diff --git a/.github/workflows/python-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/python-ci.yml
index e7299d3fe8..68e581c3d8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/python-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/python-ci.yml
@@ -67,8 +67,43 @@ jobs:
     - name: Generate coverage report (85%) # Coverage threshold should only increase over time — never decrease it!
       run: COVERAGE_FAIL_UNDER=85 make coverage-report
 
+  build-docker-images:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+    - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+      uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+    - name: Build and cache Spark image
+      uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+      with:
+        context: dev/spark
+        tags: pyiceberg-spark:latest
+        cache-from: type=gha,scope=spark
+        cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=spark
+        outputs: type=docker,dest=/tmp/spark-image.tar
+
+    - name: Build and cache Hive image
+      uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+      with:
+        context: dev/hive
+        tags: pyiceberg-hive:latest
+        cache-from: type=gha,scope=hive
+        cache-to: type=gha,mode=max,scope=hive
+        outputs: type=docker,dest=/tmp/hive-image.tar
+
+    - name: Upload Docker images
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        name: docker-images
+        path: /tmp/*-image.tar
+        retention-days: 1
+        compression-level: 0
+
   integration-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: build-docker-images
     strategy:
       matrix:
         python: ['3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
@@ -85,6 +120,17 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install
       run: make install
 
+    - name: Download Docker images
+      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        name: docker-images
+        path: /tmp
+
+    - name: Load Docker images
+      run: |
+        docker load -i /tmp/spark-image.tar
+        docker load -i /tmp/hive-image.tar
+
     - name: Run integration tests with coverage
       run: COVERAGE=1 make test-integration
     - name: Show debug logs
diff --git a/dev/docker-compose-integration.yml b/dev/docker-compose-integration.yml
index 482468a9bf..a111e9f77e 100644
--- a/dev/docker-compose-integration.yml
+++ b/dev/docker-compose-integration.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 services:
   spark-iceberg:
     container_name: pyiceberg-spark
-    build: spark/
+    image: pyiceberg-spark:latest
+    build:
+      context: spark/
+      cache_from:
+        - pyiceberg-spark:latest
     networks:
       iceberg_net:
     depends_on:
@@ -91,7 +95,11 @@ services:
       tail -f /dev/null
       "
   hive:
-    build: hive/
+    image: pyiceberg-hive:latest
+    build:
+      context: hive/
+      cache_from:
+        - pyiceberg-hive:latest
     container_name: pyiceberg-hive
     hostname: hive
     networks:
diff --git a/dev/hive/Dockerfile b/dev/hive/Dockerfile
index 2c87b69ee1..69f9555ab9 100644
--- a/dev/hive/Dockerfile
+++ b/dev/hive/Dockerfile
@@ -15,17 +15,28 @@
 
 FROM apache/hive:4.0.0
 
-ENV HADOOP_VERSION=3.3.6
-ENV AWS_SDK_BUNDLE=1.12.753
+# Dependency versions - changing these invalidates the JAR download layer
+ARG HADOOP_VERSION=3.3.6
+ARG AWS_SDK_BUNDLE=1.12.753
+ARG MAVEN_MIRROR=https://repo1.maven.org/maven2
 
 USER root
 
-# Install curl, download JARs, and cleanup in a single layer
-RUN apt-get update -qq && apt-get -qq -y install curl && \
-    curl https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/hadoop/hadoop-aws/${HADOOP_VERSION}/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar -Lo /opt/hive/lib/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar && \
-    curl https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/amazonaws/aws-java-sdk-bundle/${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}/aws-java-sdk-bundle-${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}.jar -Lo /opt/hive/lib/aws-java-sdk-bundle-${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}.jar && \
-    apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+# Install curl (separate layer - rarely changes)
+RUN apt-get update -qq && \
+    apt-get -qq -y install --no-install-recommends curl && \
+    apt-get clean && \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+# Download JARs with retry logic (slow layer - only changes when versions change)
+RUN curl -fsSL --retry 3 --retry-delay 5 \
+        -o /opt/hive/lib/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar \
+        ${MAVEN_MIRROR}/org/apache/hadoop/hadoop-aws/${HADOOP_VERSION}/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar && \
+    curl -fsSL --retry 3 --retry-delay 5 \
+        -o /opt/hive/lib/aws-java-sdk-bundle-${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}.jar \
+        ${MAVEN_MIRROR}/com/amazonaws/aws-java-sdk-bundle/${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}/aws-java-sdk-bundle-${AWS_SDK_BUNDLE}.jar
+
+# Copy configuration last (changes more frequently than JARs)
 COPY core-site.xml /opt/hadoop/etc/hadoop/core-site.xml
 
 USER hive
diff --git a/dev/spark/Dockerfile b/dev/spark/Dockerfile
index 4b486c9001..98b84cf5e8 100644
--- a/dev/spark/Dockerfile
+++ b/dev/spark/Dockerfile
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@ ARG BASE_IMAGE_SPARK_VERSION=4.0.1
 FROM apache/spark:${BASE_IMAGE_SPARK_VERSION}
 
 # Dependency versions - keep these compatible
+# Changing these will invalidate the JAR download cache layer
 ARG ICEBERG_VERSION=1.10.1
 ARG ICEBERG_SPARK_RUNTIME_VERSION=4.0_2.13
 ARG HADOOP_VERSION=3.4.1
-ARG SCALA_VERSION=2.13
 ARG AWS_SDK_VERSION=2.24.6
 ARG MAVEN_MIRROR=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2
 
@@ -31,26 +31,23 @@ WORKDIR ${SPARK_HOME}
 # Install curl for JAR downloads
 RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl && \
+    apt-get clean && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Copy configuration (early for better caching)
-COPY --chown=spark:spark spark-defaults.conf ${SPARK_HOME}/conf/
-
-# Create event log directory
+# Create directories (separate layer)
 RUN mkdir -p /home/iceberg/spark-events && \
     chown -R spark:spark /home/iceberg
 
-# Required JAR dependencies
-ENV JARS_TO_DOWNLOAD="\
-    org/apache/iceberg/iceberg-spark-runtime-${ICEBERG_SPARK_RUNTIME_VERSION}/${ICEBERG_VERSION}/iceberg-spark-runtime-${ICEBERG_SPARK_RUNTIME_VERSION}-${ICEBERG_VERSION}.jar \
-    org/apache/iceberg/iceberg-aws-bundle/${ICEBERG_VERSION}/iceberg-aws-bundle-${ICEBERG_VERSION}.jar \
-    org/apache/hadoop/hadoop-aws/${HADOOP_VERSION}/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar \
-    software/amazon/awssdk/bundle/${AWS_SDK_VERSION}/bundle-${AWS_SDK_VERSION}.jar"
-
-# Download JARs with retry logic
+# Download JARs with retry logic (most cacheable - only changes when versions change)
+# This is the slowest step, so we do it before copying config files
 RUN set -e && \
     cd "${SPARK_HOME}/jars" && \
-    for jar_path in ${JARS_TO_DOWNLOAD}; do \
+    for jar_path in \
+        "org/apache/iceberg/iceberg-spark-runtime-${ICEBERG_SPARK_RUNTIME_VERSION}/${ICEBERG_VERSION}/iceberg-spark-runtime-${ICEBERG_SPARK_RUNTIME_VERSION}-${ICEBERG_VERSION}.jar" \
+        "org/apache/iceberg/iceberg-aws-bundle/${ICEBERG_VERSION}/iceberg-aws-bundle-${ICEBERG_VERSION}.jar" \
+        "org/apache/hadoop/hadoop-aws/${HADOOP_VERSION}/hadoop-aws-${HADOOP_VERSION}.jar" \
+        "software/amazon/awssdk/bundle/${AWS_SDK_VERSION}/bundle-${AWS_SDK_VERSION}.jar"; \
+    do \
         jar_name=$(basename "${jar_path}") && \
         echo "Downloading ${jar_name}..." && \
         curl -fsSL --retry 3 --retry-delay 5 \
@@ -60,6 +57,9 @@ RUN set -e && \
     done && \
     chown -R spark:spark "${SPARK_HOME}/jars"
 
+# Copy configuration last (changes more frequently than JARs)
+COPY --chown=spark:spark spark-defaults.conf ${SPARK_HOME}/conf/
+
 USER spark
 WORKDIR ${SPARK_HOME}