Principal Software Engineer, AI Tools and Security (Seattle)

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 worlds 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.

Dockers AI Tools & Security team is building the foundation for the next generation of secure developer-friendly AI infrastructure. Our flagship product the MCP Gateway empowers developers to connect observe and secure AI agents and tools across the entire lifecyclefrom prototype to production. Were defining how developers safely harness the power of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in real-world environments.

Were looking for a Principal Backend Engineer who thrives at the intersection of AI security and developer experience. Youll lead the technical direction of the Gateway and related services collaborating closely with Product Design and Security to deliver elegant frameworks and APIs that developers love to use. This is a high-velocity high-ownership environment: youll ship fast iterate constantly and help shape the future of secure agent-based development.

• Define the technical solution for a new product

• Help shape the product with peers in Product and Design

• Mentor other technical team members

• Be the technical point of contact for the team

• This role may require participation in an on-call rotation to provide support outside of standard business hours including evenings weekends and holidays as needed.

• 10 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 mindsetyou 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 fundamentalsCI/CD testing strategy source control and deployment automationapplied 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.

• Bachelors 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

• Bring the product to market

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

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 (after 6 months of employment)

• Technology stipend equivalent to $100 USD 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.

#LI-REMOTE

Required Experience:

Staff IC