Engineering Manager - Database Reliability, Scalability & Operations

An overview of this role

As an Engineering Manager for our Database Reliability Scale & Operations team you’ll build and lead the group that owns GitLab.com’s PostgreSQL backbone. You’ll shape our database strategy and architecture guide data store selection for different use cases and drive operational excellence so our customers experience a fast always available platform as we continue to grow. Your work will span technical leadership and people management. You’ll hire and coach exceptional engineers set clear and measurable objectives and act as a force multiplier by enforcing healthy database practices and helping the team move from reactive firefighting to proactive planning. You’ll collaborate closely with Platform/Infrastructure Product Development and Support teams serve as the escalation point for Tier-2 on-call and ensure lessons from running PostgreSQL at scale feed back into how GitLab builds and operates its product.

Some examples of our projects:

• Scaling PostgreSQL horizontally and vertically to support GitLab.com growth

• Improving performance capacity compliance and availability of our database infrastructure

What you’ll do

• Lead the Database Reliability Scale & Operations team to ensure availability security scalability and operational excellence for GitLab.com

• Define and drive database strategy including data store selection for different use cases and cost optimization across environments

• Build coach and retain a high-performing distributed engineering team creating an environment where team members can thrive and deliver results

• Set clear objectives establish healthy database practices and hold the team accountable while acting as a force multiplier for their impact

• Collaborate with Platform Infrastructure Product Development and Support teams to influence and advocate for sound database decisions across GitLab

• Serve as the escalation point for the team’s Tier-2 on-call process to help GitLab.com meet availability and reliability goals

• Lead agile projects focused on PostgreSQL reliability performance capacity management and scaling initiatives in an asynchronous remote-first environment

• Translate complex database and distributed systems topics into clear actionable language for technical and non-technical stakeholders

What you’ll bring

• Experience leading distributed engineering teams responsible for reliability scale and operations in a production environment

• Background in hiring coaching and developing engineers with a focus on building healthy team culture and sustainable on-call practices

• Applied experience designing and operating database systems at scale including PostgreSQL and distributed data stores with attention to performance availability and security

• Ability to define database strategy including data store selection and cost-conscious architectural decisions in collaboration with product and platform stakeholders

• Practice setting clear measurable objectives establishing operational best practices and holding teams accountable while remaining open to feedback and iteration

• Skill in collaborating across infrastructure platform product and support teams to drive shared outcomes and resolve complex technical issues

• Strong written and verbal communication skills to explain database decisions and risks to leadership and non-technical partners

• Openness to candidates with diverse backgrounds and transferable skills relevant to database reliability large-scale systems and technical people management

About the team

At GitLab our Database Reliability Scale & Operations team is responsible for building running and owning the full lifecycle of the PostgreSQL database engine that powers GitLab.com. We focus on reliability scalability performance and security of the database and its supporting services and we develop patterns and frameworks that guide how GitLab grows and scales its database infrastructure for both SaaS and self-managed customers. We work asynchronously across regions using engineering principles and production learnings to inform our decisions and to feed improvements back into Product Development and Support. We partner closely with Support when self-managed customers encounter complex database issues and continuously look for ways to move from reactive problem-solving to proactive capacity planning compliance alignment and resilience engineering.

The base salary range for this role’s listed level is currently for residents of the United States only. This range is intended to reflect the role's base salary rate in locations throughout the US. 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 and geographic location. The base salary range does not include any bonuses equity or benefits. See more information on our benefits and equity . Sales roles are also eligible for incentive pay targeted at up to 100% of the offered base salary.

United States Salary Range

$131600—$282000 USD