Principal Software Engineer, Developer Tools (US West Coast)
Docker · Remote · United States ·
COMPENSATION
€•• – ••k
Listed on the employer's job board (Ashby)
- Principal level role
- Fully remote (US West)
- Go, Rust, Python
- Kubernetes & CI/CD
- Visa sponsorship possible
Join Docker’s Developer Tools team to shape how software is designed, built, and operated across the organization. As a Principal Engineer, you will drive the technical strategy for internal platforms, continuous integration systems, and AI-powered workflows. This position offers the opportunity to modernize the software development lifecycle and create golden paths that empower engineers to move faster and more securely.
What you'll do
- Define long-term technical vision for developer tooling, CI/CD, and AI tools
- Architect internal self-service platforms for scaffolding and deploying services
- Establish architectural standards for pipeline tooling and GitOps patterns
- Design scalable infrastructure for hosting developer tools and agents
- Mentor senior engineers on platform engineering and AI integration
- Drive technical decisions on build substrates and agent orchestration
- Partner with leadership to align architecture with business objectives
- Participate in on-call rotation for support outside standard hours
What you'll need
- 10+ years software engineering experience with 3+ years in Staff/Principal roles
- Deep expertise in CI/CD systems, build infrastructure, and GitOps
- Production experience with Kubernetes and observability systems like Prometheus
- Proficiency in Go, Rust, Java, or Python with strong fundamentals
- Working knowledge of AI/ML technologies and LLM API integration
- Proven track record architecting developer-facing platforms at scale
- Experience designing self-service portals or golden path tooling
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience
Nice to have
- Experience with Model Context Protocol or AI agent integration standards
- Background in DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering domains
- Contributions to open source developer tooling or observability projects
- Experience productizing internal platforms into commercial offerings
- Knowledge of Terraform, Pulumi, and multi-cloud platforms like AWS or GCP
- Track record driving organization-wide adoption of engineering standards
Stack
- Go
- Rust
- Java
- Python
- Kubernetes
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- Loki
- Terraform
- Pulumi
- AWS
- GCP
- Azure
How you'll work
- Remote-first company with offices in Seattle and Paris
- Flexible schedule with trust-based management
- On-call rotation required for evenings, weekends, and holidays
- Distributed team working across multiple time zones
What you get
- Annual technology stipend of $100 net per month
- Generous paid time off and quarterly Whaleness Days
- 16 weeks paid parental leave after six months
- Equity grants for all full-time employees
- Annual learning and development stipend
- Home office setup support
- Comprehensive medical and retirement benefits vary by country
Hiring process
- AI-assisted tools may be used during recruiting
- Optional interview recordings available for calibration