Principal Software Engineer - Secure Docker Images (Remote)

Docker, Inc; United States; Remote; USD 181,000 - 292,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first

Flexible schedule

Generous PTO

Home office stipend

Tech stipend

Learning stipend

Parental leave

Equity

Comprehensive benefits

Docker swag

Job summary

Docker, Inc. seeks a Principal Software Engineer to steer the long-term direction of Docker Hardened Images. You’ll drive architectural decisions across the catalogue, align security posture with product goals, and influence multiple teams through clear technical leadership.

You will mentor engineers, shape security standards, and collaborate with OSS communities while working in a remote-first, globally distributed environment. This is a high-impact IC role with broad scope.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend engineering experience in production-grade distributed systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to set multi-quarter technical roadmaps and align stakeholders across teams.
• Strong expertise in container and Kubernetes ecosystems and related tooling.
• Mastery of container supply chain security concepts (provenance, attestation, SBOM, signing, SLSA).
• Solid software engineering fundamentals: code review, testing, CI/CD, and Go.
• Proven track record of technical influence across organizations through design, reviews, and mentorship.
• Experience navigating upstream OSS communities as a decision-maker for security-related issues.
• Comfort working with remote, distributed teams and communicating complex strategy clearly.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture for Docker Hardened Images platform across catalogue and Docker’s product surface.
• Define multi-quarter roadmaps balancing velocity, security posture, and scalability.
• Translate signals into architectural changes affecting the catalogue at scale.
• Build alignment among product, security, infrastructure, and customer-facing functions.
• Represent Docker in escalations and customer engagements on security architecture.
• Set conventions and standards for image definitions, Helm charts, hardening, and tooling (Sigstore, SBOM, SLSA).
• Tackle the hardest packaging problems with cross-organizational impact.
• Shape testing infrastructure and developer tooling to scale the engineering platform.
• Mentor senior engineers and drive durable architectural decisions.

Skills

Distributed systems

Go

Kubernetes

Container security

SBOM/SLSA

Architecture leadership

Mentorship

Remote collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Sigstore

SBOM tooling

CI/CD pipelines

Cert-manager

Kyverno

Grafana

Istio

Job description

Docker, Inc. seeks a Principal Software Engineer to steer the long-term direction of Docker Hardened Images. You’ll drive architectural decisions across the catalogue, align security posture with product goals, and influence multiple teams through clear technical leadership.

You will mentor engineers, shape security standards, and collaborate with OSS communities while working in a remote-first, globally distributed environment. This is a high-impact IC role with broad scope.