Machine Learning Engineer

About the role

About The Company

Docker has established itself as a leading brand in developer tooling, trusted by over 20 million monthly users worldwide and facilitating more than 20 billion container image pulls. The company caters to a diverse clientele ranging from individual developers and startups to the largest global enterprises. Docker’s suite of products, including Docker Desktop, Docker Hub, and Docker Scout, empowers developers to build, share, and run applications with efficiency and reliability. As a globally distributed, remote-first organization, Docker is committed to innovation and excellence in software development tools, enabling seamless application deployment across various environments.

At the core of Docker’s vision is the ambition to become the runtime for trusted autonomy. With advancements in AI agents transforming software development, Docker plays a pivotal role by providing sandboxed environments, verified images, and secure infrastructure that support autonomous workflows. The company is dedicated to building intelligent, trustworthy platforms that uphold governance, policy, identity, and audit standards, ensuring security and compliance in increasingly automated and autonomous software ecosystems.

Docker’s Intelligence team focuses on developing intelligence-driven capabilities that enhance platform safety, effectiveness, and trustworthiness. By leveraging its unique position at the intersection of models, tools, software, and security, Docker offers unparalleled visibility into behavior and context, laying the foundation for innovative value-added services across its platform.

About The Role

We are seeking a talented Machine Learning Engineer to join Docker’s Intelligence organization as one of the founding engineers. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of Docker’s AI-driven capabilities, working directly with a team of pioneering engineers and leadership. As a hands-on builder with staff-level scope, you will influence the technical direction, develop initial intelligence features, and establish the foundational infrastructure necessary for scalable AI solutions. Your work will directly impact Docker’s ability to provide secure, trustworthy, and intelligent platform services to a global user base.

This position involves designing, deploying, and maintaining machine learning systems that enhance governance, security, and trust within Docker’s platform. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to identify opportunities, evaluate frontier models, and implement pragmatic solutions that balance innovation with reliability. As a key contributor, you will help recruit and mentor new team members, fostering a collaborative environment that drives continuous improvement and technical excellence.

Given the nature of this role, there may be responsibilities related to on-call support for critical services, ensuring high availability and prompt incident resolution. The successful candidate will thrive in an early-stage environment, making strategic decisions with limited information and adapting quickly to evolving priorities.

Qualifications

5+ years of deep applied machine learning and AI expertise with a proven track record of shipping production systems.

Experience in domains such as fraud, abuse, safety, security, or trust, especially in adversarial or high-stakes environments.

4+ years of professional, hands-on software engineering experience in backend, infrastructure, or platform development.

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

Extensive experience building and owning ML systems, including data pipelines, model serving, evaluation, and monitoring.

Proficiency with modern AI tools and frameworks, with a clear understanding of when frontier models can replace or complement traditional ML approaches.

Hands-on experience with large language model-based systems, including evaluation, prompt engineering, fine-tuning, retrieval, and guardrails.

Familiarity with the agent / MCP ecosystem and related tools.

Ability to thrive in an early-stage environment, making decisive technical choices with incomplete information.

Strong collaboration skills, clear communication, and a low-ego attitude to work effectively across teams.

Responsibilities

Design, train, evaluate, and deploy machine learning systems that support governance, security, and trust features such as prompt injection detection, behavioral anomaly detection, trust scoring, and policy recommendations.

Develop and maintain supporting infrastructure including data pipelines, feature stores, model serving architectures, evaluation frameworks, and feedback mechanisms to facilitate rapid iteration.

Make pragmatic build-vs-buy decisions, leveraging frontier models, off-the-shelf tools, and managed services while investing in custom solutions where they provide a durable advantage.

Define and own the technical architecture, evaluation methodologies, model lifecycle management, and quality standards for ML initiatives.

Lead efforts in recruiting, mentoring, and shaping the growth of the ML team, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.

Participate in on-call rotations to support critical services, ensuring high availability and reliability.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align AI capabilities with product and platform goals, ensuring seamless integration and user impact.

Benefits

Remote-first work environment with flexibility to manage your schedule.

Generous paid time off, including quarterly wellness days and an end-of-year break to promote work-life balance.

Home office setup support and a monthly technology stipend to enhance your workspace.

Annual stipends for professional development, including conferences, courses, and certifications.

Paid parental leave of 16 weeks after six months of employment.

Comprehensive health benefits, retirement plans, and paid holidays (benefits vary by country).

Opportunity to be part of a pioneering team shaping the future of AI-driven platform security.

Docker swag and the chance to represent a globally recognized brand.

Equal Opportunity

Docker is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. We believe that fostering a diverse workforce enhances our ability to innovate and serve our clients effectively. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected status.