Senior Backend Engineer (Python), AI Engineering: Agent Foundations

Remote, EMEA

GitLab is an open-core software company that develops the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform, used by more than 100,000 organizations. Our mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers our world. When everyone can contribute, consumers become contributors, significantly accelerating human progress. Our platform unites teams and organizations, breaking down barriers and redefining what's possible in software development. Thanks to products like Duo Enterprise and Duo Agent Platform, customers get AI benefits at every stage of the SDLC. 

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 values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. Co-create the future with us as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software.

An overview of this role

As a Senior Backend Engineer on the AI Engineering: Agent Foundations group, you’ll build and evolve the core Python service that powers GitLab’s Duo Agent Platform. You’ll design and run the platform that hosts and coordinates AI agents and flows, enabling both GitLab teams and customers to automate development tasks and improve productivity across their workflows. You’ll lead efforts to apply modern Python web development practices, orchestrate communication between services via gRPC, and contribute directly to agentic AI capabilities and interactions with the latest large language models. In a company where Ruby is the primary language, you’ll be the go-to Python expert. You’ll set standards, mentor others, and shape technical and product decisions that define how AI is integrated into GitLab’s DevSecOps platform.

Some examples of our projects:

What you’ll do

  • Lead the design and development of a highly scalable Python web service that hosts and coordinates AI agents using frameworks such as FastAPI or Starlette and gRPC.
  • Develop and evolve integrations with the latest large language models, including prompt design and agentic behavior orchestration within the Duo Agent Platform.
  • Build and maintain robust testing infrastructure to validate agent behaviors and ensure reliability, observability, and scalability across distributed systems.
  • Drive adoption of modern Python backend best practices, setting standards for code quality, performance optimization, and security across the service.
  • Provide technical mentorship and guidance to engineers across the AI Engineering and Code Creation teams, raising the overall technical bar.
  • Influence product and architecture decisions by proposing iterative solutions to complex technical challenges in multi-service environments.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams in product, engineering, marketing, and more to shape AI-powered development capabilities and customer-facing experiences.
  • Participate in Tier 2 and Tier 3 on-call rotations to troubleshoot production, security, and urgent engineering issues in a globally distributed environment.

What you’ll bring

  • Deep experience building and operating Python web services in a multi service environment using frameworks such as FastAPI or Starlette.
  • Proven track record designing and leading complex, distributed backend systems with a focus on reliability, observability, scalability, and performance for high volume APIs.
  • Hands on experience integrating AI and machine learning capabilities into products, including work with large language models and prompt design.
  • Ability to architect and evolve gRPC based service interactions and collaborate effectively with teams working in other languages and stacks.
  • Experience mentoring other engineers, providing technical guidance, and influencing engineering strategy across multiple teams.
  • Comfortable representing engineering decisions and AI powered capabilities in discussions with product partners, customers, and other stakeholders.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills for working asynchronously in a remote, globally distributed team.
  • Openness to learning new technologies and applying transferable skills, including experience in languages such as Go, Typescript, Ruby, or IDE extension development as a plus.

About the team

The Agent Foundations group sits within GitLab’s AI Engineering organization and is responsible for building the Duo Agent Platform, which provides the core services, agents, and flows that power AI-driven development experiences across GitLab. We are distributed across multiple regions and time zones, collaborating asynchronously through GitLab issues, merge requests, and written proposals to design, implement, and operate a highly scalable Python and gRPC-based platform. We partner closely with other GitLab AI teams and product groups to ensure that agentic capabilities can become the backbone for many current and future AI features, while tackling challenges such as reliable orchestration of agents, robust observability, and safe, testable AI behavior.

How GitLab will support you

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.  

Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us.

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.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in GitLab’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.