An overview of this role

The Create: Code Creation team builds and maintains GitLab's AI-powered code development tools that help developers write, review, and understand code more effectively. Our team has successfully launched multiple foundational AI capabilities including Code Suggestions (AI-assisted code completions in multiple IDEs), Duo Code Review (automated AI-powered code review), and the Knowledge Graph (intelligent code indexing and context system). We're now expanding and deepening these capabilities across GitLab Duo's AI suite.

As a Staff Engineer, you'll provide technical leadership for sophisticated systems that power our AI-driven code creation features. You'll architect solutions that analyze codebases to provide relevant context to large language models, design systems that coordinate multiple AI agents and tools, and help shape the technical direction of GitLab's AI initiatives. You'll work across multiple services and technologies including our main Rails application, AI Gateway (Python), Knowledge Graph (Rust), and Language Server (TypeScript), ensuring our solutions maintain high performance and reliability for our global user base.

What You’ll Do

Architect and lead the implementation of complex AI-powered coding assistance systems spanning multiple services and technologies (Ruby/Rails, Python, Rust, TypeScript)
Drive technical strategy for AI coding tools including code suggestions, code review, and code generation capabilities
Design and build scalable, high-performance APIs and services that power IDE extensions and AI-assisted development workflows
Lead initiatives to improve the quality, relevance, and responsiveness of AI-generated code suggestions and reviews
Evaluate and integrate emerging AI/ML models and technologies to enhance our coding assistance capabilities
Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineers across the Code Creation team and collaborate with other teams
Influence product and engineering decisions by proposing thorough, iterative solutions to complex technical and architectural challenges
Drive innovation in AI-powered development tools, experimenting with new approaches to code suggestion, review, and generation
Collaborate with cross-functional teams across product, engineering, marketing, and more
Represent the team in technical discussions with customers and stakeholders about AI-powered development capabilities

What You’ll Bring

Significant professional experience with Ruby on Rails and Python, with a track record of building production systems at scale
Proven ability to architect and lead complex technical projects from concept to production across distributed systems
Strong experience with AI/ML technologies, including integration with large language models and understanding of prompt engineering
Deep expertise in performance optimization, particularly for systems handling high-volume API requests
Experience designing and building distributed systems with a focus on reliability, observability, and scalability
Strong background in database design and optimization for applications processing large datasets
Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions and influence engineering strategy across multiple teams
Experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical capabilities of a team
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for collaborating in a remote, globally distributed environment
Ability to work effectively across different technology stacks and quickly learn new languages and frameworks as needed

Nice-to-Haves

Experience with Rust and/or TypeScript
Background in developer tools, IDEs, or language servers
Experience with graph databases or knowledge graph systems
Prior work on AI agent systems or multi-agent architectures
Contributions to open source projects, particularly in the AI or developer tools space
Experience with code analysis tools, static analyzers, or abstract syntax trees

Staff Backend Engineer, Create: Code Creation (Ruby and Python)

Anywhere in the world

Remote

Senior

GitLab