Senior Manager, Engineering, Local Runtime (East Coast)
About The Position
Docker is a beloved brand in developer tooling, used by millions of developers and companies worldwide. We are a remote-first team building the future of software development, especially as AI agents redefine the landscape. The Runtime team is focused on building Docker's runtime for AI workloads, a cross-platform foundation that provides strong isolation and enterprise governance. This technology is central to Docker's new sbx product, enabling AI agents and workloads to run safely and at scale. In this role, you will manage this team, guiding its technical direction, delivery, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate is a hands-on systems engineer with deep experience in hypervisors, container runtimes, OS internals, and kernel development, who can lead their team to high engineering standards. They should be skilled at growing and retaining senior individual contributors, thrive in a remote-first environment, and maintain curiosity and craft in engineering leadership. Staying close to customers is essential to ensure the technology is trusted and effective.
Requirements
- 5+ years experience managing high-performing engineering teams.
- 5+ years of hands-on systems programming experience (hypervisors, container runtimes, OS internals, kernel development, or similar low-level infrastructure).
- 8+ years of professional, hands-on, full-time software engineering experience in backend, infrastructure, or platform engineering.
- Deep understanding of virtualization concepts: VMMs, hypervisors, and hardware-assisted virtualization.
- Experience with container runtimes (OCI, containerd, runc) or equivalent low-level infrastructure.
- Cross-platform systems experience across two or more of: Windows, macOS, Linux.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Comfortable with a high degree of autonomy and the ability to work remotely across time zones.
Responsibilities
- Lead a team of 6–10 engineers building Docker's cross-platform runtime across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Own the technical direction and roadmap.
- Partner closely with product management to align the team with business and product goals.
- Ensure predictable delivery and operational excellence across the components the team ships.
- Hire and retain top systems engineering talent.
- Hold a high bar for engineering excellence.
- Facilitate communication across teams and provide status reporting for critical projects.
Benefits
- 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
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
