Principal Engineer, Infrastructure Platforms

Requirements

• Proven experience designing and evolving large-scale platforms or distributed systems in cloud-native environments.
• Strong proficiency in Golang and/or Ruby, with the ability to contribute to, review, and guide core architectural changes in production codebases.
• Strong architectural judgment, including the ability to balance scalability, reliability, performance, security, and cost.
• Experience owning platform-level technical decisions that impacted multiple teams or an entire engineering domain.
• Solid understanding of Kubernetes-based environments as a production platform, including how they influence system design, deployment models, reliability, and operational complexity.
• Experience being accountable for production systems, not just design recommendations.
• Ability to author and drive long-term technical strategy and multi-month roadmaps.
• Track record of leading through influence and shaping technical direction without direct authority.
• Comfort making high-impact technical decisions, including build vs buy vs partner tradeoffs.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to engineers, leadership, and non-technical stakeholders.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own and drive the architectural direction for critical infrastructure platforms that support GitLab at global scale.
• Lead the design and evolution of large platforms and distributed systems that are scalable, resilient, secure, and cost-efficient.
• Serve as the technical authority on complex initiatives, guiding decisions that impact multiple teams and product areas.
• Translate business and product strategy into long-term technical roadmaps and execution plans.
• Drive alignment across engineering, product, and leadership by clearly communicating tradeoffs and recommendations.
• Establish technical standards and architectural patterns that raise quality and consistency across the organization.
• Be accountable for production outcomes, including reliability, performance, and operational excellence.
• Mentor senior engineers and act as a force multiplier through influence rather than direct authority.
• Operate effectively in ambiguous problem spaces where both the problem and the solution need to be defined.

Perks and Benefits

• 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
• Home office support