--- title: 'Senior Backend Engineer, AI Engineering: Chat at GitLab' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-backend-engineer-ai-engineering-chat-gitlab-canada-united-kingdom-k4gfnxaj1t82' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-14' --- # Senior Backend Engineer, AI Engineering: Chat at GitLab - **Company:** GitLab - **Location:** Canada / United Kingdom - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-07-20 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-14 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gitlab/jobs/8621733002 ## Job description GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100* trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster. 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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuZIb5zszQI) as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software. *Fortune 500® is a registered trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, used under license. Claim based on GitLab data. Fortune 100 refers to the top 20% ranked companies in the 2025 Fortune 500 list, published in June 2025. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of GitLab. An overview of this role As a Senior Backend Engineer on the Duo Chat team, focused on Chat Engine, you'll build the core AI capabilities behind GitLab Duo Chat, the natural-language and agentic interface to the GitLab DevSecOps platform. Much of your work will involve building flow components and agentic flows in the Flow Registry, the Python framework built on LangGraph within our Duo Workflow Service that powers agentic chat, and integrating them with the GitLab Rails monolith. You'll own complex backend features from start to finish across both services. You'll integrate large language models and orchestrate multi-agent flows so customers can work faster and more securely across the software development lifecycle. This work sits where GitLab's core platform meets its AI strategy, and reliability, performance, and answer quality directly shape the customer experience. ## What you’ll do - Design and build flow components and agentic flows in the Flow Registry using Python and LangGraph within the Duo Workflow Service. These reusable building blocks power agentic Duo Chat and, increasingly, other AI features across GitLab. - Develop, ship, and maintain backend features for GitLab Duo Chat across the Python Duo Workflow Service and the GitLab Rails monolith in a secure, well-tested, and performant way. - Integrate new generative AI models, providers, tools, and multi-agent orchestration patterns into Duo Chat to expand its capabilities and improve answer quality. - Design, implement, and review GraphQL and Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interfaces (APIs) and related monolith logic, including chat entry points, permissions, and foundational-flow registration. Keep contracts with frontend clients and host systems reliable and clear. - Improve debugging, observability, and test coverage using pytest, RSpec, and related frameworks; track and improve latency, error rates, and test coverage so AI-powered chat workflows stay reliable at scale. - Collaborate with Product, User Experience (UX), frontend, and AI specialists to refine requirements and deliver high-quality improvements through iteration. - Document standards, patterns, and learnings with other engineers, raising the bar for safe AI integration and evidence-driven engineering. - Participate in Tier 2 on-call rotations to troubleshoot production issues, contribute to root cause analysis, and strengthen resiliency. ## What you’ll bring - Significant experience building and maintaining production Python backends, including APIs, data models, and asynchronous or long-running workloads. - Practical experience designing and shipping AI-powered, agentic backend features, including large language model integration, tool or function calling, and multi-agent orchestration. You use sound judgment about large language model limitations and safe use in production. - Working proficiency in Ruby on Rails, or a strong willingness to learn it. Duo Chat integrates deeply with the GitLab monolith for chat entry points, GraphQL, permissions, and flow registration, and most of GitLab's codebase is written in Ruby. - Proficiency designing or extending REST or GraphQL APIs with attention to scalability, maintainability, and backward compatibility. - Strong Structured Query Language (SQL) skills and familiarity with relational databases such as PostgreSQL, including efficient queries and data modeling. - Ability to find, diagnose, and prevent performance and reliability problems at scale. - Experience solving technical problems of high scope and complexity and advocating for quality, security, and performance improvements across your team. - Openness to learning and collaborating in an async-first, distributed team, applying transferable skills from related technologies or domains. Hands-on experience with agent frameworks such as LangGraph or LangChain is a strong plus. ## About the team We're part of GitLab's AI Engineering organization and own the AI-powered chat experience embedded across the GitLab platform. Chat Engine is the backend-focused team within the Duo Chat group. We're backend, frontend, and AI specialists working asynchronously across time zones, using issues, merge requests, and documentation as our main collaboration tools. Our focus is to expand generative and agentic AI capabilities, improve the performance and reliability of chat workflows, and strengthen the debugging and testing foundations that let us run AI features safely at scale. For more on how we work, see the [team handbook](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ai/duo-chat/) page. Remote-Global How GitLab Supports Full-Time Employees - [Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/benefits/general-and-entity-benefits/) - [Flexible Paid Time Off](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/time-off-and-absence/time-off-types/#flexible-paid-time-off-pto) - [Team Member Resource Groups](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/company/culture/inclusion/tmrg-tmag/) - [Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/stock-options/) - [Growth and Development Fund](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/learning-and-development/growth-and-development/) - [Parental Leave](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/benefits/general-and-entity-benefits/#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](https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/inclusion/#examples-of-select-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.](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/hiring/candidate-faq/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](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-policies/inc-usa/#equal-employment-opportunity-policy) and [EEO is the Law](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/labor-and-employment-notices/#eeoc-us-equal-employment-opportunity-commission-notices). If you have a disability or special need that requires [accommodation](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-policies/inc-usa/#reasonable-accommodation), please let us know during the [recruiting process](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/hiring/interviewing/#adjustments-to-our-interview-process). ## About GitLab ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: GitLab provides an intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps, enabling teams and AI agents to plan, build, secure, and deploy software faster. - **Entity Type**: Public (NASDAQ: GTLB) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, CA, USA - **Founded**: 2011 - **Founders**: Not explicitly listed in provided materials ## Core Business - Primary industry: DevSecOps, Software Development Lifecycle Platform - Target customers: Enterprise, SMB, B2B – used by over 100,000 organizations including large enterprises - Mission / Purpose: "Unlock every team to ship trusted software at the speed of imagination" ## Products & Services - **[GitLab Platform](https://about.gitlab.com/company/)**: Integrated DevSecOps/DevOps platform (SaaS and self-managed) covering source code management, CI/CD, security scanning, monitoring, and AI-powered features (e.g., Duo Agent). - **GitLab Duo**: AI-powered suite of tools for code generation, review, and automation across the software lifecycle. ## Market Standing - **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed in provided materials (public company – refer to NASDAQ: GTLB) - **Key Metrics**: Over 50 million registered users, 2,500+ team members, 5,500+ code contributors, 2,500+ consecutive monthly releases (as of June 2026) - **Notable Investors / Partners**: Public company; prior investors include Y Combinator (2015 cohort). Detailed list not provided. - **Growth Signals**: 100,000+ organizations use GitLab; continuous monthly releases since 2011; expanding AI capabilities (Duo Agent); certification as Great Place to Work (US & India, 2026–2027) ## Competitive Advantages - **All-in-one DevSecOps platform** that replaces multiple point tools, reducing complexity and toolchain friction. - **Strong open-source heritage** and community-driven innovation (5,500+ contributors). - **AI-first approach** with built-in agents for code generation, review, and security. - **Culture of transparency** – handbook-first, public-by-default documentation that scales remote work. ## Strategic Focus - **AI-powered software creation**: Deep integration of AI agents (Duo Agent) to accelerate development while maintaining security and compliance. - **Enterprise adoption**: Scaling to meet the needs of large, regulated organizations with compliance and security features. - **Remote-first operations**: Continuing to build and improve asynchronous, all-remote work culture as a competitive advantage. ## Why Work Here - **Fully remote**: 100% remote company from the start – work from anywhere; asynchronous and flexible schedules. - **Awards & recognition**: Great Place to Work Certified (US & India 2026–2027); BuiltIn Best Remote Places to Work 2026; Fortune Best Workplaces in Technology 2025. - **Benefits**: Equity compensation, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, generous paid time off, annual growth & development benefit, access to LinkedIn Learning and leadership programs. - **Inclusive culture**: Multiple Team Member Resource Groups, strong Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) commitment. - **Learning & development**: Industry-leading leadership programs and platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Level Up. ## Sources 1. [about.gitlab.com](https://about.gitlab.com/jobs/) 2. [about.gitlab.com/company](https://about.gitlab.com/company/) 3. [handbook.gitlab.com](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/employment-branding/content-library/) 4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/gitlab/jobs/8481958002) 5. 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