Staff Backend Engineer, Architecture Engineering: Nonlinear Productivity

Experience building reliable agentic or large language model (LLM)-based systems, including multi-step orchestration, tool use, guardrails, and recovery.

Ability to work autonomously in unfamiliar codebases and drive solutions from discovery through completion.

Strong distributed systems and computer science fundamentals, including coordination, consistency, idempotency, rate limiting, failure modes, and degradation under load.

Proficiency in Go, Rust, or Python, with the ability to read and modify code in the others.

A track record of delivering results from unclear or incomplete requirements — able to take a complex, loosely specified problem and decompose it into a concrete proposal of small, shippable steps.

Experience designing evaluation frameworks for systems where "looks plausible" and "is actually correct" are different questions, and a track record of raising the quality bar for a team's output, not just your own.

A history of unblocking and enabling teammates — through design reviews, technical writing, or mentoring — and of engaging regularly with other teams to find where collaboration actually pays off.

Nonlinear Productivity — shortened internally to "NLP," with no relation to natural language processing — is one of GitLab's newest teams: a strategic incubation group that reports into AI Platform leadership under the direct sponsorship of the CTO. It's split into a US group (this role) and an India-based group working the same charter; the two sync on roadmap and tooling a few times a week but otherwise run day to day on their own. Solutions that prove out internally are the team's path to a monetized, customer-facing GitLab offering.

It's a good fit for engineers who want technical ownership of something with no existing playbook, and a hand in defining a brand-new part of GitLab from its first commit.

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.

Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being

Flexible Paid Time Off

Team Member Resource Groups

Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Growth and Development Fund

Parental Leave

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.

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