Staff Backend Engineer, Core DevOps

GitLab; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

GitLab is seeking a Staff Backend Engineer on the Core DevOps team to provide technical leadership across teams and guide the modernization of a large monolith into modular, reusable systems while preserving security and reliability.

You will collaborate with Product, Frontend, Infrastructure, Security, Data, and Engineering Managers to shape backend architecture, APIs, and standards for maintainability in our all-remote, asynchronous environment.

Qualifications

• Experience leading backend initiatives across multiple teams.
• Proven ability to modernize large monoliths into modular architectures.
• Strong emphasis on API design, contracts, testing, and security.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical design and delivery of backend initiatives spanning teams and remove systemic bottlenecks.
• Drive modular backend architecture and modernization of monoliths while preventing fragmentation.
• Define and improve standards for APIs, contracts, compatibility, schema evolution, testing, security, performance, observability, operability, and maintainability.
• Establish patterns for dependency management and data ownership across product groups.

Skills

Backend architecture

Monolith modernization

API design

Security best practices

Observability

Job description

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 valuesand 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 Core DevOps team, you'll provide technical leadership across your team and adjacent teams. You'll lead large backend initiatives, guide the modernization of a large monolith into modular, reusable, appropriately independent systems, and set standards that help teams move faster without compromising quality, security, reliability, or operability.

You'll work with Product, Frontend, Infrastructure, Security, Data, Engineering Managers, and engineers across product groups. You'll lead complex backend architecture, make product trade-offs, and influence technical direction without formal authority.

GitLab is an open core software company that develops an artificial intelligence-powered DevSecOps platform. Our mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers our world. We work in an all-remote, asynchronous environment where you communicate decisions clearly in writing and work independently.

What you’ll do

• Lead the technical design and delivery of backend initiatives that span teams, and identify and remove systemic bottlenecks across product and infrastructure groups.
• Drive modular backend, service, data, and platform architecture, including modernization of the monolith and legacy backends while preventing fragmentation and service sprawl.
• Define and improve standards for application programming interfaces, contracts, compatibility, schema evolution, testing, security, performance, observability, operability, and maintainability.
• Establish patterns for dependency management, data ownership, eventing, failure isolation