Remote-First Senior Principal Software Engineer & Architect Lead

Docker; United States; Remote; USD 219,000 - 352,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote‑first by design

Technology stipend

Learning & development stipend

Parental leave

Equity for all full‑time employees

Comprehensive benefits

Office in Seattle and Paris

Job summary

Docker seeks a Senior Principal Software Engineer to shape Docker's technical landscape, driving architecture, security, and scalability for rapid growth. The role provides strategic technical leadership, mentorship, and cross‑functional collaboration to deliver a resilient, cutting‑edge platform.

The position emphasizes secure, scalable systems, IaC, CI/CD, and ongoing innovation, with a focus on enabling autonomous workflows and trustworthy infrastructure for a global user base.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated expertise across multiple domains (SDLC, AI engineering, corporate systems, etc)
• Extensive software engineering experience, with a track record in designing and implementing large‑scale, distributed systems
• Deep technical expertise: Proficiency in multiple programming languages, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), and modern development frameworks
• Leadership acumen: Demonstrated ability to lead diverse engineering teams, inspire innovation, and drive successful outcomes
• Architectural vision: Proven skill in defining and driving architectural roadmaps that align with evolving business needs.
• Problem‑solving ability: Expertise in diagnosing complex system issues and designing robust, scalable solutions
• Communication skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of influencing both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Security conscious: Solid understanding of security best practices, compliance standards, and data protection
• Continuous improvement mindset: Passion for optimizing processes, toolchains, and workflows
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the overarching technical vision, ensuring the platform meets current and future scalability, performance, and security needs
• Evaluate and select tools, frameworks, and architectures to maintain a state‑of‑the‑art technology stack
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to the engineering organization, setting best practices and standards.
• Coach and mentor engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and collaboration
• Investigate emerging technologies, frameworks, and best practices
• Lead prototyping initiatives and proof‑of‑concepts that can transform the platform’s capabilities
• Ensure the platform is designed for high performance and can seamlessly handle increasing user loads
• Oversee performance optimization, load balancing, and capacity planning strategies
• Design fault‑tolerant, highly available systems that minimize downtime and deliver a seamless user experience Infrastructure Automation
• Advocate for and implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles, CI/CD pipelines, and automation best practices
• Continuously refine deployment, testing, and operations processes to improve efficiency
• Collaborate with security experts to ensure platform integrity, compliance with industry standards, and protection of sensitive data
• Proactively address security vulnerabilities and champion secure coding practices
• Work closely with product managers, designers, and other stakeholders to ensure technical initiatives support business objectives
• Drive alignment between engineering roadmaps and product strategies
• Tackle complex architectural and technical issues, providing clear direction and innovative solutions
• Serve as an escalation point for critical system challenges
• Uphold coding standards through thorough code reviews, ensuring high‑quality, maintainable codebases
• Establish and enforce best practices around testing, documentation, and version control
• Produce comprehensive technical documentation, including architectural diagrams, design guidelines, and operational runbooks
• Promote a transparent engineering culture by sharing insights and successes across the organization

Skills

Senior engineering experience

Distributed systems design

Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Leadership & mentoring

Architectural roadmaps

Problem solving

Communication skills

Security best practices

CI/CD & IaC

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Docker seeks a Senior Principal Software Engineer to shape Docker's technical landscape, driving architecture, security, and scalability for rapid growth. The role provides strategic technical leadership, mentorship, and cross‑functional collaboration to deliver a resilient, cutting‑edge platform.

The position emphasizes secure, scalable systems, IaC, CI/CD, and ongoing innovation, with a focus on enabling autonomous workflows and trustworthy infrastructure for a global user base.