Senior Software Engineer, Docker Desktop Platform (EMEA)

As a Senior Software Engineer at Docker, your responsibilities include designing, developing, and maintaining key components of Docker Desktop. You will collaborate with product and engineering teams to establish best practices for the application lifecycle, ensure application stability, gather customer feedback, support architecture reviews, and maintain high-quality code through writing tests. Additionally, you will foster a culture of knowledge-sharing, working with various stakeholders to prioritize tasks effectively.

To qualify for the Senior Software Engineer role at Docker, you should have over 5 years of experience, particularly as a backend software engineer with a focus on Go. You should also have hands-on experience in delivering cross-platform desktop applications, a strong understanding of operating systems internals and OS-level APIs, as well as familiarity with data monitoring tools. Excellent problem-solving and communication skills will further enhance your candidacy for this position.

In your first 30 days as a Senior Software Engineer at Docker, you’ll meet your team and your onboarding buddy, set up your development environment, and begin to familiarize yourself with our tools and workflows. You’ll start contributing by tackling smaller tasks, pair with a colleague on an initial project, and participate in essential discussions that help define best practices for the team.

Docker is dedicated to supporting work-life balance for its employees, offering flexibility to fit work around personal lives. As a full-time employee, you’ll benefit from designated quarterly Whaleness Days, a generous PTO plan, a home office setup, and even a technology stipend to ensure you’re comfortable while working. These perks create an environment conducive to both productivity and personal well-being.

The long-term vision for the Senior Software Engineer role at Docker involves taking ownership of key platform features and driving improvements in observability and our monitoring stack. You’ll play an important part in influencing the team's strategic roadmap and will have opportunities to engage with the larger Docker community, contributing valuable insights and sharing experiences that shape the overall direction of Docker Desktop.

When you answer this question, highlight your specific experiences using Go, emphasizing any relevant projects that align with Docker's mission. Discuss how you’ve utilized Go to develop backend services, implement scalable solutions, or tackle performance optimization challenges in previous roles. Be sure to link your skills back to how they can improve Docker Desktop, demonstrating your understanding of the platform.

In your response, discuss various strategies you've employed in the past, such as establishing rigorous testing protocols, leveraging observability and monitoring tools, and using feedback loops from user experience to prioritize stability improvements. Providing concrete examples will showcase your hands-on experience while linking to the key responsibilities of the Senior Software Engineer role at Docker.

Address this question by sharing your approach to collaboration, emphasizing open communication and iterative cycles. Explain how you incorporate user and product feedback through regular meetings, mock-ups, or prototyping to ensure alignment on goals and deliverables. Detailing your responsiveness to feedback reinforces your collaborative nature and fits well with Docker’s culture.

When tackling this question, provide a specific incident where you identified a bug and walk through your thought process, from diagnosing the issue to developing a solution and implementing it successfully. Highlight key lessons learned and improvements made thereafter, offering insight into your problem-solving skills, persistence, and technical acumen.

To answer this question effectively, focus on the various methods you use, such as attending industry conferences, participating in online communities, following relevant blogs, or engaging with social media platforms. Discuss specific resources that help you keep abreast of new technologies and practices that can benefit your work, particularly in relation to Docker and the technologies you use.

In your answer, express your understanding of Docker Desktop’s modular architecture, its underlying components, and the functionalities it provides to developers. Mention any relevant experience you have with similar architectures. This shows you have done your homework and are genuinely interested in the role and the challenges that come with it.

Provide an overview of your experience with developing cross-platform desktop applications, touching on frameworks used, challenges faced, and solutions implemented. Highlight specific projects that demonstrate your understanding of compatibility issues and your problem-solving skills, especially in areas that may align with Docker’s goals and the requirements of this role.

Explain your approach to prioritization, focusing on communication, alignment with stakeholder expectations, and data use for decision-making. Discuss how collaboration and flexibility are essential to manage competing priorities effectively. Providing an example from your past experiences can further illustrate your methodology.

Talk about strategies you use to encourage knowledge-sharing, such as organizing regular tech talks, creating documentation, or implementing mentoring structures. Highlight specific initiatives you've led or contributed to that have strengthened collaboration, reflecting Docker’s values of teamwork and continuous improvement.

Discuss your experience working directly with customers or stakeholders to gather requirements and feedback. Explain how this input drives your design decisions, shaping the features that align with user needs. The focus should be on your capacity to bridge the gap between technical execution and customer satisfaction, which is vital for the Senior Software Engineer role at Docker.