Principal Engineer, Infrastructure Platforms
GitLab
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Remote
Location: United States
Visit company websiteExplore more
Salary
💰 $171,400 - $367,200 per year
Job Level
Tech Stack
About the role
- 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.
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.
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
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
GolangRubyKubernetescloud-native environmentsdistributed systemsarchitectural judgmentproduction systemstechnical strategysystem designdeployment models
Soft Skills
leadershipcommunicationmentoringinfluenceproblem-solvingaccountabilitycollaborationtradeoff analysisstrategic thinkingadaptability