Senior Principal Software Engineer, Docker and Ecosystem
Docker · Remote · Seattle, United States · 9mo ago
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Docker sits at the exact center of it. We are the layer where builds happen. That gives us a rare opportunity, and a real obligation, to make secure software delivery the default rather than an afterthought bolted on at the end.
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.
This is one of the highest-leverage individual contributor roles at the company. 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.
Responsibilities
Technical Vision and Strategy
Own the multi-year technical vision for Docker's build security and software supply chain capabilities, spanning Docker Desktop, Docker Hub, Docker Hardened Images, Docker Verified Publishing, and the platforms that monetize them
Define what "trusted by default" means architecturally for a product used by 20 million developers, then sequence the work to get there
Translate Docker's commercial strategy into platform capabilities, partnering with the SVP of Engineering to turn organizational strategy into technical roadmaps that span teams and years
Establish the architectural principles and security standards that guide technical decisions across engineering, and set the bar other teams build against
Identify the investments with maximum leverage: capabilities built once that raise the security floor across every Docker product
Anticipate where supply chain threats and regulatory requirements are heading, and make sure our architecture is positioned before the market demands it
Build Security Architecture
Architect the systems that detect and prevent threats introduced during the software build process, including compromised dependencies, malicious build steps, tampered artifacts, and untrusted base images
Design provenance and attestation infrastructure so that any artifact produced through Docker carries verifiable evidence of how, where, and from what it was built
Define Docker's approach to artifact signing, verification, and policy enforcement across the developer inner loop and CI/CD pipelines
Architect SBOM generation, dependency analysis, and vulnerability intelligence capabilities that give developers and security teams a truthful picture of what is actually in their software
Align Docker's architecture with emerging supply chain security frameworks and standards, and help shape them where we can
Design for a hard constraint: security controls that slow developers down get turned off. Everything here has to be fast enough and quiet enough that developers keep it on
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
Qualifications
Required
Domain Expertise
12+ years of software engineering experience, with deep expertise in build security, software supply chain security, SDLC tooling or equivalent experience
Demonstrated understanding of the threat model around the software build process: how compromise gets introduced through dependencies, build environments, artifacts, and pipelines, and what actually mitigates it
Hands-on architectural experience with some meaningful subset of: artifact signing and verification, provenance and attestation, SBOM generation and consumption, dependency and package security, CI/CD pipeline security, base image trust, or vulnerability intelligence at scale
Working knowledge of supply chain security frameworks and standards, and their practical architectural implications
Expert-level understanding of API design, service architecture, and system integration patterns at scale
Proven track record architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems serving millions of users and thousands of enterprise customers
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and modern infrastructure patterns
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Strategic & Business Impact
Track record of establishing strategic technical plans that directly enabled business outcomes such as revenue growth, market expansion, or unblocked enterprise deals
Experience translating business strategy into technical architecture and roadmaps
Understanding of SaaS business models, enterprise sales cycles, and how security capabilities influence commercial outcomes
Experience making build-versus-buy decisions for critical platform components
Leadership & Influence
Proven ability to drive large cross-company technical programs requiring coordination across multiple engineering organizations
Experience working with VPs and executives to set and execute technical strategy
Track record of influencing technical direction without direct authority, building consensus across teams with competing priorities
Strong communication skills, with the ability to present to executives and drive alignment at every level
Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing technical leadership
Enterprise Platform Experience
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
Background at a security company, developer tools company, or infrastructure software company operating at significant scale
Experience with container technologies, Docker, Kubernetes, or developer productivity platforms
Experience with enterprise billing complexity, including contract management, usage-based pricing, and revenue recognition
Track record of migrating legacy systems while maintaining business continuity
Contributions to open source security tooling or participation in supply chain security standards work
External recognition as a technical leader through conference speaking, publications, or open source contributions
Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field
Key Success Metrics
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
______________________________________________________________________
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.
______________________________________________________________________
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.
#LI-REMOTE