Remote Senior Manager, Engineering, Docker Agents (London) in Burnley

At Docker, we make app development easier so developers can focus on what matters. Our remote-first team spans the globe, united by a passion for innovation and great developer experiences. With over 20 million monthly users and 20 billion image pulls, Docker is the #1 tool for building, sharing, and running apps—trusted by startups and Fortune 100s alike. We’re growing fast and just getting started. Come join us for a whale of a ride!

The Senior Manager, Engineering, Docker Agents leads the team responsible for building Docker’s next-generation AI agent capabilities. This team designs and delivers intelligent, containerized agents that enable automation, adaptive workflows, and real-world AI usage for developers. This role combines people leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional collaboration. The manager ensures the team delivers reliable, high-impact systems while maintaining a strong engineering culture grounded in trust, learning, and execution.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Development
  • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers working on Docker Agents.
  • Define hiring plans, onboarding, career paths, and performance expectations.
  • Foster a culture of psychological safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Technical Strategy & Delivery
  • Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to define the vision, roadmap, and technical direction for agent systems.
  • Guide architectural decisions for scalable, secure, and maintainable agent platforms.
  • Balance long-term strategy with short-term execution to ensure consistent delivery.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with Product Management, Platform, DevOps, and QA teams to align priorities.
  • Advocate for agent capabilities across the Docker ecosystem.
  • Ensure smooth integration between agent systems and other Docker products.
• Operational Excellence
  • Establish and track engineering metrics related to quality, velocity, and reliability.
  • Remove blockers and improve developer productivity through better tooling and processes.
  • Drive improvements in CI/CD, testing, observability, and system resilience.
• Culture & Values
  • Model strong leadership behaviors rooted in empathy, clarity, and ownership.
  • Promote inclusion, diversity, and fairness in hiring and team development.
  • Handle feedback, performance discussions, and prioritization decisions with transparency and respect.

Qualifications

• Required
  • 7+ years of professional software engineering experience.
  • 3+ years of experience managing engineering teams.
  • Proven ability to lead remote, distributed teams.
  • Strong experience with distributed systems, APIs, or platform engineering.
  • Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity and guide teams through evolving requirements.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Preferred
  • Experience working with AI systems, LLMs, or agent-based architectures.
  • Background in developer tools, platforms, or infrastructure products.
  • Product-oriented mindset with exposure to user-facing engineering decisions.

What to Expect

• First 30 Days
  • Integrate into Docker’s AI & Agents Engineering organization and establish relationships with key stakeholders across Product, Platform, Engineering leadership, and sister AI teams.
  • Deep dive into the Docker Agents ecosystem including cagent project architecture, current roadmap, open-source community engagement, and technical debt assessment.
  • Conduct comprehensive 1:1s with each team member to understand their technical backgrounds, career aspirations, current project ownership, and individual growth opportunities.
  • Assess team dynamics, delivery processes, engineering practices, and identify immediate opportunities to remove blockers, improve productivity, and enhance code quality.
• First 90 Days
  • Hire and onboard critical team members with expertise in containerized systems, AI/LLM integration, distributed systems, and open-source community management.
  • Establish clear team operating principles including engineering standards for agent development, code review processes, testing frameworks, and production deployment practices.
  • Drive alignment on technical vision and roadmap for Docker’s containerized agent platform in partnership with Product Management, ensuring clear prioritization of cagent evolution, enterprise features, and developer experience improvements.
  • Ship significant improvements to cagent or containerized agent platform capabilities with measurable impact on developer productivity or agent deployment reliability.
• One-Year Outlook
  • Build and lead a high-performing engineering team of 8-12 engineers that consistently delivers reliable, scalable containerized agent infrastructure impacting millions of Docker users worldwide.
  • Establish the Docker Agents team as a center of excellence for containerized AI systems, influencing architecture decisions across Docker’s AI initiatives and the broader container ecosystem.
  • Develop team members into technical leaders through mentorship, conference speaking opportunities, open-source contributions, and clear career advancement paths within Docker’s engineering organization.
  • Establish repeatable processes for rapid prototyping, evaluation, and productization of new agent capabilities that maintain Docker’s reputation for reliability and developer experience excellence.

Docker does not offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Docker embraces diversity and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our company will be.

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.
• Technology stipend equivalent to $100 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.