Senior Principal Engineer, Central Ops & Systems

Job Description:

  • Define and own the multi-year technical vision for Docker’s Central Operations and Systems group
  • Establish strategic plans and objectives for major initiatives
  • Make architectural decisions supporting Docker’s business objectives
  • Translate organizational strategy into technical roadmaps spanning multiple teams and time horizons
  • Identify and prioritize investments that increase productivity across employees
  • Develop architectural principles and standards across Central Operations and Systems and influence product engineering teams
  • Anticipate future business needs and ensure flexible platform architecture
  • Lead technical vision and implementation for large cross-company programs
  • Architect Docker’s SDLC “Golden Path” for building, managing, and deploying systems and software
  • Drive convergence of fragmented systems through shared platform capabilities
  • Establish technical contracts between platform and product teams
  • Lead architectural reviews for major initiatives
  • Proactively solve problems affecting critical business areas
  • Define infrastructure platform vision to accelerate service deployment
  • Architect standardized deployment patterns for security, scaling, monitoring, and reliability
  • Design infrastructure supporting AI and agent initiatives
  • Establish observability standards for distributed tracing, metrics, log aggregation, and error tracking
  • Drive cost optimization across platform infrastructure
  • Work with senior managers and directors to drive operations and strategy
  • Mentor and develop Staff and Principal engineers
  • Represent Docker’s platform architecture and AI adoption through blog posts, conference talks, and technical community engagement
  • Participate in executive-level technical strategy discussions
  • Drive build-versus-buy decisions for critical platform components
  • Potentially participate in an on-call rotation, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
  • Enable product teams to launch enterprise-ready features in under two weeks
  • Enable Docker teams to adopt new capabilities within two months
  • Help achieve 99.9%+ uptime for business-critical workflows
  • Reduce new-service deployment time to under one day
  • Drive convergence of fragmented systems and reduce technical debt and operational burden
  • Develop Staff and Principal engineers who can own major platform domains

Requirements:

  • 12+ years of software engineering experience with demonstrated expertise across multiple domains, including SDLC, AI engineering, and corporate systems
  • Proven track record architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems serving millions of users and thousands of enterprise customers
  • Broad working knowledge across 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 versus vendor-developed systems
  • Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
  • Experience 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
  • Track record of establishing strategic technical plans that enabled business outcomes
  • Experience translating business strategy into technical architecture and roadmaps
  • Ability to identify and prioritize high-leverage platform investments
  • Understanding of SaaS business models and enterprise sales cycles
  • Experience making build-versus-buy decisions for critical platform components
  • Ability to drive large cross-company technical programs across multiple engineering organizations
  • Experience working with VPs and executives to set and execute technical strategy
  • Ability to influence technical direction without direct authority and build consensus
  • Strong communication skills for executive presentations and organizational alignment
  • Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing 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 great 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
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Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...

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