Who is Canonical?

Canonical is a growing international software company that works with the open-source community to deliver Ubuntu, “the world’s best free software platform”. It is our mission to make open-source software available to people everywhere. We believe the best way to fuel innovation is to give innovators the technology they need. 

What is Snapcraft?

Snapcraft is the app store for Linux.

Job Summary

The Snapcraft advocacy team at Canonical is looking for a talented, technology-oriented communicator to join a globally-distributed team focused on enabling developers and ISVs to deliver any class of application to millions of Linux users and devices.

As a developer advocate you will be responsible for contributing to the product's technical documentation, interact with the Snapcraft user and developer community, assist developers and ISVs with creating snaps and engage directly with the Snapcraft, Snap Store and snapd engineering teams on a day-to-day basis. Creating documentation requires more than just written language skills; this position will challenge applicants to be creative problem-solvers, shrewd time-managers and to be able to work equally effectively on their own or in collaboration with others.

Developer advocates on the Snapcraft team have a broad impact and responsibility for the quality of the developer and end user experience, and the long-term success of the platform.

You will work in a distributed team and travel internationally 6 to 10 times per year (1 week at a time) for engineering sprints, industry events, and strategic planning sessions. Recent destinations include: Vancouver, Lisbon, Paris, New York, Phoenix, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle, Malta and Cape Town.

Key responsibilities

• Become an expert in using Snapcraft to create and publish snaps with a deep understanding of the various features that Snapcraft, Snap Store and snapd offer.
• Grow the Snapcraft developer community by attracting software developers and ISVs to the platform.
• Assist developers in creating and improving workflows using Snapcraft.
• Create content to scale up adoption, demonstrate best practices and showcase new features.
• Collaborate with software developers, product managers and other writers to develop documentation for experienced technical users as well as those who may be new to packaging and distributing software to Linux users and devices. Documentation consists of language ecosystem specific Snapcraft guides, tutorials, release notes, and white papers.
• Curate existing documentation, performing periodic reviews, triage user feedback/bug reports and determine priorities for remedial work.
• Engage with the Snapcraft community through various means, including snapcraft.io, IRC, social media, conferences, etc.
• Management, scheduling and reporting of Snapcraft’s social media channels including Twitter and Facebook.
• Identifying relevant influencers and devising plans on how to effectively engage with them. 
• Deliver Snapcraft workshop training in person and remotely.
• Represent Snapcraft via speaking engagements at industry events and community conferences.
• Provide input on the development of Snapcraft, Snap Store and snapd based on feedback from ISVs, snap users and the wider community.

Required skills and experience

• An enthusiastic self-starter.
• Clear public record of accomplishments (talks, blog posts, GitHub, Twitter, etc.). 
• Good troubleshooting instincts and undaunted by unfamiliar tools.
• Strong technical writing skills.
• Strategic and creative thinker who can effectively navigate many opportunities.
• Can work autonomously and assume full ownership of objectives as needed.
• Comfortable with Linux-based operating systems, such as Ubuntu.
• Comfortable with online communication and collaboration, such as mailing lists, video calls, and IRC.
• Must be flexible and enjoy working with new technology in a fast-paced environment.
• Must have experience with scripting languages (Python, Bash, etc).
• Experience of working effectively as part of a distributed team.
• BS/BA or equivalent in Computer Science, Technical Communication, English, or a related field.

Desired skills and experience

• Software engineering background.
• Knowledge of HTML, Markdown and other documentation technologies.
• Knowledge of video creation and production.
• Familiarity with GitHub, GitLab, Launchpad and other code repositories and collaboration tools.
• Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Travis CI, Circle CI, Jenkins, etc).
• Familiarity with Linux confinement (control groups, seccomp, AppArmor, etc) a plus.
• Experience of packaging and distributing software for Linux (snap, deb, rpm, etc) a plus.
• Experience working with containers (LXD, Docker, K8s, etc) a plus.
• Experience delivering training is a plus.
• Additional language skills.

What Canonical Offers:

• Learning and Development
• Annual Compensation Review
• Recognition Rewards
• Annual Leave
• Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Priority Pass for travel
• Flexible working option

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. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.