Who you are

• Experience running backend services in production environments, including deploying, monitoring, and operating systems built on Kubernetes and Helm
• Advanced proficiency with Go for building and maintaining observable, resilient services, with an ability to work in Ruby as a plus
• Hands-on practice with infrastructure as code tools such as Terraform, and managing infrastructure across major cloud providers like GCP, AWS, or Azure
• Practical experience designing, operating, and troubleshooting databases, especially PostgreSQL, in secure and scalable setups
• Understanding of secure, scalable, and supportable deployment practices, including service scaling and rollout strategies
• Familiarity with observability tools and patterns, such as Prometheus and Grafana, to track system health and performance
• Experience collaborating within large codebases and working effectively with distributed, cross-functional teams
• Ability to write clear, user-focused documentation and implementation guides, and openness to applying transferable skills from related backend or infrastructure roles
• 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

What the job involves

• As a Senior Backend Engineer on the GitLab Operate team, you’ll focus on delivering and supporting GitLab for self-managed customers by building and maintaining the infrastructure, tooling, and automation that power our deployment options
• You’ll work across Omnibus GitLab, GitLab Helm Charts, the GitLab Environment Toolkit (GET), and the GitLab Operator to ensure GitLab is easy to deploy, secure by default, and scalable across diverse environments and major cloud providers
• In this role, you’ll act as a bridge between GitLab engineering and self-managed customers, shaping production-grade deployment tooling, improving installation and upgrade experiences, and collaborating with teams like Distribution, SRE, Release, Security, and Development to keep GitLab’s features reliably delivered and operable on supported platforms
• Some examples of our projects:
• Evolving Omnibus GitLab, Helm Charts, GET, and the GitLab Operator to support validated reference architectures for enterprise-scale deployments
• Building automation pipelines and observability into deployment tooling to validate, test, and operate GitLab across Kubernetes and other self-managed environments
• Maintain and evolve the Omnibus GitLab package and contribute to the design, development, and maintenance of GitLab Helm Charts so they reliably integrate all core components and support scalable, production-ready self-managed deployments
• Enhance and extend the GitLab Environment Toolkit (GET), validated reference architectures, and the GitLab Operator to provide secure, scalable, Kubernetes-native lifecycle management for GitLab deployments used by enterprise and internal customers
• Improve installation, upgrade, and day-to-day operations workflows across all supported platforms to ensure a consistent, reliable experience
• Partner with Security to address vulnerabilities in the deployment stack and deliver secure defaults and configurations
• Build and maintain automation and CI/CD pipelines that validate and test deployment tools across Omnibus, Charts, GET, and the Operator
• Collaborate with Distribution Engineers, SREs, Release Managers, and Development teams to integrate new features into deployment methods and keep them reliable
• Create and maintain clear, user-focused documentation and implementation guides that help self-managed customers deploy and operate GitLab with confidence
• Provide technical leadership by guiding architectural decisions for deployment tooling, mentoring backend engineers, and contributing to the strategic roadmap for self-managed delivery
• The Operate team sits within GitLab Delivery. We're a globally distributed, all-remote group that works closely with Site Reliability Engineers, Release, Security, and Development across regions in an asynchronous way. We focus on collaboration, iteration, and helping self-managed customers run GitLab successfully in their own environments, from small business to large enterprise

Benefits

• We offer benefits to manage your health, wealth, and well-being regardless of location
• Flexibility in schedule to be there for life’s important moments
• Equity compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan offered
• Generous Paid Time Off