Staff Software Engineer, AI Gateway
Docker · Remote · San Francisco, CA or Seattle, WA · $170.4k–$275.6k
Posted by Docker on their careers site · View the original posting
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The posting, as Docker wrote it
ABOUT DOCKER
Docker has been one of the most loved brands in developer tooling, trusted by more than 20 million monthly users and over 20 billion container image pulls. From solo founders to the world's largest companies, developers rely on Docker to build, share, and run their applications across our suite of products including Docker Desktop, Docker Hub, and Docker Scout.
We are a globally distributed, remote-first team building the tools that define how software gets built and delivered. As AI agents redefine software development, Docker is at the center of that shift, providing the sandboxed environments, verified images, and secure infrastructure that make autonomous workflows trustworthy by default.
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THE ROLE
Docker AI Gateway is our answer to the complexity of taking AI agents from prototype to production. It’s a powerful, intelligent, and secure control point that eliminates the toil of model orchestration, tool management, observability, and governance - so developers can focus on building incredible AI agents, not gluing together infrastructure.
The Gateway sits at the center of modern AI applications, offering:
- A model and tool routing layer with built-in security and cost optimization
- A familiar OpenAI-compatible interface and MCP server
- Unified observability and policy enforcement
- Auto-RAG, tool injection, session summarization, and more
We’re just getting started and we need exceptional engineers to help us build the backbone of the future of agent-based development.
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WHAT YOU’LL DO
- Set technical direction for core systems powering the AI Gateway 0 the model router, MCP gateway, and control plane - and make sure architectural decisions hold up as usage scales by 10x
- Consistently identify gaps in our infrastructure, process, or tooling before they become blockers, and drive the fix from idea to production
- Take a significant, hands-on role in defining, delivering, and implementing the Gateway's technical strategy, in close partnership with engineering leadership
- Own the hardest, highest-ambiguity problems in the system: dynamic model selection, auto-failover, cost-based routing, and policy enforcement that has to work end-to-end
- Act as the go-to expert for secure credential storage, session summarization, caching, and rate limiting - the capabilities everything else depends on
- Build the infrastructure that lets us, and our customers, evaluate, replay, and backtest agent and LLM behavior with confidence
- Mentor senior and mid-level engineers, and raise the technical bar for the team through code, design review, and example
- Partner with product, design, and leadership to shape not just what the control plane UI does, but where the product goes next
KEY PROBLEMS YOU’LL HELP SOLVE
- Define the unified abstraction layer across d
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OMPENSATION & EQUITY
All full-time roles include equity. Final compensation is determined on factors including but not limited to experience, skills, qualifications, and location.
United States: $170,350 – $275,550 base
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POSTING INFORMATION
- Open vacancy: This posting is for an existing open role.
- AI in hiring: Docker may use AI-assisted tools during our recruiting process.
- 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.
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PERKS & BENEFITS
- Remote-first by design – Work from your home, with offices in Seattle and Paris for connection and collaboration.
- Flexibility that fits your life – We trust you to manage your schedule while delivering great work.
- Time to recharge – Generous PTO, designated quarterly Whaleness Days, and a designated end-of-year Whaleness break.
- Home office support – Set up your workspace for comfort and success.
- Technology stipend – Equivalent to US$100 net per month to help support your work.
- Learning & development – Annual stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and continued learning.
- Parental leave – 16 weeks of paid parental leave after six months of employment.
- Equity for all full-time employees – Share in Docker's long-term success as we continue to grow.
- Comprehensive benefits – Medical, retirement, and paid holidays vary by country.
- Docker swag – Because representing the whale never gets old.
Docker is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team that reflects a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe diverse teams build better products, make better decisions, and better serve our global community.