1

Container Ship Jobs in Washington, DC (NOW HIRING)

Senior DevSecOps Engineer

Mclean, VA · On-site

$117K - $161K/yr

Role requirements * ship, with the ability to obtain and successfully hold a DoD Secret security ... Deploy and operate Docker containers and Kubernetes workloads within AWS GovCloud, utilizing ...

Senior AWS Platform Engineer

Reston, VA · On-site

$140K - $165K/yr

Optimize container image building pipelines (Docker-in-Docker →Kaniko) and manage internal ... A demonstrated ability to balance speed and quality; you ship fast without sacrificing long-term ...

You'llbuild and ship initiatives that improve performance and reliability, reduce infrastructure ... Hands-on experience with major public cloud platforms, container orchestration, and infrastructure ...

Sr. DNS Engineer

Mclean, VA

$109K - $149K/yr

... every time we ship. You will need deep experience with concurrency, large scale systems ... Experience with container and orchestration systems like Kubernetes, Docker, etc. * Experience with ...

Hands-on development - actively write and ship production code alongside your team; this is not a ... Experience with Kubernetes-based platforms and container-level reliability and scaling

Platforms Engineer

Arlington, VA · On-site +1

$122K - $129K/yr

... ship their code, the tooling that tells them when something breaks, and the environments they ... Experience with Helm and Kubernetes (or other container orchestration), and tools like ArgoCD, Argo ...

Showing results 41-60

Container Ship information

See Washington, DC salary details

$11

$22

$27

How much do container ship jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 22, 2026, the average hourly pay for container ship in Washington, DC is $22.42, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $19.04 and $25.05 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a container ship?

Container ships are large cargo vessels specifically designed to transport standardized shipping containers. These ships play a crucial role in global trade, carrying goods such as electronics, clothing, and machinery across oceans. They range in size from small feeder vessels to ultra-large ships capable of carrying over 20,000 containers. Container ships are essential for efficiently moving vast quantities of goods between countries, making international commerce faster and more cost-effective.

What are different container ship jobs?

Container ship jobs focus on the operation and maintenance of cargo vessels. Your job duties and responsibilities depend on the career that you choose to pursue. An entry-level crew position is a deckhand or “ordinary seaman.” These positions focus on menial tasks related to ship operation and cargo maintenance. A steward position involves working to cook and clean in the galley. Mechanics and engine room staff maintain the ship’s equipment. Mates perform tasks like helping the captain navigate and steer the ship. A mate may also oversee various deck operations.

What are the typical daily responsibilities of a container ship crew member?

Container ship crew members are responsible for a variety of tasks to ensure safe and efficient vessel operations. Daily duties often include monitoring the ship’s navigation systems, maintaining engines and equipment, overseeing the loading and unloading of cargo, and conducting regular safety checks. Crew members also participate in routine drills and collaborate closely with officers, engineers, and port staff to coordinate schedules and address any issues that arise during the voyage. Teamwork and adaptability are essential, as schedules can be demanding and the work environment is dynamic and international.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a container ship officer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Container Ship Officer, you need a solid background in maritime navigation, cargo operations, and safety regulations, usually backed by a degree in marine transportation and relevant licensure such as a STCW certificate. Proficiency with navigational systems (like ECDIS), cargo management software, and safety equipment is crucial. Leadership, problem-solving, and effective communication are vital soft skills for managing crews and responding to emergencies. These competencies ensure safe, efficient ship operations and compliance with international maritime standards.

What is the difference between Container Ship vs Cargo Ship?

AspectContainer ShipCargo Ship
Primary CargoStandardized containersVarious goods, bulk commodities
Work EnvironmentShip deck, cargo holds, port operationsShip deck, cargo holds, port operations
Required CertificationsMaritime licenses, safety trainingMaritime licenses, safety training
Industry UsageGlobal shipping, logisticsGlobal shipping, logistics

Container ships are specialized vessels designed to carry standardized containers, making loading and unloading efficient. Cargo ships encompass a broader category, including vessels that transport various types of goods, including bulk commodities. While both operate in the maritime shipping industry and require similar certifications, container ships focus on containerized cargo, whereas cargo ships handle diverse cargo types.

How do I get a job on a container ship?

To work as a container ship crew member, you typically need relevant maritime certifications such as STCW (Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping), a valid passport, and physical fitness. Entry-level positions often require completing maritime training programs and gaining experience through apprenticeships or cadet programs offered by shipping companies or maritime academies.

How much do you get paid working on a container ship?

Container ship crew members typically earn between $2,000 and $8,000 per month, depending on their position, experience, and the shipping company. Officers and engineers generally earn higher salaries, and pay may include benefits such as accommodation and food onboard. Salaries are often influenced by international maritime standards and certifications like STCW.

What are the most commonly searched types of Container Ship jobs in Washington, DC?

The most popular types of Container Ship jobs in Washington, DC are:

What job categories do people searching Container Ship jobs in Washington, DC look for?

The top searched job categories for Container Ship jobs in Washington, DC are:

Infographic showing various Container Ship job openings in Washington, DC as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 93% Full Time, 6% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 95% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 3% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $46,640 per year, or $22.4 per hour.

Senior Software Engineer, Federal Platform

Peregrine Technologies

Washington, DC • On-site

$200K - $250K/yr

Full-time

Posted 7 days ago


Job description

Our Team 

The Platform team owns the foundation that every product team at Peregrine builds on. Our job is to make Peregrine's infrastructure fast, resilient, secure, and cost-efficient, while making it easy for other engineers to ship safely and quickly on top of it. 

We believe great infrastructure is invisible when it's working and clearly communicated when it isn't. We hold ourselves to a high bar on reliability and security, and we treat other engineering teams as our customers, investing in tooling, documentation, and self-service paths that reduce their toil. 

Role 

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our growing Platform team and help us execute on scaling Peregrine's cloud footprint. You'll build and ship initiatives that improve performance and reliability, reduce infrastructure cost, strengthen our security posture, and make the platform more developer-friendly, often all at once. 

This role is hands-on: you'll take ownership of moderately complex infrastructure problems and drive them from design through to production, exercising good judgment about how your work should fit into the broader platform. You'll juggle several priorities without much day-to-day guidance, flag risks and status changes early, and weigh cost and effort tradeoffs when choosing how to implement something. You'll also start lending a hand to less experienced engineers and weighing in on technical decisions beyond your own immediate work. 

Representative problems you'll work on include: standing up new regions and customer environments with minimal manual work as Peregrine's footprint grows; building and shipping autoscaling and right-sizing systems that cut cloud spend without sacrificing headroom; strengthening reliability and incident response for mission-critical services so outages are rare and fast to resolve; hardening platform security controls to meet the compliance bar our public-sector customers require; and building paved-road tooling that lets product teams deploy, observe, and debug their services without needing deep infra expertise. 

About You 

  • Tackles moderately complex, well-defined problems independently, and thinks about how the work threads into the wider system 
  • Writes clean, well-organized code and knows when to extend an existing pattern rather than build something new 
  • Sees a project through from kickoff to done, including chasing down bugs that don't have an obvious root cause 
  • Manages several priorities at once without needing much day-to-day direction 
  • Surfaces risks and status changes early, and keeps the right people informed 
  • Weighs cost, effort, and business impact when choosing how to implement something 
  • Starting to mentor other engineers and offer a perspective on technical decisions beyond their own area of ownership 

What We Look For 

  • Degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience 
  • 5+ years of experience building and operating cloud infrastructure at scale, with direct ownership of platform or networking systems 
  • Proficiency in a modern programming language commonly used in infrastructure work, such as Python or Go 
  • Hands-on experience with major public cloud platforms, container orchestration, and infrastructure-as-code tooling 
  • Track record of shipping work that drives down cloud costs through architecture and tooling, without compromising reliability 
  • Solid grounding in cloud and network security best practices, and experience working within compliance-driven environments 
  • Strong instincts for developer experience: building tools, guardrails, and documentation that make the platform easy and safe to use 
  • Comfort operating and improving systems under real production load, including on-call ownership and incident response 
  • Located in Washington, DC and open to working in the office 
  • You currently hold, or are able to obtain, an active U.S. security clearance (required)

Salary Range: $200,000 - $250,000 Annually + Benefits + Equity (if applicable) + Bonus (if applicable)

Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, certifications or licenses, and specific work location. Information on the benefits offered is here.