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Docker’s AI Tools & Security team is building the foundation for the next generation of secure, developer-friendly AI infrastructure. Our flagship product, the MCP Gateway, empowers developers to connect, observe, and secure AI agents and tools across the entire lifecycle—from prototype to production. We’re defining how developers safely harness the power of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in real-world environments. We’re looking for a Principal Backend Engineer who thrives at the intersection of AI, security, and developer experience. You’ll lead the technical direction of the Gateway and related services, collaborating closely with Product, Design, and Security to deliver elegant frameworks and APIs that developers love to use. This is a high-velocity, high-ownership environment: you’ll ship fast, iterate constantly, and help shape the future of secure agent-based development.
Job Responsibility:
Define the technical solution for a new product
Help shape the product with peers in Product and Design
Mentor other technical team members
Be the technical point of contact for the team
Requirements:
10+ years of backend engineering experience, including extensive work on production-grade, distributed systems at scale
Technical leadership across multiple teams or domains, with a proven ability to drive architectural vision, set technical direction, and influence long-term product strategy
Exceptional product and platform mindset—you think beyond implementation details to how technology shapes developer and business outcomes
Expertise in designing and evolving large-scale, cloud-native systems, with deep knowledge of distributed computing, service-oriented architecture, and performance optimization
Demonstrated experience building secure, resilient, and high-throughput backend services, with a strong grasp of reliability engineering principles (SLOs, observability, incident response)
Fluency in Go (preferred) or another modern systems language (Rust, Java, C++, etc.), with the ability to lead technical design reviews and mentor others in language-specific best practices
Strong grasp of software engineering fundamentals—CI/CD, testing strategy, source control, and deployment automation—applied in complex, multi-service environments
Proven track record of technical mentorship and cross-functional collaboration, enabling teams to deliver high-impact, high-quality software efficiently
Deep experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and infrastructure-as-code tooling
Ownership mentality with a bias for action and iterative delivery, balancing short-term impact with long-term architectural health
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
Comfortable operating autonomously in distributed, remote-first teams, and leading through influence rather than authority
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Nice to have:
Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and microservices architecture
Prior experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar LLM APIs, and the MCP specification
What we offer:
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
Technology stipend equivalent to $100 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