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GitLab · 2 days ago

Principal Database Engineer, Data Engineering & Monetization

United States

Full-time

Remote

Lead/Staff

$158K/yr - $338K/yr

GitLab is an open-core software company that develops a comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform used by over 100,000 organizations. As a Principal Database Engineer, you will design and lead the evolution of the PostgreSQL backbone that powers GitLab.com, addressing challenges related to data growth and system reliability while collaborating with product and infrastructure teams.

Cloud SecurityDeveloper ToolsDevOpsOpen SourceSaaS

Comp. & Benefits

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture and strategy for GitLab.com's PostgreSQL infrastructure, designing scalable, resilient solutions for both SaaS and self-managed deployments

Build proactive database health and reliability frameworks using continuous monitoring, automated remediation, and predictive analytics to prevent customer-impacting incidents

Drive database best practices across engineering by guiding schema design, migrations, and query optimization, and by creating self-service tools and guardrails for product teams

Own end-to-end observability for database systems, designing symptom-based monitoring, leading incident response, and turning learnings into automated, repeatable workflows

Shape the evolution of GitLab’s database platform by evaluating and implementing modern database technologies and data stores that improve reliability, performance, and product capabilities

Design solutions and patterns that address uncontrolled data growth, cost efficiency, sharding, multi-database support, and other next-generation data architecture needs

Collaborate closely with product and infrastructure teams to align product decisions with platform constraints and priorities, breaking down long-term goals into incremental, customer-visible outcomes

Contribute directly to the codebase to prototype and ship working solutions, maintain technical credibility, and deep-dive into complex production issues when needed

Qualification

PostgreSQL architectureDistributed database platformsDatabase health frameworksAutomated failoverInfrastructure-as-codeSite reliability engineeringHands-on coding skillsClear communicationCollaborative mindset

Required

Experience architecting, operating, and optimizing PostgreSQL in large-scale, distributed production environments with high availability and disaster recovery requirements

Deep knowledge of PostgreSQL internals, including the query planner, write-ahead logging, vacuum processes, and storage engine behavior

Background designing and maintaining highly distributed database platforms with automated failover, robust monitoring, and self-healing capabilities

Hands-on coding skills and comfort working across the stack, from low-level database and search systems to backend and frontend services

Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code, GitOps practices, security hardening, and site reliability engineering principles applied to database operations

Ability to debug complex, cross-system issues, translate findings into durable technical solutions, and turn incident learnings into repeatable automation

Experience influencing technical direction across multiple teams, providing practical guidance on migrations, query optimization, and database best practices

Openness to collaborating with people from diverse technical backgrounds, with a focus on clear communication, shared ownership, and learning transferable skills