At Docker, we make app development easier so developers can focus on what matters. Our remote-first team spans the globe, united by a passion for innovation and great developer experiences. With over 20 million monthly users and 20 billion image pulls, Docker is the #1 tool for building, sharing, and running apps—trusted by startups and Fortune 100s alike. We’re growing fast and just getting started. Come join us for a whale of a ride!

The Developer Experience (DevEx) team builds the systems and experiences that help millions of developers build, secure, and ship software with confidence. We power critical parts of Docker Scout and Hardened Images, enabling developers and enterprises to understand and improve their software supply chains.

As a Staff Software Engineer, you’ll be a key technical leader for DevEx and a partner to teams across Docker. You’ll drive architecture for distributed systems at scale, influence cross team design decisions, and help shape how Docker’s proprietary content and signals turn into product ready capabilities. You’ll also guide engineers, support long term technical direction, and help align engineering work with business and customer goals.

This role is for someone who enjoys solving complex, cross cutting problems and can connect deep technical insight with strong product intuition.

Success in this Role Looks Like

You’ll thrive here if you enjoy working across teams, simplifying complexity, and driving clarity. Success means you’ve strengthened our architecture, influenced strategy, guided engineers, and helped deliver impactful capabilities that support millions of developers and the future of Docker’s platform.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design for major backend systems and distributed workflows

• Work across teams to define, align, and drive shared technical direction

• Design, build, and operate backend services in Clojure and Go with a focus on scalability, security, and resilience

• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to connect technical decisions with business outcomes

• Mentor engineers across DevEx and influence engineering practice beyond your team

• Drive improvements in observability, performance, and service reliability

• Help refine DevEx’s security posture in line with company wide strategy

• Represent engineering work clearly to senior stakeholders and other teams

• Participate in the on call rotation and improve operational readiness across services

• Champion clear communication, documentation, and technical excellence

Qualifications

• Deep experience building and operating large-scale backend systems

• Strong programming abilities in Clojure and Go or equivalent languages

• Proven ability to drive architectural design and guide multi-team initiatives
  Strong understanding of cloud native systems, distributed system patterns, and domain-specific libraries

• Experience influencing technical direction across teams and mentoring senior engineers

• Ability to articulate tradeoffs and connect technical decisions to product and business needs

• Comfortable collaborating across engineering, product, design, and other functions

• Strong written and spoken communication in a remote, async environment

What to Expect

First 30 Days

• Build context on our architecture, roadmap, and active initiatives

• Pair with engineers across teams in Clojure and Go to understand core systems and workflows

• Ship your first changes to production

• Contribute early improvements while building relationships across engineering
  

First 90 Days

• Lead design for a cross team initiative or system level improvement

• Strengthen system boundaries and architectural clarity

• Mentor engineers and contribute to improved technical documentation
  

One Year Outlook

• You’re a key technical leader for DevEx and a go to partner across Docker

• You’ve shaped architecture for major systems and improved reliability, performance, and operational capability

• You’ve influenced technical strategy across multiple teams

• You’re helping set a strong engineering culture across DevEx and the Supply Chain Security Group

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

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound on April 13, 2024.

Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey here.

Perks

• Freedom & flexibility; fit your work around your life

• Designated quarterly Whaleness Days plus end of year Whaleness break

• Home office setup; we want you comfortable while you work

• 16 weeks of paid Parental leave

• Technology stipend equivalent to $100 net/month

• PTO plan that encourages you to take time to do the things you enjoy

• Training stipend for conferences, courses and classes

• Equity; we are a growing start-up and want all employees to have a share in the success of the company

• Docker Swag

• Medical benefits, retirement and holidays vary by country

• Remote-first culture, with offices in Seattle and Paris

Docker embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our company will be.

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