Staff Backend Engineer, Gitlab Delivery: Upgrades

Gitlab

GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100* trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster. The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. Co-create the future with us as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software. *Fortune 500® is a registered trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, used under license. Claim based on GitLab data. Fortune 100 refers to the top 20% ranked companies in the 2025 Fortune 500 list, published in June 2025. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab. AN OVERVIEW OF THIS ROLE As a Staff Backend Engineer on GitLab's Events & Messaging Platform team, you'll be a foundational technical leader on a high-visibility infrastructure initiative that sits underneath nearly everything GitLab ships. GitLab runs two separate systems for async work today — Sidekiq for short-lived background jobs and a purpose-built event bus for longer-running workflows. This role consolidates both into a single durable, scalable messaging and event-processing platform that powers GitLab's first-party products and underpins third-party integrations like webhooks and external triggers. You'll bridge architecture and execution — owning the design of a genuinely multi-tenant distributed system, breaking it into work the team can deliver, and solving the hard problems along the way. You'll bring strong instincts around durability, tenant isolation, and horizontal scalability — telling a design that's durable from one that only looks durable under light load — and own reliability end to end. A defining challenge is migrating existing production workloads off the legacy systems without disrupting the traffic they carry. WHAT YOU'LL DO * Lead technical execution on the CD platform: decompose complex architectural designs into well-scoped, deliverable work and drive the team to ship with quality and confidence. * Solve high-complexity engineering problems and contribute architectural feedback that shapes how the system evolves. * Set and maintain the technical bar across the codebase through code review, mentorship, and example. * Mentor engineers at all levels, helping them grow their technical capabilities and navigate difficult problems. * Represent the CD team in cross-functional engineering discussions and contribute to written technical proposals and architectural documents. * Participate in on-call rotations to help ensure GitLab.com availability targets are met. WHAT YOU'LL BRING * Deep professional experience building backend services in Go, with a track record in high-scale production environments. * Demonstrated expertise in distributed systems design, including durable workflow execution, state persistence, and event-driven architectures. * Extensive experience leading or contributing to release orchestration, deployment automation, or continuous delivery systems at scale. * Extensive hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes at production scale, including progressive delivery patterns such as blue/green and canary deployments. * Strong familiarity with GitOps workflows and tools in that ecosystem. * Experience with policy-based governance in software delivery systems. * Proven ability to translate complex architecture into clear, executable engineering work across a team. * Demonstrated ability to incorporate AI tools into daily engineering workflows to drive efficiency and quality. * Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a bias toward async, documentation-first practices. * Self-motivated and self-managing, with strong organizational judgment and a constructive approach to ambiguity. NICE TO HAVE * Experience with AI engineering or building AI-integrated product features. * Ruby on Rails experience. ABOUT THE TEAM The Events & Messaging Platform team is being built out within GitLab's Infrastructure Platforms org to take on one of the most foundational rebuilds on the platform. You'll work closely with the product and integration teams that consume it, shaping your guarantees around what they actually need, in a collaborative, async-first environment where engineers own outcomes. With the platform spanning Self-Managed, Dedicated, and SaaS, you'll reason about reliability across every way GitLab is deployed — a rare chance to define the technical foundation nearly all of GitLab depends on. HOW GITLAB SUPPORTS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES * Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being * Flexible Paid Time Off  * Team Member Resource Groups * Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan * Growth and Development Fund * Parental Leave  Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.   Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us. GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.

Gitlab

GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100* trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster. The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. Co-create the future with us as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software. *Fortune 500® is a registered trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, used under license. Claim based on GitLab data. Fortune 100 refers to the top 20% ranked companies in the 2025 Fortune 500 list, published in June 2025. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab. AN OVERVIEW OF THIS ROLE As a Senior Backend Engineer at GitLab, you will help build the core capabilities of our dedicated software supply chain security Add-On. This commercial offering helps organizations control what software enters their builds, verify the integrity of what they ship, and identify malicious packages before they reach production. You will work across a set of connected backend systems that support package policy enforcement, artifact signing and verification, provenance attestation, and malicious package intelligence. This is a founding role on a small team with a high level of responsibility. The engineering choices you make in API design, testing, performance, and security will help shape how this product grows. You will work closely with a Staff Backend Engineer on architecture and partner with other engineers to deliver secure, reliable features for enterprise customers with complex supply chain security needs. This role is well suited for someone who wants to combine solid Ruby on Rails backend skills with deep technical problems in security, platform design, and product development in GitLab's all-remote, asynchronous environment. Some examples of our projects: * Building backend services for package policy enforcement and dependency control * Implementing artifact signing, verification, and provenance workflows using the Sigstore ecosystem WHAT YOU’LL DO * Design and implement backend features across the Add-On's software supply chain security surface, including policy enforcement, artifact signing and verification, provenance attestation APIs, and malicious package detection integrations, delivering secure capabilities that meet enterprise customer requirements. * Build and improve the package policy evaluation engine, including rule compilation, request matching, enforcement decisions, and performance-sensitive execution paths tied to GitLab's Dependency Firewall infrastructure, improving accuracy, reliability, and execution performance. * Develop artifact signing and verification workflows, including Sigstore and Cosign integrations, signing key lifecycle management, keyless signing with OpenID Connect (OIDC), and policy-based promotion gates, enabling trusted and auditable software delivery. * Create and evolve the configuration interfaces that enterprise security teams use, including backend APIs and the GraphQL surface for expressing supply chain security requirements, improving usability and adoption for customer administrators. * Integrate Add-On capabilities with GitLab's existing security policy framework, including policy inheritance and policy-as-code support through YAML, expanding coverage across customer security workflows. * Collaborate with adjacent teams as malicious package intelligence is incorporated into the Add-On offering, helping deliver cohesive workflows and faster response to package risk. * Write and maintain comprehensive RSpec and integration test coverage, and help improve test reliability across the team, increasing confidence in releases and reducing regressions. * Review merge requests with a security-first mindset and implement solutions with substantial decision-making scope in partnership with the Staff Backend Engineer, maintaining code quality and secure engineering standards. WHAT YOU’LL BRING * Proven backend engineering experience, including production Ruby on Rails expertise, as this is the team's primary language. * Working knowledge of Go or a clear willingness and ability to ramp up quickly in it. * Solid API design skills, including experience with REST, GraphQL, and defining clear internal service boundaries. * Solid PostgreSQL fundamentals, including schema design, query optimization, and indexing strategies. * Experience with Redis for caching and distributed coordination patterns. * A security-aware engineering mindset, with sound judgment around trust boundaries, input validation, and failure modes. * Familiarity with software supply chain security concepts such as Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA), software bill of materials (SBOM), artifact signing, or related security scanning approaches. * Interest in complex policy, registry, or platform problems, including areas such as rules engines, package ecosystems, cryptographic signing, or DevSecOps product development. ABOUT THE TEAM The SSCS Add-On team is part of GitLab's Software Supply Chain Security stage and is focused on building a commercial offering that addresses real supply chain security challenges for enterprise customers. The team works on capabilities that combine multiple parts of the GitLab product into a more complete security solution for organizations with strong compliance and risk management needs. The work is both technically interesting and strategically important. The team is building in a space shaped by fast-moving threats, evolving customer requirements, and close coordination with nearby teams across the broader security area. That combination creates an environment where engineers can contribute to product direction while solving practical backend challenges in a visible part of GitLab's platform. For more on how related teams work, see Team Handbook Page. HOW GITLAB SUPPORTS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES * Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being * Flexible Paid Time Off  * Team Member Resource Groups * Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan * Growth and Development Fund * Parental Leave  Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.   Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us. GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.

Gitlab

GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100* trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster. The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. Co-create the future with us as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software. *Fortune 500® is a registered trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, used under license. Claim based on GitLab data. Fortune 100 refers to the top 20% ranked companies in the 2025 Fortune 500 list, published in June 2025. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab. AN OVERVIEW OF THIS ROLE As an Engineering Manager, you’ll guide GitLab’s dedicated Software Supply Chain Security (SSCS) Add-On engineering team as it develops core capabilities including Dependency Firewall, Build Provenance, Malicious Packages detection, and Artifact Signing. This is a founding management role where you’ll help shape how the team works, partner closely with the Staff Backend Engineer, Product Manager, and SSCS stage management, and turn a defined roadmap into steady, high-quality delivery for enterprise customers with strict security and compliance needs. You’ll focus on developing the team, creating a healthy operating rhythm, and establishing predictable execution for the SSCS SKU. You’ll join a product area where customers in regulated industries are already validating the need, and your work will help GitLab deliver software supply chain security features that customers can rely on. While technical credibility matters, your main focus will be growing a strong backend engineering team, enabling team members in their development, and creating the conditions for long-term delivery and quality. WHAT YOU’LL DO * Guide a backend engineering team building the SSCS Add-On across dependency enforcement, build provenance, malicious package detection, and artifact signing. * Be responsible for Drive engineering delivery for general availability milestones by aligning sequencing, scope, and dependencies with the Staff Backend Engineer and Product Manager. * Develop the team by partnering with Talent Acquisition on sourcing, interview design, candidate evaluation, and hiring decisions. * Run regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations that enable growth and clear expectations. * Advance engineering quality by monitoring cycle time, defect rates, and test coverage, and by addressing risks early. * Coordinate quarterly planning and roadmap tradeoff discussions with SSCS stage leadership and Product. * Work with Finance and other partners on headcount pacing and team planning as the Add-On scales. * Represent the SSCS Add-On team within stage leadership discussions and help ensure strong communication across functions. WHAT YOU’LL BRING * Over 3 years of experience guiding backend product engineering teams in security, DevOps, or platform engineering environments. * Ability to hire and grow backend or security engineers in distributed team environments, with practical understanding of the talent landscape for these roles. * Technical credibility to contribute to architecture discussions involving package registries, CI/CD pipeline security, and signing infrastructure. * Experience managing predictable delivery across multi-quarter product roadmaps and managing cross-team dependencies. * Comfort working in an asynchronous, documentation-driven organization with clear written communication. * Familiarity with supply chain security, artifact management, or compliance-focused product areas, or transferable experience from related domains. * Working knowledge of concepts related to frameworks and ecosystems such as SLSA and Sigstore. * Ability to build credibility with engineers, product partners, and customer-facing stakeholders through clear judgment, coaching, and teamwork. ABOUT THE TEAM The SSCS Add-On team is a product engineering team within GitLab’s Software Supply Chain Security stage. We work on key capabilities in the SSCS Add-On SKU and collaborate closely with product and engineering partners to deliver security features for customers operating in regulated environments. You’ll report to the SSCS Senior Engineering Manager and partner directly with the Staff Backend Engineer and Product Manager. As a distributed team working asynchronously across regions, we are focused on strong delivery practices, team health, and scaling the product area with clarity and accountability. For more on how related teams work, see Team Handbook Page. HOW GITLAB SUPPORTS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES * Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being * Flexible Paid Time Off  * Team Member Resource Groups * Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan * Growth and Development Fund * Parental Leave  Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.   Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us. GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.