Mid Level Backend Engineer

GitLab; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global technology company based in the UK seeks an Intermediate Backend Engineer to enhance their CI Functions Platform. The role involves designing and developing secure, high-performance features, collaborating with product managers, and ensuring effective implementation. Candidates should have proficiency in Go and experience with Docker and Kubernetes. This position offers flexible paid time off, employee stock options, and home office support, contributing to both personal and professional growth.

Benefits

Flexible Paid Time Off

Team Member Resource Groups

Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Growth and Development Fund

Parental leave

Home office support

Qualifications

• Proficiency in developing backend services in Go and applying Go best practices.
• Ability to design and build scalable, distributed systems.
• Skill in building and iterating on highly available, resilient systems.
• Hands-on skills with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Ability to analyze, profile, and optimize performance in distributed systems.
• Familiarity with cloud-native infrastructure and site reliability concepts.
• Strong collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop secure, high-performance features for CI Functions.
• Partner with Product Manager to assess technical feasibility.
• Implement proof-of-concept solutions for technical proposals.
• Deliver CI/CD platform initiatives reliably and iteratively.
• Take ownership of features from design to refinement.
• Participate in architectural design reviews.
• Collaborate closely with other engineers through code reviews.
• Help diagnose and resolve customer issues related to CI Functions.

Job description

Job Title

Intermediate Backend Engineer

Overview

As an Intermediate Backend Engineer on the Verify: CI Functions Platform team within the Verify: Runner organization, you'll help re‑architect GitLab Runner so it can handle very large scale CI/CD operations. You'll also help build the foundational platform for CI Functions (formerly CI/CD Steps). You’ll collaborate on technical initiatives and contribute to design and implementation, taking on work that matches your experience while growing your impact over time.

What you’ll do

• Design and develop features and improvements for the CI Functions Platform and GitLab Runner that are secure, well‑tested, and high‑performance, with a focus on strong architecture in Go services.
• Partner with the Product Manager and senior engineers to assess the technical feasibility and scope of CI Functions and Runner‑related feature requests, contributing your perspective and asking clarifying questions.
• Implement proof‑of‑concept solutions and contribute to technical proposals that inform design and architecture discussions for the Step Runner and related components.
• Help break down complex, large‑scale CI/CD platform initiatives into iterative, maintainable, and testable increments, and deliver those increments reliably.
• Take end‑to‑end ownership of features from design through implementation, code review, deployment, monitoring, and iterative refinement within the CI Functions Platform.
• Participate in architectural design reviews and help evolve the technical strategy for scaling CI Functions execution across diverse infrastructure (cloud, Kubernetes, and on‑premises).
• Collaborate closely with other engineers on the team through code reviews, pairing, and knowledge sharing, both learning from others and helping raise the overall technical bar.
• Work with cross‑functional partners, including Support and Product, to help diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve customer issues related to CI Functions and GitLab Runner, and feed those learnings back into the product.

What you’ll bring

• Proficiency in developing backend services in Go and applying Go best practices in production, whether gained through professional work, open‑source contributions, or other hands‑on experience.
• Ability to design and build scalable, distributed systems and services that can grow with increasing demand, with an emphasis on CI/CD and workflow orchestration scenarios.
• Skill in building and iterating on highly available, resilient systems, ideally with exposure to high‑throughput CI pipelines, job orchestration, or similar infrastructure.
• Hands‑on skills with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, including deploying and operating services that run CI workloads across diverse environments.
• Ability to analyze, profile, and optimize performance in distributed systems using appropriate tools and observability data, especially for latency‑sensitive and resource‑intensive CI execution paths.
• Familiarity with cloud‑native infrastructure (e.g., a major cloud provider or infrastructure‑as‑code tools) and concepts related to site reliability and operating SaaS platforms that run large‑scale CI.
• Strong collaboration skills, including working closely with other engineers, contributing to knowledge sharing and raising the overall technical bar.

Benefits

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Team Member Resource Groups
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Growth and Development Fund
• Parental leave
• Home office support

EEO Statement

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, discharge status from the military, protected veteran status, 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.