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An overview of this role
As a Senior Backend Engineer on the GitLab Agent Tools team, you'll go beyond using AI tools and help define how we design, build systems that allow AI agents to interact with the full software delivery lifecycle, way beyond pure code creation. This encompasses GitLab’s MCP server as well as future technologies that are aimed at providing AI agents ways to interact with GitLab.
In this role you’ll take end-to-end ownership of complex features and help establish architectural patterns for how GitLab exposes its rich functionality to AI agents. You’ll collaborate closely with engineers across the Agent Foundations stage and adjacent teams within AI engineering. This is a high-visibility area of the product at the intersection of GitLab's core platform and its AI strategy.
What you'll do
- Develop, ship, and maintain features and improvements for Agentic Tools across the GitLab monolith backend in a secure, well-tested, and performant way.
- Collaborate with Product Management, UX, frontend, backend, and AI specialists to refine requirements and deliver high-quality, iterative product enhancements.
- Design, implement, and review GraphQL, REST APIs and related backend logic, ensuring reliability, scalability, and clear contracts with frontend clients.
- Improve and extend automated testing, including RSpec and other frameworks, to strengthen quality, reliability, and developer feedback loops.
- Share standards, patterns, and learnings with other engineers, raising the bar for responsible AI integration and evidence-driven engineering across the team.
- Participate in Tier 2 on-call rotations to troubleshoot production issues, contribute to root cause analysis, and enhance observability and resiliency
- Bring a sharp eye to the competitive landscape, helping us understand what it takes to keep GitLab’s MCP server best-in-class in an increasingly agentic world.
What you'll bring
- Experience building and maintaining production applications with Ruby on Rails, including work with background jobs, APIs, and data models.
- Comfortable working across the stack in a mature codebase. Familiarity with Python backends and/or Vue frontends a plus.
- Proficiency in designing or extending REST and/or GraphQL APIs with attention to scalability, maintainability, and backward compatibility.
- Practical experience designing and shipping AI-powered backend features and integrations, including sound judgment about large language model limitations and responsible use in production.
- Strong SQL skills and familiarity with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, including writing efficient queries and understanding data modeling.
- Ability to identify and address performance bottlenecks at the application and, where relevant, infrastructure layers.
- Openness to learning, collaborating in an async-first, distributed team, and applying transferable skills from related technologies or domains.
About the team
Agent Tools is a new functional team within the Agent Execution group. The team itself will initially consist of three engineers across AMER and EMEA timezones. The whole Agent Execution group consists of 8+ engineers. Beyond the Agent Tools team, Agent Execution consists of further teams focussed on agent observability and executing agents on GitLab’s runners. We’re partnering with teams both within the AI space as well as all over GitLab to ensure that the Duo Agent Platform can become the backbone of many AI features at GitLab.
How GitLab Supports Full-Time Employees
- 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
Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application.
Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.
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GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.