Senior Backend Engineer (RoR), SSCS: Pipeline Security

<div class="content-intro"><p>GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100* trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster.</p> <p>The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our <a href="https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/values/&quot;&gt;values&lt;/a> and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuZIb5zszQI&quot;&gt;Co-create the future with us</a> as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software.</p> <p>*<em>Fortune 500® is a registered trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, used under license. Claim based on GitLab data. Fortune 100 refers to the top 20% ranked companies in the 2025 Fortune 500 list, published in June 2025. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab.</em></p></div><h3>An overview of this role</h3> <p>As a <span class="textBold">Senior Backend Engineer</span> on the Pipeline Security team, you'll take technical ownership of GitLab's native Secrets Manager, a production system built on <span class="textBold">OpenBao</span> that helps secure sensitive credentials across <span class="textBold">GitLab CI/CD</span> pipelines. You'll work at the intersection of backend engineering and infrastructure, shaping architecture in <span class="textBold">Ruby on Rails</span> and <span class="textBold">Go</span>, guiding decisions around role-based access control (RBAC), <span class="textBold">GraphQL</span> APIs, and <span class="textBold">Kubernetes</span> deployment configuration. In your first year, you'll help move Secrets Manager toward general availability, establish technical patterns the team can build on, and represent the team's point of view in cross-functional discussions.&nbsp;You'll have end-to-end ownership, from design through production operations, with room to identify what should be built next and improve how the team delivers secure, reliable features.</p> <h3>What you'll do</h3> <ul> <li value="1"><span class="textBold">Build</span> and maintain secure, readable backend code primarily in <span class="textBold">Ruby on Rails</span>, with some development in <span class="textBold">Go</span> for targeted components.</li> <li value="2"><span class="textBold">Design</span> backend architecture for complex security features, including secrets access control, pipeline security enforcement, and <span class="textBold">OpenBao</span> integration.</li> <li value="3"><span class="textBold">Lead</span> the development of role-based access control models, <span class="textBold">GraphQL</span> APIs, and supporting application patterns for features owned by the team.</li> <li value="4"><span class="textBold">Own</span> features end to end, from technical design and implementation through deployment, validation, and production support.</li> <li value="5"><span class="textBold">Collaborate</span> with Product, security partners, and other engineering teams to document tradeoffs, align on direction, and deliver iteratively in a distributed environment.</li> <li value="6"><span class="textBold">Improve</span> code quality, maintainability, security, and performance through code review, design iteration, and internal standards for a high-scale web environment.</li> <li value="7"><span class="textBold">Build</span> and maintain <span class="textBold">Helm</span> charts, including configuration, tuning, documentation, and automated testing for Kubernetes-based deployments.</li> <li value="8"><span class="textBold">Validate</span> features in Kubernetes environments, including GitLab Cloud Native and Cloud Native Hybrid deployments, using GitLab testing and performance testing frameworks.</li> </ul> <h3>What you'll bring</h3> <ul> <li value="1"><span class="textBold">Experience</span> building and maintaining backend features with a focus on secure design, data handling, and production reliability.</li> <li value="2"><span class="textBold">Ability</span> to write production-quality code in <span class="textBold">Ruby on Rails</span>, including use of framework security patterns and review for common application risks.</li> <li value="3"><span class="textBold">Working knowledge</span> of <span class="textBold">CI/CD</span> concepts and the ways pipelines can be misconfigured, abused, or expose sensitive data.</li> <li value="4"><span class="textBold">Familiarity</span> with secrets management approaches and security practices for handling credentials in CI environments; experience with tools such as <span class="textBold">HashiCorp Vault</span> or similar systems is helpful.</li> <li value="5"><span class="textBold">Comfort</span> collaborating across Product and engineering teams in an asynchronous, distributed environment and communicating technical tradeoffs clearly in writing.</li> <li value="6"><span class="textBold">Ability</span> to review merge requests with a security-first mindset and improve solutions through feedback and iteration.</li> <li value="7"><span class="textBold">Experience</span> debugging production issues, including investigation of security-related behavior and proposing practical fixes.</li> <li value="8"><span class="textBold">Openness</span> to learning adjacent domains and tools, including <span class="textBold">Go</span>, container security, and software supply chain security; we welcome transferable experience from different technical backgrounds.</li> </ul> <h3>About the team</h3> <p>The Pipeline Security team builds features that make GitLab CI pipelines more secure and trustworthy for teams running sensitive workloads. We own key parts of pipeline security within GitLab's CI/CD experience, with our current focus on native secrets management for CI pipelines and <span class="textBold">Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA) Level 3</span> capabilities to strengthen software supply chain security. We work asynchronously across regions and collaborate closely with Product and security partners, using clear design discussions, documented decisions, and iterative delivery across <span class="textBold">Ruby on Rails</span> and <span class="textBold">Go</span>.</p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p><em>The base salary range for this role’s listed level is currently for residents of the&nbsp;United States only. This range is intended to reflect the role's base salary rate in locations throughout the US.&nbsp;Grade level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, alignment with market data,&nbsp;and geographic location.&nbsp;The base salary range does not include any bonuses, equity, or benefits. 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