Chief Revenue Officer

OverviewCanonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is 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 founder-led, profitable and growing. We are hiring a Chief Revenue Officer to lead our enterprise sales, sales development, partner, channel, alliance, customer success and field engineering teams. This position will report to the CEO and collaborate with the most senior leaders of Canonical to drive sustainable growth. Success in this role depends on both operational and inspirational leadership. We see the role as program-, process-, and metric-oriented, with leadership and charisma being necessary but not sufficient. It is not itself a sales position so much as one that demands astute planning and tactical operations combined with leadership, rigor and insight into the global dynamics and drivers of enterprise software selection and procurement today.Perhaps unusually we are looking for a leader who is insightful and passionate about the impact of open source in the world.ResponsibilitiesGo-to-market strategy - prioritize sectors and markets, identify organizational gaps and lead hiring to close themPlanning - challenge teams to develop appropriate, ambitious but sustainable execution plans and metrics with cascading goals and targetsExecution - review relevant data and correct course where needed on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basisSponsorship - support leaders to close large ($10M+ ARR) deals with global-10k enterprises and large, complex global tech sector partnersInsight - capture and share patterns, issues, and insights from customers and partners to broaden commercial awareness within CanonicalStaffing - supervise the Canonical recruitment, selection and onboarding processes in your organisationProductivity - design and lead career and skills development together with continuous improvement in your organisationCulture - select for, and invest in, transparent communications, accountability trust, and the work ethic needed for successInspirational leadership - demonstrate and cultivate passion for Canonical's mission, for customers and the marketLeadership within the revenue organizationThe successful candidate will lead our revenue organisation, consisting of:Direct enterprise sales - The VP Enterprise Sales will report to the CRO.Alliances, channels and partnerships: Our VP Alliances will report to the CRO. This lead drives our strategy and execution in regard to: ISVs who embed Ubuntu and Canonical open source; IHVs (Dell, HP, Lenovo etc) who certify and preinstall Ubuntu and deliver solutions; Silicon providers (Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Mediatek etc) who optimise open source for their new offerings; Cloud partners and customers who build ecosystems, products and communities based on Ubuntu; VAR, GSI and distribution partnershipsSector go-to-market: Currently, sector GTM leads report to the VP Alliances, but the overall sector strategy and execution will be a CRO responsibility; we are building out expertise in the telco, finance, automotive, energy, retail and health sectorsField engineering: Our VP Field Engineering will report to the CRO. Our field engineering organisation is more than a traditional pre-sales or solution architect team; they are expert implementers dedicated to delivering what they promiseCustomer success: Our Head of Customer Success will report to the CRO. This is a new organisation but has already made significant progress in establishing processes and relationships; we expect to grow this capability as we expand our portfolio and move deeper into solution salesRevenue operations: Our Head of Revenue Operations will report to either the COO or the CRO. In this organisation we:Ensure correct reporting of pipeline and progressEnsure contracting processes and terms meet agreed standardsAgree variances through commercial reviews with company leadershipRecognise and reward salespeople and leaders with MBO goals and compensation plansRequired experienceUniversity degree, preferably in CS or STEM with additional business disciplines or degreesProgressive operational and leadership experience in high growth, recurring revenue, and global technology firmExperience leading a sales, partnership or field engineering organization to maturity and world class performanceExperience and deep insights into the enterprise software and infrastructure marketsAdditional Skills And Experience We ValueSoftware engineering and architecture experience or skillsSoftware industry insights on trends, strategy and competitionInsight into open source history, dynamics, strategy and competitionWhat we offer youDistributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in personPersonal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per yearAnnual compensation reviewRecognition rewardsAnnual holiday leaveMaternity and paternity leaveEmployee Assistance ProgrammeOpportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleaguesPriority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul company eventsCanonical 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.Seniority levelExecutiveEmployment typeFull-timeJob functionMarketing and SalesIndustriesSoftware Development #J-18808-Ljbffr

Created: 2025-10-08