Principal Backend Engineer (Hub)

• We’re looking for a Principal 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

Benefits

• 100% company paid medical premiums for employees and dependents

• Flexible Time Off Policy

• Employer Paid Holidays

• Generous Parental Leave (after 6 months of employment)

• Home Office Set Up Budget

• Monthly Technology Stipend

• Training Allowances

• Life and Disability Insurance

• Retirement Plans

• Virtual and In-Person Social Events

• Docker Swag

• Quarterly Hackathons- If you’re passionate about building and operating massive-scale distributed systems with huge data and throughput demands, this role is for you

• 10+ years backend engineering experience with deep expertise in distributed systems and large-scale backend architectures

• Experience designing and running high-scale storage systems (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, or equivalent) in production

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

• Comfortable functioning autonomously in a fully distributed, remote-first team and working effectively in a fast-paced environment

• Experience building and operating cloud-based services (AWS preferred)

• Strong foundation in software engineering best practices: design documentation, testing strategies, CI/CD, code review, observability

• Strong production experience with Kubernetes, including operating services at scale

• Strong production experience with Golang, including designing and operating large Go-based services in cloud environments

• Experience with event-driven or streaming systems, such as Kafka, SNS/SQS, or equivalent

• Familiarity with search/indexing systems or metadata-rich architectures

• Experience with OCI registries, artifact stores, or large-scale content distribution systems

• Contributions to cloud-native or open-source ecosystems