Senior Principal Engineer, Central Ops & Systems

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Washington.

📋 Description

• Define and take ownership of the long-term technical vision for Docker’s Central Operations and Systems group.

• Create strategic plans and objectives for significant initiatives.

• Make architectural choices that align with Docker’s business goals.

• Convert organizational strategy into technical roadmaps that cover multiple teams and timelines.

• Identify and prioritize investments that enhance productivity among employees.

• Develop architectural principles and standards across Central Operations and Systems while influencing product engineering teams.

• Anticipate future business requirements and ensure a flexible platform architecture.

• Lead the technical vision and execution for extensive cross-company programs.

• Architect Docker’s SDLC “Golden Path” for the development, management, and deployment of systems and software.

• Propel the convergence of fragmented systems through shared platform capabilities.

• Establish technical agreements between platform and product teams.

• Oversee architectural reviews for major initiatives.

• Proactively address problems impacting critical business areas.

• Define the infrastructure platform vision to expedite service deployment.

• Design standardized deployment patterns for security, scalability, monitoring, and reliability.

• Create infrastructure that supports AI and agent initiatives.

• Set observability standards for distributed tracing, metrics, log aggregation, and error tracking.

• Drive cost optimization efforts across platform infrastructure.

• Collaborate with senior managers and directors to advance operations and strategy.

• Mentor and develop Staff and Principal engineers.

• Represent Docker’s platform architecture and AI adoption through blog posts, conference presentations, and engagement with the technical community.

• Take part in executive-level technical strategy discussions.

• Lead build-versus-buy decisions for essential platform components.

• May participate in an on-call rotation, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as necessary.

• Empower product teams to launch enterprise-ready features in under two weeks.

• Enable Docker teams to adopt new capabilities within two months.

• Contribute to achieving 99.9%+ uptime for business-critical workflows.

• Shorten new-service deployment time to under one day.

• Facilitate the convergence of fragmented systems while reducing technical debt and operational burden.

• Develop Staff and Principal engineers capable of owning significant platform domains.

⛳️ Requirements

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with proven expertise across multiple domains, including SDLC, AI engineering, and corporate systems.

• Demonstrated success in architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems that serve millions of users and thousands of enterprise customers.

• Extensive working knowledge across platform domains, with the ability to make sound architectural decisions across various areas.

• Expert-level understanding of API design, service architecture, and system integration patterns at scale, including in-house versus vendor-developed systems.

• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.

• Familiarity with modern infrastructure patterns including Kubernetes, service mesh, and infrastructure-as-code.

• Knowledge of enterprise security requirements and compliance frameworks, such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Proven track record of establishing strategic technical plans that have enabled business outcomes.

• Experience in translating business strategy into technical architecture and roadmaps.

• Ability to identify and prioritize significant platform investments.

• Understanding of SaaS business models and enterprise sales cycles.

• Experience in making build-versus-buy decisions for critical platform components.

• Ability to drive large cross-company technical programs across multiple engineering organizations.

• Experience collaborating with VPs and executives to set and execute technical strategy.

• Capability to influence technical direction without direct authority and foster consensus.

• Strong communication skills for executive presentations and organizational alignment.

• Experience mentoring senior engineers and nurturing technical leadership.

• Docker considers visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis based on business needs.

🏝️ Benefits

• Remote-first by design – Work from your home, with offices in Seattle and Paris for connection and collaboration.

• Flexibility that fits your life – Manage your schedule while delivering excellent work.

• Generous PTO.

• Designated quarterly Whaleness Days.

• Designated end-of-year Whaleness break.

• Home office support.

• Technology stipend equivalent to US$100 net per month.

• Annual learning and development stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and continued learning.

• 16 weeks of paid parental leave after six months of employment.

• Equity for all full-time employees.

• Medical benefits.

• Retirement benefits.

• Paid holidays, varying by country.

• Docker swag.

• Equity.