Staff Backend Engineer - Database Change Management

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Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab.</em></p></div><p><strong>Staff Backend Engineer - Database Change Management<br><br></strong>An overview of this role<br><br>As a Senior Backend Engineer, Database Upgrades, you'll help replace GitLab's sequential database migration system with a dependency graph model that makes upgrades faster and safer for GitLab.com and self-managed customers. You'll lead the design and delivery of a migration validation and test framework, including versioned fixture data across about 1,000 tables, a continuous integration (CI)-integrated test runner, and required correctness checks. You'll also serve as the senior technical anchor for our India-based engineering group, using clear written decisions to influence a team working across India, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. The manager for this role is based on the US West Coast.</p> <p>We're open to hiring this role at Staff level for a candidate whose experience matches that scope. At Staff level, you'll also own architecture decisions for the migration system and lead design work across teams.</p> <h2>What you’ll do</h2> <ul> <li value="1">Lead the design and delivery of the migration validation and test framework from initial approach through production use.</li> <li value="2">Contribute to a dependency graph migration system that supports safe ordering, parallel execution, and three-phase, low-downtime upgrades.</li> <li value="3">Mentor intermediate engineers through pairing, code review, and design feedback.</li> <li value="4">Make and document technical decisions asynchronously so team members can build on them across time zones.</li> <li value="5">Review schema migrations from engineers across GitLab for safety, backward compatibility, and reliability.</li> <li value="6">Collaborate with Distribution, Quality Assurance, Database Architecture, Database Automation, and database framework teams to support GitLab.com and self-managed deployment methods.</li> <li value="7">At Staff level, author and defend architecture proposals and represent the team in technical reviews across GitLab.</li> </ul> <h2>What you’ll bring</h2> <ul> <li value="1">Deep experience with Ruby on Rails in large production codebases, including Active Record migration internals, or comparable depth in another framework's migration system, such as Django or Ecto.</li> <li value="2">Production PostgreSQL experience, including schema changes on large tables, locking behavior, and data definition language failure modes under load.</li> <li value="3">A track record of leading delivery of a system from design through implementation and adoption.</li> <li value="4">Experience mentoring engineers through pairing, code review, and technical feedback.</li> <li value="5">Strong written communication and the ability to make progress independently in an asynchronous, distributed environment.</li> <li value="6">Sound judgment when balancing reliability, safety, backward compatibility, and delivery needs.</li> <li value="7">An interest in serving as a senior technical presence for an India-based engineering group while collaborating across regions.</li> </ul> <h2>About the team</h2> <p>We’re working on the largest change to GitLab's migration system in its history, with a focus on making upgrades safer and easier for customers, including the roughly one-third of self-managed customers who are two or more required upgrade stops behind.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong> </strong></p><div class="content-conclusion"><h4><strong>How GitLab Supports Full-Time Employees</strong></h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/benefits/general-and-entity-benefits/">Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being</a></li> <li><a href="https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/time-off-and-absence/time-off-types/#flexible-paid-time-off-pto">Flexible Paid Time Off </a></li> <li><a href="https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/company/culture/inclusion/tmrg-tmag/">Team Member Resource Groups</a></li> <li><a href="https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/stock-options/">Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan</a></li> <li><a href="https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/learning-and-development/growth-and-development/">Growth and Development Fund</a></li> <li><a href="https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/benefits/general-and-entity-benefits/#parental-leave">Parental Leave</a> </li> </ul> <p>Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. 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