Senior Software Engineer, Docker Desktop; East Coast

At Docker, we make app development easier so developers can focus on what matters. Our remote-first team spans the globe, united by a passion for innovation and great developer experiences. With over 20 million monthly users and 20 billion image pulls, Docker is the #1 tool for building, sharing, and running apps—trusted by startups and Fortune 100s alike. We’re growing fast and just getting started.

Come join us for a whale of a ride!

Docker Desktop is one of the core pillars of the Docker suite— powering the workflows of millions of developers worldwide. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Docker has been ranked the most-used, most-desired, and most-admired developer tool for multiple years running.

Join the Docker Desktop team
— we are shaping the experience behind one of the most loved tools in modern software development! This is a 100% remote role, currently only open to candidates living in the East Coast time zone (US or Canada). We are unable to make exceptions to this location requirement.

The Desktop Platform team is responsible for the core lifecycle of Docker Desktop, including installation, updates, startup, and key shared components used by every Docker Desktop feature team. Our work ensures that Docker Desktop is reliable, and easy to adopt, while providing the modular foundations that enable other teams to build and ship with confidence.

In this role, you will focus on the desktop and operating system layer of Docker Desktop. You’ll work on installers, updaters, system services, and OS-level integrations across macOS and Windows, improving reliability, performance, and user experience across the full lifecycle of the product. The successful candidate will have strong operating system fundamentals and experience building or maintaining desktop or system-level software.

You must be comfortable and experienced working closely to the OS, debugging complex issues, and improving how software installs, starts, and runs on user machines. You’ll operate with high ownership, communicate clearly through documentation, and are comfortable driving work in a highly autonomous environment.

• Design, develop, and maintain lifecycle components, including installation, update, startup, and system services.
• Improve reliability and performance of Docker Desktop across macOS, Windows and Linux environments.
• Work on OS-level integrations, permissions models, and system behavior such as admin vs admin-less installs.
• Debug and resolve complex issues related to startup, crashes, and system interactions.
• Collaborate with platform and feature teams to ensure seamless integration with shared components.
• Contribute to documentation, technical design discussions, and knowledge sharing across the Desktop ecosystem.
• Write high-quality code with strong test coverage and support healthy engineering practices.

• 6+ years of experience building backend software, with recent demonstrated hands‑on Go (Golang) proficiency. We are looking for strong backend and platform engineering experience for this role.
• Strong understanding of operating systems (macOS, Windows, or Linux), including system APIs and behavior.
• Demonstrated ability to design modular, maintainable system components that scale across teams.
• Ability to debug complex system-level issues and improve reliability and performance.
• Experience designing modular, maintainable components used by other teams.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to work through ambiguity.
• Excellent communication skills, including written documentation and technical design discussions.
• Willingness to learn Go and contribute to a Go-based codebase.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience with cross‑platform desktop development.
• Familiarity with virtualization, networking, or container technologies.
• Experience with telemetry, diagnostics, or system observability.
• Exposure to release engineering or CI/CD systems.

Meet your team, your onboarding buddy, and key collaborators across Docker Desktop. Set…