Backend Engineer at GitLab – AI Agent Platform in Columbus

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 an Intermediate Backend Engineer in GitLab's Agent Foundations stage, you'll go beyond using AI tools. You'll help build the foundations for GitLab's agentic AI experiences: the platform that lets AI agents work across the whole software delivery lifecycle, not just write code. That covers how agents are created, shared and connected to tools inside and outside GitLab, how they run, and how their work shows up and can be observed across GitLab.

In this role you'll work closely with engineers across the stage and other AI Engineering teams. This is a high-visibility area where GitLab's core platform meets its AI strategy.

What you'll do

• Develop, ship and maintain features for the Duo Agent Platform in the GitLab monolith (Ruby) and, where needed, the AI Gateway (Python). Keep them secure, well-tested and performant.
• Work with Product Management, UX, frontend, backend and AI specialists to refine requirements and ship improvements in small iterations.
• Design, implement and review GraphQL and REST APIs and the backend logic behind them, with reliable, scalable and clear contracts for clients.
• Improve and extend automated testing (RSpec and other frameworks) to strengthen quality and give developers faster feedback.
• Share standards, patterns and learnings with other engineers to raise the bar for responsible AI integration and evidence-driven engineering.
• Join Tier 2 on-call rotations to troubleshoot production issues, contribute to root cause analysis, and improve observability and resiliency.
• Keep an eye on the competitive landscape to help keep GitLab's agent platform best-in-class.

What you'll bring

• Experience building and maintaining production Ruby on Rails applications, including background jobs, APIs and data models.
• Comfort working across the stack in a mature codebase. Familiarity with Python backends and/or Vue frontends is a plus.
• Skill in designing or extending REST and/or GraphQL APIs with attention to scalability, maintainability and backward compatibility.
• Real enthusiasm for AI and hands-on experience using AI tools in your daily work. Experience designing and shipping AI-powered backend features or integrations is a plus.
• Proven SQL and experience with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, including writing efficient queries and data modeling.
• Experience finding and fixing performance bottlenecks in applications.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including technical proposals and documentation, in a remote, async, cross-functional team.
• Openness to learning and to applying skills from related technologies or fields.

About the team

The Agent Foundations stage builds the foundations for GitLab's agentic AI experiences. We provide the platform, catalog and execution features that help teams deliver resilient agents and flows to customers. The stage has three groups: Agent Developer, AI Catalog and Agent Execution — they provide the core harness for GitLab's agents, the tools agents need to interact with GitLab, as well as ways to configure and execute agents across GitLab. Our engineers work async-first across EMEA and AMER timezones. We work with teams across AI engineering and the rest of GitLab so the Duo Agent Platform can power many of GitLab's AI features.

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.