Intermediate Backend (Ruby) Engineer, Durability

GitLab is an open-core software company that develops the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform, used by more than 100,000 organizations. Our mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers our world. When everyone can contribute, consumers become contributors, significantly accelerating human progress. Our platform unites teams and organizations, breaking down barriers and redefining what's possible in software development. Thanks to products like Duo Enterprise and Duo Agent Platform, customers get AI benefits at every stage of the SDLC.

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.

An overview of this role

As a Backend Engineer in Durability at GitLab, you are responsible for developing and maintaining backup and restore solutions that safeguard customer data across all GitLab deployments. You will be using best development practices to build reliable, scalable data backup systems. This role focuses on creating universal tooling that works seamlessly across multiple cloud and on-premise environments.

GitLab Backend Engineers in Durability specialize in distributed systems, data consistency, and cross-platform compatibility, while implementing best practices for reliability, scalability, and data integrity.

What you’ll do

• Design and develop reliable backup and restore solutions from the ground up using Ruby, creating universal CLI tooling that works across multiple cloud and on-premise environments.
• Build scalable data protection systems to support current and future GitLab deployments of all sizes.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and Infrastructure teams to integrate backup solutions seamlessly into the GitLab ecosystem.
• Participate in incident response when backup/restore systems are involved and contribute to incident reviews with a development perspective.
• Act as a subject matter expert on data durability, backup strategies, and restore mechanisms within GitLab.
• Continuously improve and optimize backup and restore performance, reliability, and user experience.

What you’ll bring

• Strong programming skills in Ruby with experience building CLI tools and distributed systems.
• Experience with multiple cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure) and understanding of their storage and backup services.
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools like Ansible, Terraform, Chef, etc. for managing infrastructure.
• Understanding of Kubernetes and containerized backup solutions.
• Ability to design systems that work reliably across diverse deployment environments.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to think systematically about data protection challenges.
• Ability to be a manager of one with a strong bias for action and continuous improvement.
• Independent, proactive, and self-organized mindset with excellent asynchronous communication skills.
• Excitement about building developer tools and solving complex distributed systems challenges.

About the team

Durability is responsible for safeguarding and securing customer data that is stored by the GitLab application and sets guidelines for data access. Running the largest GitLab instance in existence (and in fact, one of the largest single-tenancy open-source SaaS sites on the Internet) means we are constantly faced with unique and rewarding challenges that directly impact our users every day. Our future is all about increasing automation so we can continue to scale even bigger with enterprise level expectations around reliability and availability. Thanks to our Transparency value, you can see how we work on our team page or even see what we’re working on.