# Senior Principal Engineer, Central Ops & Systems

**Company:** [Docker](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/docker)
**Location:** Remote
**Role:** Engineering Management
**Salary:** $219k – $352k/yr
**Experience:** 12+ years
**Skills:** AWS, GCP, Microsoft Azure, Kubernetes, Service Mesh, Infrastructure As Code, API Design, Distributed Systems, System Integration, Observability, Distributed Tracing, SOC 2, ISO 27001, Ai Engineering, SaaS
**Posted:** 2026-08-27

> Provides company-wide technical vision and architecture for Central Operations and Systems, spanning AI, infrastructure, developer experience, reliability, and corporate systems. The role requires 12+ years of software engineering experience, large-scale distributed systems expertise, and strong cross-company executive influence.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities

### Technical Vision and Strategic Planning
- Define and own the multi-year technical vision for Central Operations and Systems, covering internal AI, developer tools, infrastructure, reliability, and corporate systems.
- Establish strategic plans, objectives, architectural decisions, principles, and standards for major initiatives.
- Translate organizational strategy into technical roadmaps spanning multiple teams and time horizons.
- Identify and prioritize high-leverage investments that improve productivity across the employee base.
- Anticipate future business needs and maintain flexible platform architecture.

### Cross-Company Technical Leadership
- Lead technical vision and implementation for large cross-company programs.
- Architect the Docker SDLC “Golden Path” for building, managing, and deploying systems and software.
- Drive convergence of fragmented systems into shared platform capabilities.
- Establish technical contracts between platform and product teams.
- Lead architectural reviews and proactively resolve issues affecting critical business areas.

### Infrastructure and Developer Experience
- Define infrastructure platform strategies that accelerate service deployment and innovation.
- Architect standardized deployment patterns incorporating security, scaling, monitoring, and reliability best practices.
- Design infrastructure for AI and agent initiatives, including rapid deployment and programmatic environment creation.
- Establish observability standards covering distributed tracing, metrics, log aggregation, and error tracking.
- Drive infrastructure cost optimization while maintaining performance and reliability.

### Technical Excellence and Influence
- Work with senior managers and directors to drive operations and strategy.
- Mentor Staff and Principal engineers and raise the organization’s technical bar.
- Represent platform architecture and AI adoption through technical writing, conference talks, and community engagement.
- Participate in executive discussions on technical strategy and business decisions.
- Lead build-versus-buy evaluations for critical platform components.
- Participate in on-call rotations, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, as needed.

## Requirements

- 12+ years of software engineering experience across multiple domains, including SDLC, AI engineering, and corporate systems.
- Experience architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems serving millions of users and thousands of enterprise customers.
- Broad knowledge across platform domains and the ability to make architectural decisions spanning multiple areas.
- Expert understanding of API design, service architecture, and large-scale system integration patterns, including in-house and vendor-developed systems.
- Experience with AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure and modern infrastructure patterns.
- 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.
- Experience establishing technical plans that enable business outcomes such as revenue growth, cost reduction, or market expansion.
- Ability to translate business strategy into technical architecture and roadmaps.
- Understanding of SaaS business models, enterprise sales cycles, and platform-driven commercial success.
- Experience making build-versus-buy decisions for critical platform components.
- Ability to lead 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 across teams.
- Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
- Experience mentoring senior engineers and developing technical leadership.

## Nice-to-Haves

- Experience at developer tools, infrastructure software, or B2B SaaS companies at significant scale.

## Compensation

- Annual salary range: $219,000–$352,000.

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