Distinguished Engineer, Agentic SDLC & Non‑Linear Productivity
WFA Digital Insight
The demand for experts in autonomous software development lifecycle (SDLC) has grown significantly, with over 70% of companies adopting AI-powered tools to enhance productivity. As a Distinguished Engineer at Gitlab, you'll pioneer and scale autonomous, agentic SDLC capabilities, leveraging your expertise to drive non-linear productivity gains. With the global AI market projected to reach
Job Description
About the Role
As a Distinguished Engineer at Gitlab, you will pioneer and scale autonomous, agentic SDLC capabilities across the company, driving non-linear productivity gains and transforming the way software is developed. You'll deeply immerse in Gitlab's product and internal engineering workflows to identify areas where AI agents can address complex problems, validate them through rigorous experimentation, and codify patterns for productization.Your role will involve acting as a bridge between Architecture, Product, Infrastructure, and Data and ML teams, ensuring that agentic capabilities deliver durable value internally and scale reliably to customers. You'll report to a Director-level engineering leader and be part of a high-performance culture driven by Gitlab's values and continuous knowledge exchange.
Gitlab's platform enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. With over 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100 trusting Gitlab to ship better, more secure software faster, this is an opportunity to join a company that is shaping the future of software development.
What You Will Do
- Define and refine a company-wide technical vision for autonomous, agentic SDLC that aligns with Gitlab's product strategy and Engineering job architecture.
- Identify and prioritize non-linear productivity opportunities across the SDLC, targeting 10x step changes rather than incremental gains.
- Translate ambiguous problem spaces into concrete, iterable roadmaps in partnership with Product, AI and ML, and Architecture teams.
- Lead hands-on experiments and prototypes to validate where agentic workflows can fully own or materially reshape engineering tasks.
- Design and implement reference architectures for agentic SDLC inside Gitlab, including orchestration patterns, safety guardrails, observability, and human-in-the-loop controls.
- Define evaluation frameworks using offline benchmarks and online experiments to measure correctness, latency, safety, cost, and productivity impact of agentic workflows.
- Select and own a small set of high-impact internal use cases as pathfinders and drive them from concept through adoption to measurable productivity gains.
- Work directly with engineering teams to embed agentic workflows into day-to-day development, ensuring seamless integration and adoption.
What We Are Looking For
- Expertise in multiple technology domains, with a strong understanding of AI, machine learning, and SDLC.
- Experience in driving non-linear productivity gains through the adoption of autonomous, agentic workflows.
- Strong technical leadership skills, with the ability to represent the company's technical vision and strategy.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across multiple teams and departments.
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable roadmaps and prototypes.
- Experience with Gitlab's platform and tools, or similar technologies.
- Strong understanding of software development methodologies and practices.
Nice to Have
- Experience with adjustment and Excel tools.
- Knowledge of data and ML technologies.
- Familiarity with Agile development methodologies.
- Experience working in a remote or distributed team environment.
Benefits and Perks
- Competitive compensation package.
- Opportunity to work with a high-performance team that is shaping the future of software development.
- Flexible working hours and remote work options.
- Access to the latest technologies and tools.
- Professional development and growth opportunities.
- Comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and vision insurance.
- Generous paid time off and vacation policy.
- Employee stock options and equity program.
How to Stand Out
- Be prepared to discuss your experience with autonomous SDLC and AI-powered tools, and how you've driven non-linear productivity gains in previous roles.
- Showcase your technical leadership skills and ability to represent a company's technical vision and strategy.
- Highlight your understanding of software development methodologies and practices, and how you've applied them in previous roles.
- Demonstrate your ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable roadmaps and prototypes.
- Be prepared to discuss your experience working with cross-functional teams and your ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders.
- Show examples of your work, such as prototypes or projects you've led, to demonstrate your skills and experience.
- Research Gitlab's values and vision, and be prepared to discuss how your experience and skills align with the company's goals and mission.
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