Principal Software Engineer, Docker Hardened Images

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 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, providing the sandboxed environments, verified images, and secure infrastructure that make autonomous workflows trustworthy by default.

About the Role

Docker Hardened Images (DHI) is our catalogue of security-hardened, enterprise-grade container images and Helm charts, built to be minimal, up-to-date, and safe to deploy in regulated and security-conscious environments. We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to set the long-term technical direction for this catalogue and shape how the broader container security ecosystem evolves, inside and beyond Docker. You will work across organizations, set direction for major domains, and resolve the highest-ambiguity problems in container supply chain security. Your impact will come through architectural leadership, cross-functional alignment, and influence on industry standards. This is a pure individual contributor role.

What You Will Do

• Own the architecture for DHI as a platform, covering how images and Helm charts are authored, secured, distributed, and evolved
• Define and drive multi-quarter technical roadmaps for container hardening
• Identify systemic patterns from customer, operational, and upstream signals
• Build alignment across teams and executives on technical strategy and the trade-offs between security, velocity, and cost
• Represent Docker as a trusted technical voice in escalations, enterprise customer engagements, and upstream open source communities
• Set conventions and standards at scale across image definition, Helm chart adaptation, hardening strategy, and supply chain tooling such as Sigstore, SBOM, and SLSA
• Drive the hardest and most ambiguous packaging problems
• Shape integration test infrastructure and developer tooling strategy
• Mentor staff and senior engineers
• Take part in the paid on-call rotation

What You Will Bring

• 10+ years of backend engineering experience, building production-grade distributed systems at scale
• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• The ability to set multi-quarter roadmaps and align stakeholders around them
• Deep expertise in the container and Kubernetes ecosystem, such as cert-manager, Kyverno, Grafana, and Istio
• Mastery of container supply chain security, including provenance, attestation, SBOM, signing, and SLSA
• Strong fundamentals in code review, testing, source control, CI/CD, and Go
• A track record of technical influence without authority
• Experience navigating upstream open source communities as a decision-maker
• Comfort working across remote, distributed teams

Bonus Points

• Experience as a package maintainer at a Linux distribution, Homebrew, or a comparable project
• Hands-on experience with supply chain tooling such as Sigstore, SBOM, and SLSA at organization scale
• Experience in regulated environments such as FedRAMP, FIPS, or PCI
• Prior Principal or Distinguished individual contributor experience on a platform, security, or developer tools team
• Experience engaging enterprise customers on container security architecture

What to Expect

First 30 Days: Align with leadership on org-wide technical risks, and develop a point of view on DHI architectural constraints.

First 90 Days: Map the cross-functional landscape, drive an architectural decision that unblocks multiple teams, establish a feedback loop into the roadmap, and engage upstream open source projects.

First Year: Deliver a major platform or standards evolution, create durable alignment across engineering, product, and security, and raise the technical ceiling for the engineers around you.

Compensation and Equity

The US base salary range for this role is US$181k – US$292k, plus equity. Docker considers visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis.

Perks and Benefits

• Remote-first by design, with the flexibility to work from home or from our offices in Seattle and Paris
• Generous PTO, quarterly Whaleness Days, and an end-of-year Whaleness break
• Home office support and a technology stipend equivalent to US$100 net per month
• An annual learning and development stipend
• 16 weeks of parental leave after six months
• Equity for all full-time employees
• Comprehensive benefits that vary by country, and Docker swag

Docker is an equal opportunity employer.

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