Docker - Principal Software Engineer, AI Tools and Security (Seattle or SF Bay Area)

Remote - Seattle, Washington, United States$232k - $319k+ Equity9mo ago

Remote Principal NA Cloud Computing Artificial Intelligence Software Engineer Principal Go Rust C++Java Team Leadership

Requirements

• 12+ years of backend engineering experience, including extensive work on production-grade, distributed systems at scale. • Technical leadership across multiple teams or domains, with a proven ability to drive architectural vision, set technical direction, and influence long-term product strategy. • Exceptional product and platform mindset—you think beyond implementation details to how technology shapes developer and business outcomes. • Expertise in designing and evolving large-scale, cloud-native systems, with deep knowledge of distributed computing, service-oriented architecture, and performance optimization. • Demonstrated experience building secure, resilient, and high-throughput backend services, with a strong grasp of reliability engineering principles (SLOs, observability, incident response). • Fluency in Go (preferred) or another modern systems language (Rust, Java, C++, etc.), with the ability to lead technical design reviews and mentor others in language-specific best practices. • Strong grasp of software engineering fundamentals—CI/CD, testing strategy, source control, and deployment automation—applied in complex, multi-service environments. • Proven track record of technical mentorship and cross-functional collaboration, enabling teams to deliver high-impact, high-quality software efficiently. • Deep experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and infrastructure-as-code tooling. • Ownership mentality with a bias for action and iterative delivery, balancing short-term impact with long-term architectural health. • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. • Comfortable operating autonomously in distributed, remote-first teams, and leading through influence rather than authority. • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. • Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and microservices architecture • Prior experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar LLM APIs, and the MCP specification • Meet team members • Build context about the problem space and prior art • Provide feedback on current exploration and propose next steps in line with Product and Design • Work with Product and Design on defining the product • Attend customer calls • Meet people across the company • Help grow the team by participating in hiring loops • One Year Outlook (First Year): • Bring the product to market • Docker considers sponsorship on a case-by-case basis based on business needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction of the Gateway and related services. • Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Security teams to deliver frameworks and APIs that developers love to use. • Become a mentor for other technical team members. • Act as the primary technical contact person within their own team or across multiple teams/domains if applicable (implied by "ownership mentality").

Benefits

• United States: $198K – $319K + equity • ______________________________________________________________________ • Open vacancy: This posting is for an existing open role. • AI in hiring: Docker may use AI-assisted tools during our recruiting process. • Interview recordings: Candidates will be invited to opt in to interview recordings to support interviewer calibration and consistent evaluations. Recordings are optional and require explicit consent. • Remote-first by design – Work from your home, with offices in Seattle and Paris for connection and collaboration. • Flexibility that fits your life – We trust you to manage your schedule while delivering great work. • Time to recharge – Generous PTO, designated quarterly Whaleness Days, and a designated end-of-year Whaleness break. • Technology stipend – Equivalent to US$100 net per month to help support your work. • Learning & development – Annual stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and continued learning. • Parental leave – 16 weeks of paid parental leave after six months of employment. • Equity for all full-time employees – Share in Docker's long-term success as we continue to grow. • Comprehensive benefits – Medical, retirement, and paid holidays vary by country. • Docker swag – Because representing the whale never gets old.