Staff Backend Engineer, Analytics Instrumentation (Golang)

About the Role

As part of the Gitlab team, the successful candidate will be expected to work closely with various stakeholders, including product development teams and the enterprise data organization. The goal is to align evolving requirements and deliver solutions that serve multiple stakeholders across the company, contributing to the overall success of Gitlab's mission to transform how the world develops software.

Gitlab's commitment to innovation, efficiency, and security is well-documented, with more than 50 million registered users and over 50% of the Fortune 100 trusting the platform. The company's values-driven culture, emphasis on AI integration, and continuous knowledge exchange enable team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems.

What You Will Do

• Architect and guide the design of a unified Go-based instrumentation service to replace multiple language-specific SDKs.
• Set the technical direction for the company's instrumentation platform, focusing on reliability, scalability, and data quality.
• Own the strategy for handling, validating, and improving instrumentation data quality across the system.
• Coordinate mentorship and training initiatives with product development teams across the company to improve adoption of instrumentation best practices.
• Set reliability and turnaround standards for systems that enable usage billing and instrumentation.
• Contribute to critical-incident on-call coverage and coordinate post-incident improvements.
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives across research and development teams and the enterprise data organization.
• Establish patterns that help teams build reliable, scalable instrumentation.
• Balance ease of use for product teams with reliability and correctness for data consumers.

What We Are Looking For

• Extensive production experience with Go, with a proven track record of architecting and shipping large-scale services.
• Demonstrated ability to design and own backend systems that scale, with experience shaping architectural choices.
• Deep expertise in infrastructure concerns including system reliability, performance optimization at scale, data quality, and observability.
• Proven experience designing and owning APIs, as well as guiding architecture for foundational services.
• Strong understanding of cloud computing platforms and containerization technologies.
• Ability to mentor engineers across the company, improving their skills in instrumentation and backend development.
• Experience with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down complex problems into manageable parts.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Kubernetes and Docker.
• Knowledge of DevSecOps practices and how to integrate security into the development lifecycle.
• Familiarity with machine learning and data analytics tools.
• Participation in open-source projects, particularly those related to backend development and instrumentation.

Benefits and Perks

• Competitive compensation package.
• Opportunity to work remotely with a dynamic and global team.
• Access to cutting-edge technologies and tools.
• Comprehensive health insurance and wellness programs.
• Generous paid time off and parental leave policies.
• Professional development opportunities, including training and conference sponsorships.
• Participation in Gitlab's equity program.
• Flexible working hours and an emphasis on work-life balance.

• Focus on demonstrating your expertise in Golang and experience with large-scale backend systems.
• Be prepared to discuss your approach to data quality, system reliability, and performance optimization.
• Highlight any experience you have with mentoring or guiding junior engineers, as this is a key part of the role.
• Show a willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies and processes, as the tech landscape is constantly evolving.
• Prepare examples of how you've handled complex technical problems and your approach to breaking them down.
• Consider creating a portfolio or a personal project that showcases your backend development skills, especially in Golang.