# Principal Software Engineer, AI Tools and Security (Seattle or SF Bay Area) Source: https://realanalystjobs.com/job/principal-software-engineer-ai-tools-and-security-seattle-or-sf-bay-area-docker-3e491a34 Principal Software Engineer, AI Tools and Security (Seattle or SF Bay Area) at Docker, an on-site role based in Seattle, Washington, USA. Experience level: 10+ Years. Pay stated in the posting: $198K to $319K. Posted on 17 November 2025, read from Docker's own careers page (Ashby), which RealAnalystJobs re-checks daily and removes the role when it closes. Docker has approved H-1B petitions on USCIS record (employer-wide, not a promise for this role). Updated 15 November 2026. ## Key facts - Company: [Docker](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/docker) - Location: Seattle, Washington, USA - Work mode: On-site - Pay stated in the posting: $198K to $319K - Posted: Nov 17, 2025 - Employment type: Full time - Experience level: 10+ Years - Source: Docker's careers page (Ashby), re-checked daily Skills: AWS, Azure ## Visa sponsorship The posting does not say. Docker had H-1B petitions approved for 5 workers in fiscal year 2026 (USCIS). That is history, not a promise for this role. [See the record](https://realanalystjobs.com/companies/docker#h1b-record) ## About this role About Docker 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 Role 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. _______________________________________________________________________ Responsibilities • 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 • 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. _______________________________________________________________________ Qualifications Required • 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. Bonus • Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and microservices architecture • Prior experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar LLM APIs, and the MCP specification _______________________________________________________________________ What to expect First 30 days • Meet team members • Build context about the problem space and prior art • Provide feedback on current exploration and propose next steps in line with Product and Design First 90 days • Work with Product and Design on defining the product • Attend customer calls • Meet people across the company • Help grow the team by participating in hiring loops One Year Outlook • Bring the product to market Visa sponsorship: Docker considers visa sponsorship on a case-by-case basis based on business needs. _______________________________________________________________________ Compensation & Equity All full-time roles include equity. Final compensation is determined on factors including but not limited to experience, skills, qualifications, and location. United States: $198K - $319K base ______________________________________________________________________ Posting Information • Open vacancy: This posting is for an existing open role. • AI in hiring: Docker may use AI-assisted tools during our recruiting process. • Interview recordings: Candidates will be invited to opt in to interview recordings to support interviewer calibration and consistent evaluations. Recordings are optional and require explicit consent. ______________________________________________________________________ Perks & Benefits • Remote-first by design - Work from your home, with offices in Seattle and Paris for connection and collaboration. • Flexibility that fits your life - We trust you to manage your sche Description from Docker's public careers feed, reproduced so you can read the role here. Apply on the company's own site; Real Analyst Jobs never submits anything for you. ## How to apply Open [this role on Real Analyst Jobs](https://realanalystjobs.com/job/principal-software-engineer-ai-tools-and-security-seattle-or-sf-bay-area-docker-3e491a34) and use Apply now there to reach the employer's application. The listing is re-checked against Docker's careers page daily and removed when it closes. ## Docker Analyst roles on Real Analyst Jobs. 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