Staff Software Engineer, Backend Systems (US East Coast)

Docker, Inc is a remote-first company that focuses on making app development easier for developers. The Staff Software Engineer will lead architecture and design for major backend systems, mentor engineers, and drive technical direction across teams.

Responsibilities:

• Lead architecture and design for major backend systems in both Clojure and Go
• Work across teams to define, align, and drive shared technical direction
• Design, build, and operate backend services with a focus on scalability, security, and resilience
• Make strategic recommendations about when to maintain, evolve, or rebuild components
• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to connect technical decisions with business outcomes
• Mentor engineers across DevEx in both Clojure and Go, helping teams navigate technology transitions
• Drive improvements in observability, performance, and service reliability across the entire stack
• Help refine DevEx's security posture in line with company-wide strategy
• Represent engineering work clearly to senior stakeholders and other teams
• Participate in the on-call rotation and improve operational readiness across services
• Champion clear communication, documentation, and technical excellence

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Deep experience building and operating large-scale backend systems
• Strong programming abilities in either Clojure or Go with demonstrated willingness and ability to learn the other
• Proven ability to drive architectural design and guide multi-team initiatives
• Strong understanding of cloud-native systems, distributed system patterns, and microservices
• Experience influencing technical direction across teams and mentoring senior engineers
• Ability to articulate tradeoffs and connect technical decisions to product and business needs
• Comfortable collaborating across engineering, product, design, and other functions
• Excellent written and spoken communication in a remote, async environment
• Production experience with both Clojure and Go
• Experience with Datomic, event-driven architectures, or Kafka
• Track record of successfully navigating platform migrations or consolidations
• Experience working in polyglot environments