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Senior Principal Engineer, Docker and Ecosystem at Docker · Seattle
Job Description
About Docker
Docker has been one of the most loved brands in developer tooling, trusted by more than 20 million monthly users and over 20 billion container image pulls. From solo founders to the world's largest companies, developers rely on Docker to build, share, and run their applications across our suite of products including Docker Desktop, Docker Hub, and Docker Scout.
We are a globally distributed, remote-first team building the tools that define how software gets built and delivered. As AI agents redefine software development, Docker is at the center of that shift, providing the sandboxed environments, verified images, and secure infrastructure that make autonomous workflows trustworthy by default.
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The Opportunity
Docker is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer to serve as the technical visionary and architect for how software gets built, verified, and trusted.
Every day, millions of developers pull images, install dependencies, and ship builds to production. Each of those steps is a place where something can go wrong, or be made to go wrong. Compromised base images, malicious packages, tampered build steps, unsigned artifacts moving through pipelines nobody is watching. The industry calls this the software supply chain, and it has become one of the most consequential unsolved problems in software engineering.
This role sits in Docker and Ecosystems, the group that owns Docker’s most well known products and our emerging content and SDLC business. You will own the technical strategy for secure software delivery across all of it, defining what verifiable, tamper-resistant software delivery looks like at Docker's scale, then driving the architecture that makes it real for every developer and every enterprise customer using our products.
You will set multi-year technical direction, make architectural decisions that shape Docker's product portfolio, and work directly with the SVP of Engineering and executive team on strategy. You will not manage people. You will change what the industry considers table stakes.
What You'll Do
Technical Vision and Strategy
Lead multi-year technical vision for build security and supply chain across Docker Desktop, Hub, Hardened Images, Verified Publishing, and monetization platforms.
Define and sequence "trusted by default" architecture for 20M developers.
Partner with the SVP of Engineering to convert commercial strategy into multi-year technical roadmaps.
Establish company-wide architectural principles and security standards.
Identify high-leverage platform investments that enhance security across all Docker products.
Proactively position architecture ahead of evolving supply chain threats and regulatory demands.
Build Security Architecture
Architect systems to detect and prevent build-process threats like compromised dependencies, malicious steps, tampered artifacts, and untrusted images.
Design provenance and attestation infrastructure ensuring Docker artifacts carry verifiable build history.
Define artifact signing, verification, and policy enforcement across local workflows and CI/CD pipelines.
Architect SBOM generation, dependency analysis, and vulnerability intelligence for complete software visibility.
Align with and help shape emerging supply chain security standards.
Ensure security controls remain fast and unobtrusive so developers keep them enabled.
SDLC and Developer Workflow Integration
Architect how Docker's security capabilities integrate across the full software development lifecycle, from local development through CI/CD to production deployment
Design the interfaces and contracts that let Docker's tooling embed into the pipelines, registries, and platforms customers already run, rather than asking them to rebuild around us
Define the developer experience for security tooling, where the secure path is the fast path and the default path
Architect policy and enforcement models that satisfy enterprise security and compliance requirements without fragmenting the developer workflow
Drive convergence of security capabilities across Docker products, replacing product-specific implementations with shared platform primitives
Technical Excellence and Influence
Work with leaders across engineering to drive strategy and execution
Mentor and develop Staff and Principal engineers, raising the technical bar across the organization
Represent Docker's security architecture externally through blog posts, conference talks, standards bodies, and technical community engagement
Participate in executive-level discussions, providing architectural perspective on business decisions
Take part in on-call rotation for your team, respond to incidents, debug production issues, and drive continuous improvement of system reliability
What You'll Bring
Domain Expertise
12+ years of software engineering experience specializing in build security, software supply chain security, or SDLC tooling
Deep understanding of build process threat models across dependencies, environments, artifacts, and pipelines, along with effective mitigations
Architectural experience in artifact signing, attestations, SBOMs, dependency security, CI/CD security, base image trust, or vulnerability intelligence
Practical knowledge of supply chain security frameworks and standards
Expertise in API design, service architecture, and scalable system integration
Proven record delivering large-scale distributed systems for millions of users and enterprise customers
Experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and modern infrastructure
Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
Strategic and Business Impact
Proven track record creating strategic technical plans that enable revenue, expansion, or enterprise deals
Experience converting business strategy into technical architectures and roadmaps
Understanding of SaaS business models, enterprise sales, and how security impacts commercial outcomes
Experience leading build-vs-buy decisions for core platform components
Leadership and Influence
Ability to lead large, cross-company technical initiatives across multiple engineering teams
Experience partnering with VPs and executives to define and execute technical strategy
Proven ability to influence technical direction and build consensus without direct authority
Strong communication skills for presenting to executives and driving organization-wide alignment
Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing technical leaders
Enterprise Context
Experience building products that serve enterprise customers with complex security and compliance requirements
Knowledge of enterprise security requirements and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and their architectural implications
Understanding of how enterprise security teams evaluate, procure, and operate tooling
Preferred
Scale experience at a security, developer tools, or infrastructure software company
Experience with containers (Docker, Kubernetes) or developer platforms
Experience with complex enterprise billing, contracts, usage pricing, and revenue recognition
Proven ability to migrate legacy systems without disrupting business operations
Contributions to open-source security tools or supply chain security standards
Recognized technical leader via speaking, publishing, or open-source work
Advanced degree in CS, Engineering, or a related field
What Success Looks Like
Security Posture
Artifacts produced through Docker carry verifiable provenance by default, not by opt-in configuration
Build-time threat classes are addressed architecturally rather than through detection after the fact
Developers keep security controls enabled because the controls are fast and unobtrusive
Business Enablement
Security and governance capabilities directly unblock enterprise revenue
New product SKUs launch in weeks instead of months through the billing platform
Usage-based billing supports monetization of new security and AI product lines
Platform Leverage
Product teams ship enterprise-ready, secure-by-default features in under two weeks rather than months
Shared security primitives replace fragmented per-product implementations
Platform systems achieve 99.9%+ uptime for business-critical workflows
Organizational Impact
Recognized across Docker as the definitive technical authority on build and supply chain security
Multiple Staff and Principal engineers developed who can own major domains
Docker's voice carries weight in the external supply chain security conversation
Docker considers visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis based on business needs.
Compensation & Equity
United States: $219K – $352K + equity
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Posting Information
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.
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Perks & Benefits
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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