[Hiring] Usability Engineer @Canonical

Role Description

We are hiring a Usability Engineer for our Design Team.

User Science is an evolving design discipline at Canonical. The mission of the newly formed User Science team is to expand beyond traditional models of UX research, integrating user needs end-to-end in development processes and quality standards across the company.

• Collecting and synthesizing user data: Developing user insights in diverse formats, scientifically analyzing data from A/B tests, usability studies, and other methodologies to create compelling findings.
• Prototyping for impact: Building lightweight prototypes, data visualization dashboards, or automation scripts to enhance broader consumption of research.
• Responding to audience needs: Calibrating research presentations with sensitivity and precision in a highly technical environment, understanding what level of depth is right for each stakeholder.
• Promoting a data-informed culture: Working closely with process, product, and engineering teams to integrate user research into existing decision-making flows.
• Building research scalability and interoperability: Strengthening research ops infrastructure, making key methodologies more accessible, actionable, and repeatable.
• Fostering a learning culture: Contribute to the evolving definition of User Science through user-centered training, resource development, and outreach.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related field such as Design, Engineering, Data Science or similar, or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path.
• User research expertise: Proficiency in both qualitative and quantitative user research methodologies, including user interviews, usability testing, A/B testing, surveys, and data analysis.
• Tinkerer mindset: A passion for hacking, exploring, and building creative solutions, whether through technical prototyping, scripting, or research tooling.
• A degree of technical fluency: Ability to quickly pick up technical concepts, engage deeply with engineering and process optimization teams, and contribute to cross-functional discussions.
• A talent for optimization: A strong alignment towards building research ops, systematizing best practices, and creating frameworks for broader knowledge-sharing.
• Finely tuned communication skills: Impeccable verbal and written communication abilities, characterized by warmth, precision, and a commitment to maintaining high-quality standards.
• Portfolio: A robust portfolio showcasing a range of user research, design, or engineering projects that show a talent for exploration, optimization, and transforming insights into action.

Requirements

• Experience with Linux.
• Some conceptual knowledge of container tech (such as LXD, Docker, Kubernetes), OpenStack deployment or operations, or public or private cloud management.
• Some experience with or interest in data analysis frameworks in Python (e.g. pandas, seaborn), R, MATLAB or similar.
• A proven track record of contributing to Open Source projects or communities.
• A passion for aesthetics, visualization, or design.

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 utilization. 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