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Docker, Inc

Senior Software Engineer, IAM

Docker, Inc · United States

  • Hybrid
  • Full-time
  • CA$361,750 / year
  • United States
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Job highlights

  • Build and operate Go services for identity.
  • Extend authentication and authorization integrations.
  • Improve security, performance, and observability.
  • Lead projects and mentor teammates.
  • Work on critical identity systems.

About the role

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.

About the Role

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our IAM team. The IAM team owns Docker’s identity backbone: the systems that determine who a user is, what they can do, and how organizations govern access at scale. Every authenticated request to Docker depends on these services—making their correctness, latency, and security foundational to customer trust. The team owns authentication and authorization, access tokens, OIDC, SSO, and SCIM, and user and account management systems, along with supporting enterprise services. You'll work on systems used by millions of developers and the world's largest organizations, with the governance controls enterprise customers require. This is a high-impact role for an engineer who enjoys deep backend work in a space where correctness, latency, and security all matter - and where the design decisions you make today shape how Docker scales identity for years to come.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and operate Go services powering authentication, authorization, token handling, and identity lifecycle across Docker.
  • Extend OIDC, SSO, SAML, and SCIM integrations, and evolve our authorization model (including ReBAC) as permissions scale across products and tenants.
  • Improve observability, performance, and security posture of identity services on the hot path of every authenticated request, and strengthen audit logging.
  • Design for multi-region operation, graceful degradation, and safe rollout of changes to critical auth flows.
  • Lead projects end-to-end, contribute to technical design and long-term direction of the IAM platform, and mentor teammates in identity and security domains.
  • Partner with Product, Security, and engineering teams that depend on IAM primitives to ensure our APIs are clear, safe, and easy to adopt.
  • 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.

What You'll Work On

Beyond steady-state ownership of our identity services, you’ll help shape the next phase of Docker’s IAM platform, including evolving our authorization model for fine-grained, cross-product access, expanding support for enterprise identity integrations, and improving the reliability and observability of systems on the critical request path.

Qualifications

  • 6+ years of backend software engineering experience building and operating production services.
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Strong proficiency in Go, including building and operating services in production.
  • Solid working knowledge of PostgreSQL - schema design, query performance, migrations, and operating Postgres under real load.
  • Experience with gRPC and event-driven systems using Kafka (or comparable).
  • Experience operating on AWS.
  • Strong understanding of core identity and security concepts: OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, JWT, token lifecycle, and session management.
  • Experience with authorization models, including RBAC and ReBAC-style approaches.
  • Track record of designing and operating distributed systems where reliability, security, and correctness are first-class concerns.
  • Willingness and ability to participate in an on-call rotation for services on the critical request path.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in a remote, async-first environment.

Nice to Have

  • Production experience with SCIM provisioning and enterprise SSO integrations.
  • Hands-on experience with Auth0 or similar identity platforms.
  • Experience building or operating multi-region services and understanding the tradeoffs involved.
  • Exposure to compliance frameworks relevant to identity (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR).
  • Experience with audit logging at scale, or with building identity primitives for machine / workload identities.

What To Expect

First 30 Days: Get to know the team, our services, and the identity domain at Docker. Pair with engineers across the IAM stack and ship your first changes to production. Get comfortable with our Go services, Postgres schemas, CI/CD, and on-call practices. First 90 Days: Own a meaningful component or workstream end-to-end. Contribute to technical design discussions on auth, tokens, or enterprise identity. Build strong working relationships with Product, Security, and partner engineering teams. Begin participating in the on-call rotation with support from the team. First Year: Be a trusted technical leader within IAM, owning a functional area of the platform. Lead delivery of significant identity initiatives and shape the direction of the IAM roadmap. Improve reliability, security, and developer experience of the identity primitives other Docker teams depend on. Mentor teammates and raise the bar on engineering practices across the team.

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 (after 6 months of employment).
  • Technology stipend equivalent to $100 USD 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.

Key Skills/ Competency

  • Senior Software Engineer, IAM
  • Go
  • PostgreSQL
  • AWS
  • OAuth2
  • OIDC
  • SAML
  • JWT
  • RBAC
  • ReBAC

Skills & topics

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • IAM
  • Go
  • PostgreSQL
  • AWS
  • OAuth2
  • OIDC
  • SAML
  • Identity Management
  • Security

How to get hired

  • Tailor your resume: Highlight Go, PostgreSQL, AWS, and identity/security concepts.
  • Showcase backend experience: Emphasize production system design and operation.
  • Address qualifications directly: Clearly state your experience with OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, etc.
  • Demonstrate distributed systems knowledge: Prove your understanding of reliability and security.
  • Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss system design and coding challenges.

Technical preparation

Master Go concurrency and error handling.,Practice PostgreSQL query optimization.,Understand OAuth2/OIDC flows deeply.,Review distributed system design principles.

Behavioral questions

Describe a complex system you designed.,How do you handle differing technical opinions?,Tell me about a time you mentored an engineer.,How do you ensure security in your code?

Frequently asked questions

What are the primary responsibilities of a Senior Software Engineer, IAM at Docker?
As a Senior Software Engineer, IAM at Docker, you'll be responsible for designing, building, and operating Go services that handle authentication, authorization, token management, and user identity. You will extend existing integrations like OIDC and SAML, improve service performance and security, and contribute to the long-term technical direction of Docker's identity platform.
What technical skills are most important for this Senior Software Engineer role at Docker?
The most important technical skills for this role include strong proficiency in Go for backend service development, solid experience with PostgreSQL for database management, and a deep understanding of core identity and security concepts such as OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, and JWT. Experience with AWS for operating production services is also crucial.
Is this a remote position at Docker, and what is the company culture like?
Yes, Docker is a remote-first company, offering flexibility to fit work around your life. They emphasize a strong engineering culture focused on building impactful tools for developers, with perks like quarterly 'Whaleness Days' and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
What kind of impact can a Senior Software Engineer, IAM have at Docker?
This role offers high impact as you'll be working on the core identity backbone used by millions of developers and large organizations. Your design decisions will directly shape how Docker scales identity management for years to come, ensuring the correctness, latency, and security of critical authentication and authorization flows.
What is the typical career progression for a Senior Software Engineer at Docker?
Within the first year, you can expect to become a trusted technical leader in the IAM team, owning a significant functional area of the platform. You'll lead major identity initiatives, contribute to the roadmap, improve system reliability and security, and mentor other engineers.
What does the interview process involve for the Senior Software Engineer, IAM position at Docker?
While specific details may vary, the interview process typically involves assessing your technical skills in Go, PostgreSQL, and identity concepts through coding exercises and system design discussions. Behavioral interviews will also gauge your collaboration, problem-solving, and leadership abilities, particularly in a remote, async-first environment.