Principal Software Engineer, Developer Tools (US West Coast)

10+ years software engineering experience with 3+ years in Staff or Principal Engineer roles

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Proven track record architecting and operating developer-facing platforms, internal tools, or developer productivity systems at scale

Deep expertise in CI/CD systems, build infrastructure, and GitOps deployment patterns

Production experience with cloud-native infrastructure including Kubernetes, observability systems (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki), and deployment tooling

Experience designing self-service platforms, developer portals, or golden path tooling that enable other teams to move faster

Working knowledge of AI/ML technologies and hands-on experience with LLM APIs or AI agent development

Proficiency in Go (preferred), Rust, Java, or Python with strong software engineering fundamentals

Exceptional product and platform mindset considering developer experience, business outcomes, and technical/security trade-offs

Strong communication skills with ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders

Track record of technical mentorship and elevating engineering teams' capabilities

Ownership mentality with bias for action and iterative delivery in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

Comfortable with autonomous work in distributed, remote-first teams across multiple time zones

Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar AI agent integration standards

Background in DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering domains

Contributions to open source developer tooling, platform engineering, or observability projects

Experience productizing internal platforms into commercial offerings

Deep knowledge of security, compliance, and operational best practices for production systems

Experience with infrastructure-as-code frameworks (Terraform, Pulumi) and multi-cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)

Track record driving org-wide adoption of developer tooling and engineering standards

Understand Docker's current developer tooling landscape: AI tools, CI/CD state, platform engineering gaps, and the foundational SDLC gap

Meet with engineering leadership, principal engineers, and key technical stakeholders across product engineering, Security, Infrastructure, and Agentic Platform

Conduct deep technical assessment of current developer tooling infrastructure to identify opportunities and constraints across all four pillars

Review existing tools in production and understand what's working, what isn't, and the technical lessons learned

Partner with Senior Manager to define initial technical priorities and 90-day technical roadmap across pillars

Define and document technical architecture for the Developer Tools platform across: system design, technology choices, integration patterns, and operational model

Ship first production deliverable, either an extension of existing tooling or a net-new tool with architectural patterns and standards that scale to future work

Establish technical foundations for the self-service platform: deployment pipeline, security controls, and cost management

Lead or contribute to the SDLC tenets working session with principal engineers, Security, and Infrastructure

Define success metrics and instrumentation strategy for measuring developer tool adoption, effectiveness, and productivity impact

Create architectural decision records and best practices guides for teams building on the platform

Establish mature technical architecture for the Developer Tools platform with multiple production tools demonstrating value

Build production-ready self-service platform enabling multiple teams to build, deploy, and operate their own tools with minimal friction

Define and implement technical standards for measuring developer productivity improvement: design quality, commit frequency, PR velocity, deployment reliability, and incident response times

Lead technical strategy for productizing successful internal tools into customer-facing offerings

Position Developer Tools as Docker's technical center of excellence for developer productivity, with regular technical talks, demos, and knowledge sharing

Define multi-year technical roadmap including advanced platform capabilities, expanded AI tooling, and emerging technology adoption

Docker considers visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis based on business needs.

Compensation & Equity

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.

Home office support – Set up your workspace for comfort and success.

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.

Docker is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team that reflects a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe diverse teams build better products, make better decisions, and better serve our global community.

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