Senior Software Engineer — Container Images & Security

Job description

Senior Software Engineer — Container Images & Security
Citizenship Requirement: U.S. citizenship is required for this position due to work supporting federal government customers.
Location: Remote
Team: Engineering / Curated Images
Employment Type: Full-Time
About the Role
RapidFort is looking for a hands-on Senior Software Engineer to join our Curated Images team and help build, secure, and maintain production-ready container images at scale.
This role combines deep Linux engineering, vulnerability remediation, and software automation. You will own the container image lifecycle—from building minimal, reproducible images to analyzing and remediating CVEs, validating runtime compatibility, and automating ongoing maintenance and publishing.
You will work closely with engineering, infrastructure, and security teams to deliver secure, reliable images across Linux distributions and application stacks, including Python, Go, and Java. Success requires the ability to investigate package and dependency issues, implement fixes, and build automation that makes those fixes repeatable.
What You’ll Do
Design, build, and maintain minimal, hardened container images across Linux distributions and application runtimes.
Own end-to-end CVE remediation across OS packages, libraries, runtimes, and dependencies, including analysis, patching, rebuilding, and validation.
Troubleshoot complex package compatibility, dependency, build, and runtime issues while preserving application functionality.
Reduce image attack surface and size by removing unnecessary packages, binaries, and dependencies.
Build and improve automated pipelines for image builds, vulnerability scanning, remediation, testing, and publishing.
Develop tooling to manage image versioning, dependency updates, metadata, and release traceability.
Generate, validate, and maintain SBOMs to support software supply chain visibility and compliance.
Validate image functionality, reproducibility, and compatibility with Kubernetes and other containerized environments.
Collaborate with platform, infrastructure, and security teams to define image hardening standards and integrate curated images into development and deployment workflows.
Maintain clear documentation that helps developers adopt and use curated images.
Continuously improve remediation speed, image quality, build reliability, and operational efficiency.
What You Bring
5+ years of relevant experience in software engineering, Linux systems engineering, platform engineering, DevSecOps, or SRE.
Deep understanding of Linux systems, with hands-on experience across distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, or RHEL.
Strong experience building and optimizing Docker images, including multi-stage builds, image layering, and container filesystem structures.
Proven experience investigating and remediating CVEs in Linux packages and container images, including patching, rebuilding, and validating fixes.
Strong working knowledge of Linux package management and dependency resolution using tools such as apt, apk, yum/dnf, or rpm.
Strong programming or scripting skills in Python, Go, or Bash, with experience building maintainable automation and internal tooling.
Experience developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or similar tools.
Hands-on experience with vulnerability scanners such as Trivy, Grype, or Clair, along with SBOM generation.
Solid understanding of Kubernetes concepts, container lifecycles, and image deployment requirements.
Ability to independently troubleshoot complex technical issues and collaborate effectively across engineering teams.
Nice to Have
Experience building minimal or distroless images and maintaining a large catalog of container images.
Experience building Linux packages from source or backporting security fixes.
Familiarity with SBOM formats and tools such as SPDX, CycloneDX, and Syft.
Experience with image signing, provenance, and verification using Cosign or Sigstore.
Knowledge of software supply chain security frameworks such as SLSA.
Familiarity with container registries such as Docker Hub, Harbor, or Amazon ECR.
Experience with Helm, Kustomize, GitOps, or infrastructure-as-code workflows.
Experience in a startup environment or regulated industry.
What Success Looks Like
Reliable delivery of production-ready, hardened images with near-zero exploitable CVEs.
Scalable automation for image builds, remediation, validation, and publishing.
Faster remediation turnaround while maintaining runtime compatibility and image quality.
Measurable reductions in image size and attack surface.
Repeatable standards for secure, reproducible container image delivery.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary: $130,000–$200,000, depending on experience and technical depth.
Equity participation.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
Remote-first work environment.
Opportunity to solve complex Linux, container, and software supply chain security challenges.
Career growth within a rapidly scaling cybersecurity company.
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