Senior Principal Engineer, Central Ops & Systems (Seattle Preferred)

Docker

3d•$219,000 - $352,000•Remote

About The Position

Docker is seeking a Senior Principal Engineer to serve as the technical visionary and architect for our Central Operations and Systems organization — the foundational platform that powers "how Docker does Docker", which includes corporate systems, developer AI/SDLC, infrastructure, reliability, and internal systems. This is one of the most impactful individual contributor roles at Docker, responsible for defining and driving the technical strategy that enables Docker's transformation to an AI-first company and effectively enables Docker to be "Customer 0" of Docker. Your influence will impact the work of every Dockhand every day. As Senior Principal Engineer, you will establish strategic technical plans that span the company systems/data architecture and the end-to-end employee experience, make critical architectural decisions that affect Docker's entire internal systems portfolio, and drive technical execution of cross-company initiatives that directly enable every Dockhand. You'll work at the technical intersection of AI, platform infrastructure, developer SDLC, corporate systems, and Docker products, ensuring all systems work together seamlessly to support Docker's most precious resources: our employees. This role requires someone who combines deep technical expertise across multiple domains. Managing the breadth is both the exciting and challenging part of this role. You'll be recognized across Docker as the definitive expert on employee experience, consulted by executives on strategic technical decisions, and responsible for ensuring that every Dockhand has the right tools at the right time to do their day to day work.

Requirements

12+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated expertise across multiple domains (SDLC, AI engineering, corporate systems, etc)
Proven track record architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems serving millions of users and thousands of enterprise customers
Broad working knowledge across all platform domains with ability to make sound architectural decisions spanning multiple areas
Expert-level understanding of API design, service architecture, and system integration patterns at scale, including in-house vs. vendor developed systems.
Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and modern infrastructure patterns (Kubernetes, service mesh, infrastructure-as-code)
Knowledge of enterprise security requirements, compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001), and their architectural implications
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Track record of establishing strategic technical plans that directly enabled business outcomes (revenue growth, cost reduction, market expansion)
Experience translating business strategy into technical architecture and roadmaps
Demonstrated ability to identify and prioritize investments that provide maximum platform leverage
Understanding of SaaS business models, enterprise sales cycles, and how platform capabilities influence commercial success
Experience making build-vs-buy decisions for critical platform components
Proven ability to drive large cross-company technical programs requiring coordination across multiple engineering organizations
Experience working with VPs and executives to set and execute technical strategy
Track record of influencing technical direction without direct authority—building consensus across teams with different priorities
Strong communication skills with ability to present to executives, influence leadership, and drive alignment at all levels
Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing technical leadership

Nice To Haves

Experience at developer tools, infrastructure software, or B2B SaaS companies at significant scale
Background with container technologies, Docker, Kubernetes, or developer productivity platforms
Track record of successfully migrating legacy systems while maintaining business continuity
Knowledge of Financial Operations and infrastructure cost optimization at scale
Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field
External recognition as a technical leader (conference speaking, publications, open source contributions)

Responsibilities

Define and own the multi-year technical vision for Docker's Central Operations and Systems group, encompassing internal AI, developer tools, infrastructure, reliability, and corporate systems.
Establish strategic plans and objectives for major initiatives, making architectural decisions that ensure Docker's business objectives are met.
Contribute to and drive the strategic vision in collaboration with engineering leadership, translating organizational strategy into technical roadmaps that span multiple teams and time horizons
Identify and prioritize investments that provide maximum leverage—capabilities built once that enable rapid adoption and increase productivity across the employee base
Develop architectural principles and standards that guide technical decisions across the Central Operations and Systems group and influence product engineering teams
Anticipate future business needs and ensure platform architecture provides the flexibility to support Docker's evolving commercial models
Lead technical vision and implementation for large cross-company programs that require coordination across all Docker teams
Architect the Docker SDLC "Golden Path": how Dockhands build, manage and deploy systems and software, as applicable
Drive convergence of fragmented systems across Docker—replacing product-specific implementations with shared platform capabilities
Establish technical contracts between platform and product teams that enable independent velocity while ensuring consistency and reliability
Lead architectural reviews for major initiatives across Docker, ensuring alignment with platform strategy and long-term maintainability
Proactively identify and solve problems that impact critical areas of the business before they become blockers
Define the infrastructure platform vision that removes infrastructure as a bottleneck to innovation—enabling teams to deploy experimental services in minutes, not weeks
Architect standardized deployment patterns that encode best practices for security, scaling, monitoring, and reliability
Design infrastructure that specifically supports AI and agent initiatives—rapid deployment, programmatic environment creation, consistent APIs
Establish observability standards that provide distributed tracing, metrics, log aggregation, and error tracking out of the box for every service
Drive cost optimization across platform infrastructure while maintaining performance and reliability standards
Work with senior managers and directors across Docker organization to drive operations and strategy
Mentor and develop Staff and Principal engineers, raising the technical bar across the organization
Represent Docker's platform architecture and AI adoption externally through blog posts, conference talks, and technical community engagement
Participate in executive-level discussions on technical strategy, providing architectural perspective on business decisions
Drive build-vs-buy decisions for critical platform components, evaluating vendor solutions against Docker's specific requirements
This role may require participation in an on-call rotation to provide support outside of standard business hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, as needed.