Staff Backend Engineer, Database Automation (Go)
Staff backend engineer on GitLab's Database Excellence group building Go-based automation for the full PostgreSQL lifecycle (provisioning, upgrades, failover, scaling) as an internal PostgreSQL-as-a-service platform, operating at GitLab.com scale in a fully remote environment alongside Kubernetes, infrastructure-as-code, and multi-cloud tooling.
- Compensation
- $152.8K–$259.2K / yr
- Location
- Remote, Canada; Remote, United States
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- Staff
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- Not specified
- Category
- Backend
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Professional software engineering experience with PostgreSQL in large, complex production environments, including building or operating a database-as-a-service product
- Proficiency with Go, including designing, implementing, testing, and reviewing backend services
- Experience developing Kubernetes operators, controllers, or similar automation for the lifecycle of stateful services, especially databases (comparable database/infrastructure automation experience ac
- Comfort with infrastructure as code and core database operations concepts such as high availability, replication, backups, and system-level performance trade-offs
- Strong written communication skills and comfort working asynchronously in an all-remote, distributed team
- Self-directed 'manager of one' work style and alignment with GitLab's values and operating principles
- Ownership of technical direction for a major initiative, turning ambiguous problems into architecture and sequenced plans
- Influence beyond the team: setting engineering patterns, cross-team partnering, and growing engineers through design reviews and mentorship
Nice to have
- Familiarity with Ruby / Ruby on Rails
Full 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 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 or Staff Backend Engineer with the Database Excellence group, you'll build and evolve database automation and PostgreSQL as a service capabilities for GitLab. The level will be determined during the hiring process. You'll use Go to automate the full lifecycle of PostgreSQL across GitLab's infrastructure, making database operations safer, more consistent, and easier to scale for databases that sit behind high-throughput, always-on internet services. You'll work closely with partner teams to shape how GitLab provisions and manages PostgreSQL in a fully remote, highly collaborative environment.
Some examples of our projects:
- SQL Traffic Replay Tooling, which validates upgrades and changes against real production workloads.
- PostgreSQL as a Service Platform, which provides standardized, automated provisioning and lifecycle management for internal product databases.
- PostgreSQL Major Version Upgrade Automation, which supports safe, repeatable major upgrades at GitLab.com scale.
What you’ll do
- Design, build, and maintain Go-based automation that manages the full PostgreSQL lifecycle, including provisioning, configuration, upgrades, failover, scaling, and decommissioning, reducing reactive operational work that currently takes more than 80% of the team's time.
- Build automation that works across infrastructure-as-code tooling and cloud infrastructure, and evaluate operator-based approaches as the platform evolves.