Principal Engineer, Infrastructure Platforms

GitLab is an open-core software company that develops an AI-powered DevSecOps Platform used by over 100,000 organizations. They are seeking a Principal Engineer to set technical direction for critical infrastructure platforms, driving initiatives that shape performance and reliability across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• 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