Chief Financial Officer

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and very few office based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution. The company is founder led, profitable and growing. We are hiring a Chief Financial Officer , to partner with the most senior leaders of the business. The CFO will lead work across the organisation to achieve the rigorous reporting and governance expected of a public company, and guide us through an IPO . They will work with lines of business to provide high quality finance, budgeting, reporting, procurement, treasury, controls, accounting and investor relations. Perhaps unusually we are looking for a leader who is insightful and passionate about the impact of open source in the world . A finance leader who is also a software industry leader can articulate that impact to customers and their team, and will be better able to partner closely with both the CRO and the CEO. It is core to our mission that open source should enable companies to operate more efficiently, achieve more with less, aspire to greater velocity in their technology operations and innovate faster and with more focus. It will be important for our CFO to have a strong voice in how we demonstrate those benefits in our own operations, and to represent that with customers. Our ideal candidate will gain trust and have credibility with our sales and partner organisations, helping them to understand the dynamics and importance of profitability and sales efficiency while also helping them make the business case for Canonical open source with their prospects. The successful candidate will: Lead our finance strategy and team Guide the strategic and annual business planning cycle Educate the business to improve financial expertise Cultivate passion for our products and customer focus Demonstrate and ensure operational excellence and continuous improvement Lead finance activities for capital structure and listing Promote business partnering Partner with the CRO and our business development teams, including sales, channel, alliances, and field engineering Partner with marketing, exchanging insights, indicators and regular analysis Partner with our General Counsel and legal team, informing profit and global compliance matters Lead investor relations Deliver operational finance Strengthen the finance team through high quality hiring Build a rigorous procurement capability, primarily for hardware, software and travel Build an efficient treasury capability for global currency and cash management Build organisational capability to ensure efficient core financial process delivery Establish and ensure a strong controls environment Enhance FP&A processes, tools and value add to the business Implement finance systems and integrate with other Canonical platforms Deliver world-class transparency and insights into data Automate processes and controls to improve efficiency and reduce risk Oversee relationships with auditors Maintain compliance and structure Ensure global tax structure and transfer pricing agreements are fit for purpose Respond to changes in the international tax environment Comply with tax laws, rules and regulations in all jurisdictions where we operate Support the corporate structure for resilience and shareholder value Protect the value of Canonical intellectual property Required experience Qualified professional accountant with Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business or scientific or numerate discipline Operational and leadership experience in high growth, multi currency/geography environments Experience leading teams through transformational change to maturity and outstanding performance Experience of GAAP and IFRS Experience in a software business Additional experience we value Software engineering and architecture experience or skills Software industry insights on trends, strategy and competition Insight into open source history, dynamics, strategy and competition What we offer you We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally. Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year Annual compensation review Recognition rewards Annual holiday leave Maternity and paternity leave Employee Assistance Programme Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul company events About Canonical Canonical is a pioneering tech firm 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 technology world. 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. Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game. Canonical is an equal opportunity employer During this application process I agree to use only my own words. I understand that plagiarism, the use of AI or other generated content will disqualify my application. * Describe your experience in the software sector which is most pertinent to this role. * In your most recent role, what changes did you institute that significantly improved the function? * What achievement in this role would give you the most satisfaction? * How did you perform in mathematics at high school? * How did you perform in your native language at high school? * Please share your rationale or evidence for the high school performance selections above. Make reference to provincial, state or nation-wide scoring systems, rankings, or recognition awards, or to competitive or selective college entrance results such as SAT or ACT scores, JAMB, matriculation results, IB results etc. We recognise every system is different but we will ask you to justify your selections above. * What was your bachelor's university degree result, or expected result if you have not yet graduated? Please include the grading system to help us understand your result e.g. ‘85 out of 100’, ‘2:1 (Grading system: first class, 2:1, 2:2, third class)’ or ‘GPA score of 3.8/4.0 (predicted)’. We have hired outstanding individuals who did not attend or complete university. If this describes you, please continue with your application and enter ‘no degree’. * Universities around the world score degrees in different ways. Please indicate your result, or expected result if you are close to graduation, along with information about the grading system. We expect all colleagues to meet in person 2-4 times a year, at internal company events lasting between 1-2 weeks. We try to pick new and interesting locations that will likely require international travel and entry requirement visas and vaccinations. Are you willing and able to commit to this? * Please note that if you require any accommodation for travel that relates to a physical disability please do let us know during your hiring process and we will be happy to discuss your requirements further. Website LinkedIn Profile In the past ten years, looking only at the time since you graduated your first undergraduate degree, how many companies have you worked for? * We're focused specifically on the last ten years, and only the portion of that since you left undergrad university. If you graduated three years ago, just count the number of companies you have worked for in those three years. If you graduated 25 years ago, just count the companies in the last ten years. If you worked for a company which was acquired or renamed, then please count that as one company not two. Don't count any university jobs or internships. If you have your own company or do private contracting work in addition to your employment, please count that as one company. In which country do you currently work? * Please select your current location from the dropdown. Please confirm that you have read and agree to Canonical's Recruitment Privacy Notice and Privacy Policy. * Recruitment Privacy Notice Privacy Policy #J-18808-Ljbffr