diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 52aaceaa..c2ad98d1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ stop:
 restart:
 	$(call run_docker_compose_command,restart)
 
+build:
+	$(call run_docker_compose_command,build)
+
 cleanup: stop
 	docker system prune --filter label="$(DOCKER_COMPOSE_DEV_LABEL)" --all --volumes
 
@@ -112,6 +115,9 @@ shell:
 dbshell:
 	$(call run_engine_docker_command,python manage.py dbshell)
 
+exec-engine:
+	docker exec -it oncall_engine bash
+
 # The below commands are useful for running backend services outside of docker
 define backend_command
 	export `grep -v '^#' $(DEV_ENV_FILE) | xargs -0` && \
diff --git a/dev/README.md b/dev/README.md
index eb7aed70..adeca62e 100644
--- a/dev/README.md
+++ b/dev/README.md
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ make init # build the frontend plugin code then run make start
 make start # start all of the docker containers
 make stop # stop all of the docker containers
 make restart # restart all docker containers
+make build # rebuild images (e.g. when changing requirements.txt)
 
 # this will remove all of the images, containers, volumes, and networks
 # associated with your local OnCall developer setup
@@ -101,6 +102,7 @@ make start-celery-beat # start celery beat
 make purge-queues # purge celery queues
 make shell # starts an OnCall engine Django shell
 make dbshell # opens a DB shell
+make exec-engine # exec into engine container's bash
 make test # run backend tests
 
 # run both frontend and backend linters