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An overview of this role
We’re looking for a Principal Engineer with deep expertise in Site Reliability, Backend, or Platform Engineering to help shape the next phase of GitLab Dedicated, our fully managed single-tenant SaaS offering. This highly influential technical leadership role will set direction for how we scale a growing fleet of isolated, customer-specific environments while maintaining the reliability, security, and compliance our customers depend on.
You’ll lead platform and operating-model transformation across resilience and failover, tenant orchestration, change management, self-service tooling, and platform integrations. You’ll also help align Dedicated with GitLab’s evolution toward more modular and cell-based architectures, strengthen service ownership, and establish scalable patterns that reduce operational complexity. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll influence across teams, guide complex technical decisions, mentor senior engineers, and help raise the technical maturity of the platform as we scale.
What you will do
- Set technical direction for GitLab Dedicated, shaping architecture and platform strategy as we scale a growing fleet of isolated, single-tenant environments.
- Lead platform transformations across resilience, failover, tenant orchestration, change management, self-service tooling, and platform integrations.
- Drive scalable, modular architecture that aligns Dedicated with GitLab’s broader Cells strategy while preserving its security, isolation, and compliance requirements.
- Strengthen service ownership and operational maturity, helping engineering teams build, operate, and improve the production systems they own.
- Identify and address systemic reliability and scalability risks using production signals, incident patterns, and architectural insight.
- Establish reusable platform patterns and automation that reduce operational toil and allow Dedicated to scale efficiently.
- Lead complex technical decisions across teams, balancing reliability, security, cost, maintainability, and customer needs.
- Advance engineering excellence across the organization through architectural leadership, mentorship, and influence with senior engineers and engineering leaders.
What you will bring
- Deep expertise in Site Reliability, Platform, Infrastructure, or Backend Engineering, with experience designing and operating large-scale production systems.
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure, automation, observability, infrastructure as code, and modern production engineering practices.
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, with experience building production systems or infrastructure tooling in languages such as Go, Ruby, Python, or similar.
- Strong distributed systems and systems-design expertise, with sound judgment around reliability, failure isolation, scalability, and operational complexity.
- A track record of technical leadership across multiple teams, setting direction and driving complex initiatives through influence.
- Experience leading significant platform or infrastructure transformations, including modernization, modularization, or scaling systems through major growth.
- Experience leading changes that improve how engineering teams own and operate production systems, strengthening reliability, operational readiness, and accountability at scale.
- Exceptional technical communication and influence, with the ability to build alignment, mentor senior engineers, and guide complex architectural decisions.
The base salary range for this role’s listed level is currently for residents of the United States only. This range is intended to reflect the role's base salary rate in locations throughout the US. Grade level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, alignment with market data, and geographic location. The base salary range does not include any bonuses, equity, or benefits. See more information on our benefits and equity. Sales roles are also eligible for incentive pay targeted at up to 100% of the offered base salary.
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.
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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.