Staff Backend Engineer, Hub (US East Coast)

Responsibilities

Distributed Systems & Backend Engineering

• Architect, build, and operate high-scale distributed systems powering Docker Hub’s registry platform—spanning artifact storage, metadata services, indexing workflows, and performance-critical APIs.
• Lead the design and implementation of backend services with a strong emphasis on scalability, correctness, resilience, and performance.
• Drive major initiatives around multi-region replication, caching strategies, request-path optimization, and core registry reliability.

Data Infrastructure & Storage

• Design, optimize, operate the data and storage layers - for both Relational and NoSql as well as object storage and related technologies.
• Develop schemas and data models to support high-throughput, large-volume workloads.
• Own systems end-to-end—from storage-layer behavior to API design, deployment workflows, and production monitoring.

Operations, Observability & Scale

• Improve the performance and reliability of one of the world’s largest repositories of container images.
• Develop and enhance observability through metrics, traces, alerting, and dashboards.
• Lead improvements to deployment and operational tooling (e.g., Argo CD, GitHub Actions).
• Participate in on-call rotations as part of supporting critical production services.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Mentor engineers and lead design and architecture reviews.
• Partner with Product, Design, SRE, and Platform teams to deliver high-impact projects.
• Engage with open-source communities, cloud-native partners, and the broader ecosystem.

Qualifications

Required

• 8+ years backend engineering experience with deep expertise in distributed systems and large-scale backend architectures.
• Strong production experience with Golang, including designing and operating large Go-based services in cloud environments.
• Strong production experience with Kubernetes, including operating services at scale.
• Experience designing and running high-scale storage systems (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, or equivalent) in production.
• Experience building and operating cloud-based services (AWS preferred).
• Experience with event-driven or streaming systems, such as Kafka, SNS/SQS, or equivalent.
• Strong foundation in software engineering best practices: design documentation, testing strategies, CI/CD, code review, observability.
• Comfortable functioning autonomously in a fully distributed, remote-first team and working effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience with OCI registries, artifact stores, or large-scale content distribution systems.
• Familiarity with search/indexing systems or metadata-rich architectures.
• Contributions to cloud-native or open-source ecosystems.

Perks

• 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