Staff Backend Engineer (Ruby on Rails/AI), Verify

ABOUT THE ROLE As a Staff Backend Engineer (AI) at GitLab, you will play a central role in shaping and scaling the core infrastructure behind GitLab CI. You will help define how we integrate AI into CI/CD workflows, impacting performance, reliability, and usability for users running millions of CI jobs. This is a critical position in our Verify stage, where you will work closely with Engineering, Product, and UX leadership to drive innovation and excellence in our AI-powered CI experiences. WHAT YOU'LL DO As a Staff Backend Engineer (AI), your responsibilities will include: - Shaping and scaling GitLab CI backend infrastructure to improve performance, reliability, and usability for users running jobs at high volume. - Designing and implementing AI-powered features for Agentic CI, including agents, agentic flows, and LLM-backed tooling that integrates with GitLab's Duo Agent Platform. - Defining what success looks like for AI in CI before you build, including baselines, measurable outcomes, and clear signals that help the team learn and iterate. - Building the instrumentation and observability needed to make AI-assisted CI trustworthy in production, including feature behavior metrics, dashboards, and safeguards. - Owning and driving measurable performance improvements across CI systems by forming hypotheses, running experiments, and validating results with data. - Writing secure, well-tested, maintainable Ruby on Rails code in a large monolith, improving existing features while reducing technical debt and operational risk. - Leading cross-functional technical work with Product, UX, and Infrastructure, influencing architecture and execution across the Verify stage. - Sharing standards, patterns, and learnings with other engineers, raising the bar for responsible AI integration and evidence-driven engineering across CI. WHAT YOU'LL NEED To succeed in this role, you will need: - Advanced proficiency in Ruby on Rails and a strong understanding of software development principles. - Experience with large-scale distributed systems, including databases, background processing, and job orchestration. - Strong knowledge of AI and machine learning concepts, including large language models and their limitations. - Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams. WHY REMOTE As a remote employee, you will have the flexibility to work from anywhere and be part of a high-performance culture that values continuous knowledge exchange and collaboration. Our team is driven by a set of core values that prioritize innovation, efficiency, and impact, and we are committed to creating a workplace that is inclusive and supportive of all employees. BENEFITS GitLab offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for professional growth and development. We are committed to creating a workplace that is inclusive and supportive of all employees, and we offer a range of benefits to support your physical and mental well-being, including flexible work arrangements, mental health resources, and access to fitness and wellness programs.