Staff Backend Engineer, Docker

• If you’re passionate about building and operating massive-scale distributed systems with huge data and throughput demands, this role is for you
• 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
• An engineer with deep experience in distributed systems and large-scale storage
• Someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment and consistently optimizes for reliability, automation, and performance
• A technical leader who takes ownership of complex systems and drives long-term architectural direction
• An engineer energised by the challenges of operating a global developer platform at massive scale

Desirable

• We’re looking for a Staff Backend Engineer with extensive experience in distributed systems, large-scale backend architecture, and high-volume storage systems
• You will own systems end-to-end—from schema design and API architecture to deployment, observability, and operational excellence
• The work is highly dynamic, and you will operate in a fast-paced environment where we continuously evolve the platform to support enormous growth in traffic, data, and global usage
• You’ll collaborate across engineering, SRE, Product, and Design while acting as a technical leader who simplifies complexity, elevates engineering quality, and improves a globally critical developer platform
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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