Software Engineer III, AI Developer Tools
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 seeks a Software Engineer III to join our new AI Developer Tools team building the future of AI-powered developer productivity. This is an exciting opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI agents and tools that transform how developers write code, debug issues, deploy applications, and respond to incidents—both internally at Docker and for our customers worldwide.
You'll work at the intersection of AI and developer experience, contributing to production systems that leverage LLMs and AI agents to accelerate developer workflows. You'll build AI-powered tools such as code review assistants, automated test generators, deployment diagnostics agents, and on-call assistance tools. You'll also contribute to the self-service platform that enables teams across Docker to rapidly build and deploy their own AI developer tools.
Your work will directly impact how Docker's engineers build and operate services powering 20 million users. As these tools mature and demonstrate value, you'll participate in transforming them into commercial offerings for Docker's customers.
This is a hands-on role where you'll work with increasing independence, collaborate closely with engineers across multiple teams, and ship production features in a fast-paced, remote-first environment that values rapid iteration and continuous learning.
What Would Make Someone Successful in This Role
You're excited about AI and its potential to transform developer productivity. You have solid experience building production systems with AI agents, and you understand the nuances of prompt engineering, agent orchestration, and evaluating AI system effectiveness. You have strong software engineering fundamentals and can work independently on day-to-day tasks with general guidance on new projects. You think in terms of products and platforms, balancing technical excellence with pragmatism to ship iteratively while maintaining high quality bars. You're comfortable navigating the rapidly evolving AI/LLM landscape, experimenting with new tools and approaches, and making pragmatic technology choices. You exercise good judgment within defined processes and demonstrate emerging strategic thinking skills. You're collaborative, communicate clearly in remote environments, build effective relationships across multiple teams, and can act as a resource for teammates when they need help. You take ownership of your work from design through deployment and operations.
Responsibilities
Build AI-Powered Developer Tools: Design, implement, and ship production-ready AI agents and tools that accelerate developer productivity such as code review and refactoring assistants, automated test generators, local environment setup tools, deployment pipeline diagnostic agents, and agents that simplify on-call tasks when handling incidents
Implement LLM Integrations: Build robust, production-grade integrations with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) such as prompt engineering, response parsing, error handling, rate limiting, cost management, and performance optimization
Develop Agent Orchestration Systems: Create agent frameworks and orchestration systems that enable complex multi-step workflows, tool calling, context management, and agent-to-agent communication
Contribute to Platform Infrastructure: Build self-service platform capabilities that enable teams across Docker to rapidly deploy and operate their own AI developer tools such as deployment pipelines, observability integration, security controls, and operational tooling
Drive Adoption of AI-Native Development: Build tools and programs that accelerate adoption of AI developer tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Warp across Docker's engineering organization
Ensure Production Quality: Write well-tested code with strong test coverage (unit, integration, end-to-end); establish monitoring, alerting, and operational excellence for AI systems
Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner with Principal Engineer and Senior Engineers on architecture, work with product and design teams on features and UX, and collaborate with platform teams (Infrastructure, Security, Data) on integrations; build effective partnerships across multiple teams
Act as Technical Resource: Help teammates solve problems and share knowledge through code reviews and technical discussions
Participate in Operations: Take part in on-call rotation for AI developer tools; respond to incidents, debug production issues, and drive continuous improvement of system reliability
Document and Share: Create clear technical documentation for features you build; share patterns and learnings with the team
Measure and Iterate: Instrument AI tools to measure adoption, effectiveness, and developer productivity impact; iterate based on data and user feedback to continuously improve developer experience
Qualifications
Required:
3-5 years building production-grade backend systems or developer-facing tools with strong software engineering fundamentals
Hands-on production experience with AI/ML technologies including practical experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), prompt engineering, and AI agent development
Proficiency in Go (preferred), Rust, Java, or Python with strong software engineering fundamentals
Experience designing and building distributed systems, microservices, or platform infrastructure
Strong understanding of cloud-native systems (AWS, GCP, or Azure), APIs, and data stores
Solid grasp of CI/CD, automated testing, code review practices, and modern development workflows
Demonstrated ability to work independently on day-to-day work with general guidance on new projects
Product-minded approach to building developer tools with focus on user experience and measurable outcomes
Excellent communication skills in remote, asynchronous environments with ability to document technical decisions clearly
Ability to build effective working relationships across multiple teams
Ownership mentality with bias for action and iterative delivery
Comfortable working autonomously across distributed teams and navigating ambiguity
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Preferred:
Contributions to open source AI tools, developer tooling, or platform engineering projects
Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar AI agent integration standards
Background in developer productivity, DevOps, SRE, or platform engineering domains
Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and container orchestration
Knowledge of developer tools ecosystems (IDEs, CI/CD platforms, observability tools)
Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Pulumi) and GitOps deployment patterns (ArgoCD, FluxCD)
Understanding of security, compliance, and operational best practices for production AI systems
Understanding of software design patterns and distributed systems principles
What to Expect
First 30 Days
Get up to speed on Docker's AI Developer Tools vision, current Agent Dev project status, and existing AI tool prototypes
Meet your team, Principal Engineer, Senior Manager, and key stakeholders across product engineering and platform teams
Understand Docker's developer tooling landscape including deployment systems, observability platforms, and CI/CD pipelines
Explore Docker's LLM provider relationships, AI technology choices, and existing integration patterns
Make meaningful contributions to the AI Developer Tools codebase through features or improvements
Participate in design discussions and code reviews to understand team technical standards and decision-making processes
Begin building relationships with engineers across multiple teams
First 90 Days
Take ownership of and deliver significant features with measurable impact (e.g., complete AI agent capability, LLM integration improvement, or platform infrastructure component)
Work with increasing independence on day-to-day tasks; demonstrate good judgment on when to ask for guidance
Contribute to platform infrastructure improvements that enable faster development and deployment of AI tools
Collaborate with product and design teams on feature requirements and user experience for AI developer tools
Participate in user research and customer calls to understand developer pain points and validate AI tool effectiveness
Help other engineers through code reviews and technical discussions
Establish monitoring and instrumentation for AI tools you've shipped to measure adoption and effectiveness
First Year Outlook
Own significant components of AI developer tools platform with responsibility for design, implementation, and operations
Ship multiple production AI agents and tools with demonstrated adoption and measurable productivity improvements
Work largely independently on routine work; exercise good judgment within defined processes
Build strong working relationships across Docker with product, platform, and engineering teams
Act as a reliable technical resource for teammates
Demonstrate emerging strategic thinking in your approach to problems and solutions
Drive measurable improvements in developer productivity metrics such as AI tool adoption, commit frequency, PR velocity, deployment times, and CI run times
Participate in productization efforts as internal AI tools evolve into customer-facing offerings
Continue growing your expertise in AI/ML technologies and platform engineering
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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
Docker embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our company will be.
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