Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

Docker, Inc

. Embed with customer engineering teams to design, build, and ship solutions from prototype through stable production rollout .

Posted 10/27/2026full-timeRemote • United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Italy, GermanyLead💰 €121,000 - €198,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive expertise in software engineering with a focus on customer-facing technical roles, emphasizing production coding in Go, Python, or TypeScript, and deep Docker proficiency. Capable of leading technical delivery, mentoring teams, and integrating complex systems while ensuring security and compliance standards are met.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Expert Production Coding Skills In Go, Python, Or TypeScriptDeep Docker Expertise Including Dockerfiles And Multi-Stage BuildsExperience Integrating Enterprise Systems Including Okta And KubernetesProven Technical Mentorship ExperienceWorking Knowledge Of Software Supply Chain Security

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Production CodingDocker ExpertiseBuilding With LLMsSoftware Supply Chain SecurityIntegration Of Enterprise SystemsTechnical LeadershipSecurity And Compliance StandardsContainer Security FundamentalsImage Signing And AttestationVulnerability Management

Soft Skills

Excellent Communication SkillsHigh AgencyComfort Operating AutonomouslyTechnical MentorshipCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

DockerKubernetesAWSAzureGCPOktaEntra IDLDAP/Active DirectorySAMLSecrets Managers

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree In Computer ScienceEngineering Or Related Field

Industry Keywords

Customer-Facing Technical RoleAgentic AIFDE Engagement ModelsHardened ImagesCompliance-Driven EnvironmentsOpen Source ContributionsMCPDocker SandboxesThreat ModelingChange Control

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureDockerGoogle Cloud PlatformKubernetesOpen SourcePythonTypeScriptGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Embed with customer engineering teams to design, build, and ship solutions from prototype through stable production rollout
Deliver custom MCP servers, Docker Sandbox environments, Docker Compose definitions, hardened image standardization and migration, and tools that unblock customers
Integrate Docker's AI platform with identity providers, secrets management, private and air-gapped registries, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and observability tooling
Own technical delivery by scoping work, sequencing tasks, making trade-offs, removing blockers, and contributing code
Translate customer security, compliance, and platform requirements into production plans
Help customers adopt agentic AI with appropriate security, compliance, data sovereignty, and end-user controls
Establish customer quality and performance standards and address issues below thresholds
Partner with security and platform teams on architecture review, threat modeling, and change control
Collaborate with Solutions Architecture on standard and bespoke solutions
Feed implementation learnings into reference architectures, SOW templates, success patterns, and product capabilities
Support proofs of concept, escalations, and expansion conversations
Provide customer feedback to Product and Engineering to influence the roadmap
Define FDE engagement models, delivery standards, and quality bars
Mentor and lead Forward Deployed Engineers and participate in hiring loops
Act as senior technical escalation point
Maintain current knowledge of LLMs, APIs, MCP, coding agents, evaluation methods, and deployment patterns
Participate in an on-call rotation outside standard business hours as needed

Requirements

What you’ll need

10+ years of software engineering experience, including 4+ years in a customer-facing technical role
Technical leadership across multiple engagements, teams, or domains
Expert production coding skills in Go, Python, or TypeScript
Deep, hands-on Docker expertise, including Dockerfiles, multi-stage builds, Docker Compose, image and registry operations, container networking and storage, and container security fundamentals
Hands-on experience building with LLMs and agents in production, including tool use, function calling, MCP, prompt and context engineering, and agent evaluation
Working knowledge of software supply chain security, including SBOMs, image signing and attestation, vulnerability management, minimal and hardened base images, and secure CI/CD
Experience integrating enterprise systems including Okta, Entra ID, LDAP/Active Directory, OIDC, SAML, secrets managers, Kubernetes, and AWS, Azure, or GCP
Ability to scope and deliver complex work in ambiguous customer environments
Excellent communication skills with engineers, security and platform teams, and executive stakeholders
Proven technical mentorship experience
High agency and comfort operating autonomously in distributed, remote-first teams
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience
Ability to travel to customer sites, estimated up to 50%
Bonus: Experience with Docker Hardened Images, Docker Scout, MCP Gateway, MCP Toolkit, Docker Sandboxes, or Docker Model Runner
Bonus: Experience deploying coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor
Bonus: Experience with air-gapped, regulated, or compliance-driven environments
Bonus: Open source contributions in container, Kubernetes, or MCP ecosystems
Bonus: Experience founding or scaling an FDE or Professional Services practice

Benefits

Comp & perks

Remote-first by design
Flexibility that fits your life
Generous PTO
Designated quarterly Whaleness Days
Designated end-of-year Whaleness break
Home office support
Technology stipend equivalent to US$100 net per month
Annual stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and continued learning
16 weeks of paid parental leave after six months of employment
Equity for all full-time employees
Medical benefits
Retirement benefits
Paid holidays
Docker swag