Senior Software Engineer, Secure Build

Docker has been one of the most loved brands in developer tooling, trusted by more than 20 million monthly users and over 20 billion container image pulls. From solo founders to the world's largest companies, developers rely on Docker to build, share, and run their applications across our suite of products including Docker Desktop, Docker Hub, and Docker Scout.

We are a globally distributed, remote-first team building the tools that define how software gets built and delivered. As AI agents redefine software development, Docker is at the center of that shift, providing the sandboxed environments, verified images, and secure infrastructure that make autonomous workflows trustworthy by default.

The Secure Build team builds and operates the infrastructure behind Docker's container builds. The team owns Docker Build Cloud and Auto Builds while developing the next generation of trusted build and CI capabilities.

Software is being changed faster than ever, but CI remains a bottleneck and a major trust boundary. Developers and software agents need to run build and test work quickly without exposing secrets, losing local-to-cloud parity or accepting an unverifiable result. Our direction is to make Docker the trusted place CI runs and turn that constraint into an accelerator.

The technical work spans Go services, container and build technology, cloud infrastructure, isolated execution and software supply-chain security. It also requires disciplined operation of the production systems customers rely on today. Docker Build Cloud and Auto Builds will need targeted reliability and operational improvements while useful capabilities evolve towards a coherent Secure Build platform.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will turn these problems into practical product and technical outcomes. You will own substantial work from discovery and design through production, make sound security and reliability trade-offs, and stay close to the experience of developers and the agents they delegate work to.

We make extensive use of AI-assisted engineering tools. We expect engineers to use them thoughtfully, validate their output and remain accountable for the quality and security of what ships.

SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE LOOKS LIKE

You will succeed by becoming an end-to-end owner for secure, reliable build infrastructure. Within your first year, you should have delivered a material secure-build or CI capability, reduced operational risk in Docker Build Cloud or Auto Builds, and become a trusted partner to the teams and customers that consume the platform.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Turn developer, agent and security problems into clear requirements, staged technical decisions and measurable outcomes.

• Design, build and operate Go services and APIs that power Docker's build and secure-CI infrastructure.

• Develop isolation, identity, policy, provenance, attestation and signing capabilities for trusted build and test jobs.

• Work with container, OCI, BuildKit, cloud and isolated-execution technologies to deliver secure and reproducible workflows.

• Own features from technical design through rollout, observability, incident response and ongoing maintenance.

• Keep Docker Build Cloud and Auto Builds reliable, make targeted improvements that reduce operational load, and help their capabilities evolve towards the wider Secure Build direction.

• Make practical security trade-offs and use threat modelling to guide designs without blocking delivery.

• Design for a clear developer experience, including workflows initiated or consumed by software agents.

• Partner with Product, Security, Developer Experience, Registry and other platform teams on end-to-end customer workflows.

• Participate in the team's paid on-call rotation and drive improvements from incidents and recurring operational work.

• Communicate decisions, risks and progress clearly in a remote, async-first environment.

QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED

• 6+ years of software engineering experience, with demonstrated technical leadership on production systems at scale.

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

• Strong backend engineering experience building and operating distributed systems in production.

• Production experience with Go and the ability to write, test, review and debug maintainable Go services.

• Experience with containers and build or CI systems, such as OCI, BuildKit, Buildx, GitHub Actions or comparable platforms.

• Experience with cloud-native infrastructure and a major cloud platform.

• A strong operational mindset covering observability, reliability, incident response and on-call ownership.

• Evidence of taking a feature or service from an ambiguous problem through production operation and measurable results.

• Working knowledge of security boundaries, identity, secrets and common software supply-chain risks.

• A strong product mindset and care for developer workflows, including experiences used by software agents.

• Clear written and spoken communication suited to a remote, async-first company.

HELPFUL, BUT NOT REQUIRED

• Experience with Kubernetes.

• Experience with SLSA, in-toto, SBOM, VEX, Sigstore, cosign, provenance or artefact signing.

• Experience with sandboxing, microVMs, untrusted workload execution or multi-tenant infrastructure.

• Experience building hosted CI runners, remote builders or developer-platform infrastructure.

• Experience with agentic development workflows or building systems used programmatically by software agents.

• Experience evolving a legacy production system while delivering new capabilities.

WHAT TO EXPECT

FIRST 30 DAYS

• Build context on Docker Build Cloud, Auto Builds and the Secure Build product and technical direction.

• Pair with the Secure Build team on core services, deployments and operational practices.

• Ship a useful production change and take part in an operational review or incident-learning session.

• Understand the secure-CI threat model and build relationships with DHI, Registry and Developer Experience.

FIRST 90 DAYS

• Own a secure-build feature or reliability improvement from problem definition through production.

• Contribute materially to the secure-CI architecture, including isolation, identity, policy or signed evidence.

• Deliver an observable improvement to the reliability or operability of an existing build service.

• Demonstrate strong product judgement across developer and agent workflows.

ONE YEAR OUTLOOK (FIRST YEAR)

• Be a trusted senior technical owner on the Secure Build team.

• Deliver a material secure-CI or trusted-build capability used by customers or internal product teams.

• Improve the reliability and maintainability of Docker Build Cloud and Auto Builds while helping their useful capabilities converge with the wider platform.

• Contribute to the team's architecture for isolated execution, brokered access and verifiable build outcomes.

• Help establish strong product, design, review and operational practices as the team grows.

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

Compensation & Equity

EU: €94,040 – €155,650+ equity

United States: $160,900 – $260,700 + equity

Perks

• 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

• Remote-first culture, with offices in Seattle and Paris

Docker embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our company will be.

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