Backend/Platform Engineer - Docker Desktop

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!

Please note: This is a 100% remote role. However, this role is currently only open to candidates currently living in the East Coast time zone (US or Canada).

We are unable to make exceptions to this location requirement.

More about the Docker Desktop team:

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.

About this role:

In this role, you will design and build backend and platform systems that power Docker Desktop.

You’ll focus on shared components, system reliability, telemetry, and architectural improvements that support all Desktop teams.

The successful candidate must have a strong professional backend and/or platform engineering experience, and demonstrated professional experience and proficiency in Go.

You'll be thinking in terms of modular systems, understand how their work impacts other teams, and end customers too.

Our work on lifecycle (installers, updater, startup) is directly user-facing, so we are looking to hire someone who is comfortable owning cross-cutting problems from design through delivery.

Responsibilities for this Role:

• Design, develop, and maintain core platform systems that support the Docker Desktop lifecycle.
• Build and evolve shared components such as settings, feature flags, and internal platform services.
• Improve system reliability, performance, and observability through telemetry and diagnostics.
• Collaborate with teams to ensure platform capabilities support feature development.
• Contribute to architectural discussions and long-term technical direction of the Desktop platform.
• Write high-quality Go code with strong test coverage and support engineering best practices.
• Drive initiatives end to end, from problem definition through implementation and iteration.
• 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.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

• 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.
• Demonstrated professional, hands-on experience with Go (Golang) in a production environment.
• Experience designing and building modular systems used across multiple teams.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work through ambiguity and cross-cutting challenges.
• Experience working with observability, telemetry, or system health metrics.
• Demonstrated ownership of projects from design through delivery.
• Excellent communication skills, including technical documentation and cross-team collaboration.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice-to-have Experience:

• Experience with developer tooling or platform engineering.
• Familiarity with virtualization, networking, or container technologies.
• Experience with CI/CD systems, release pipelines, or build systems.
• Exposure to desktop environments or local development tooling.

What to Expect

First 30 Days

• Meet your team, your onboarding buddy, and key collaborators across Docker Desktop.
• Set up your development environment and become familiar with the Desktop Platform architecture, lifecycle systems, and key internal components.
• Contribute your first small changes—bug fixes, reliability improvements, or performance tweaks.
• Participate in design discussions and pair programming to gain exposure to our tooling and workflows.

First 90 Days

• Drive or co-drive a larger feature, from design to development.
• Present findings, technical proposals, or insights to the team through proposal reviews or internal demos.
• Influence roadmap priorities based on what you’ve learned about the system’s strengths, gaps, and opportunities.

One Year Outlook (First Year)

• Deliver measurable impact with the team.
• Lead architectural or cross-cutting platform initiatives that improve development velocity or user experience.
• Help shape long-term technical direction with well-considered proposals and influence cross-team engineering practices.
• Become a go-to engineer for complex issues and a trusted partner to teams building on top of the platform.