UX

📋 Job Overview

This is an opportunity to shape the future of cloud networking user experience at Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. We're looking for an exceptional Staff Design Engineer who can make complex networking infrastructure intuitive, powerful, and delightful for developers and operations teams working in cloud environments.

🏢 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.

🎯 The Role

As a Staff Design Engineer, you'll define the UX vision for how users interact with networking across our cloud portfolio—from MAAS to MicroCloud and Ubuntu Server networking. You'll work on challenges like visualizing network topologies, designing intuitive configuration interfaces, and creating experiences that make infrastructure manageable at scale.

✅ Key Responsibilities

• Defining and driving the UX strategy for cloud networking products across Canonical's portfolio
• Designing intuitive interfaces for highly complex networking concepts that rethink VPCs, subnets, routing tables, security groups, load balancers, and network observability
• Creating and evolving design systems and patterns that scale across multiple products and platforms
• Conducting user research with DevOps engineers, network administrators, SREs, and cloud architects to understand their workflows, pain points, and mental models
• Building prototypes and high-fidelity designs using Figma or similar tools
• Creating experiences for network troubleshooting, monitoring, and observability
• Working on both GUI and terminal-based user experiences, understanding that our users span from UI to CLI preferences
• Mentoring designers and contribute to design culture across Canonical
• Owning one of our working groups to enable Canonical design's horizontal efforts

📌 Required Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Bachelor's or equivalent in User Experience, Design, or STEM or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path
• 8+ years of experience in product design, UX design, or interaction design, with a strong portfolio of B2B/enterprise products
• Solid understanding of cloud computing and networking fundamentals, experience designing for developers and operations teams, and their workflows
• Strong information architecture skills and can organize complex systems into clear, navigable structures
• Experienced in user research methodologies and can translate findings into actionable design decisions
• Excellent communication skills and can articulate design rationale to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Self-motivated, organized, and comfortable working in a distributed, remote-first environment
• Knowledge and passion for the intersection of user experience, technology and design
• Commitment to continuous learning and improvement - curious, flexible, scientific
• Result-oriented with a drive to finish work and celebrate success
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long

🎁 Benefits

Your base pay will depend on various factors including your geographical location, level of experience, knowledge and skills. In addition to the benefits below, 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, you can ask in the later stages of the recruitment process.

• 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 at 'sprints'
• Priority Pass for travel and travel upgrades for long haul company events

🛂 Visa & Eligibility

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.