Director of Engineering, Database Excellence

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Work arrangement: Not specified
Location: Canada
Salary: Not specified
Apply by: Not specified
Employment type: Full-time
Experience: Not specified

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About This Role

GitLab operates an intelligent orchestration platform designed for DevSecOps, aiding organizations in boosting developer productivity, enhancing operational efficiency, minimizing security and compliance risks, and accelerating digital transformation. The company is currently hiring a full-time Director of Engineering, Database Excellence to guide the database platform and report directly to the Vice President of Data Engineering within the engineering division. In this leadership position, the individual will establish long-range plans and direction…

Job Description

GitLab operates an intelligent orchestration platform designed for DevSecOps, aiding organizations in boosting developer productivity, enhancing operational efficiency, minimizing security and compliance risks, and accelerating digital transformation. The company is currently hiring a full-time Director of Engineering, Database Excellence to guide the database platform and report directly to the Vice President of Data Engineering within the engineering division.

In this leadership position, the individual will establish long-range plans and direction for databases supporting self-managed GitLab, GitLab Dedicated, and GitLab.com. The role requires accountability for database availability and capacity on GitLab.com, primarily focusing on PostgreSQL alongside object storage, Redis, ClickHouse, and OpenSearch. The successful candidate will lead three engineering managers, coach staff-plus engineers, manage department budgets alongside FinOps, and direct technical choices across divisions.

Ideal candidates bring extensive hands-on experience with large-scale PostgreSQL environments, site reliability engineering practices, and background leading globally distributed remote teams. The Database Excellence stage includes teams focused on database architecture, database automation, and self-managed databases distributed across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. GitLab embraces AI as a daily productivity multiplier across its high-performance culture.

Responsibilities

Establish long-range plans and strategic direction for the database platform in alignment with company goals.
Take ownership of database availability and capacity outcomes for GitLab.com while communicating platform risks to senior leadership.
Lead, coach, and manage three engineering managers while developing staff-plus level engineers.
Drive cross-divisional technical decisions using data in collaboration with product, infrastructure, security, distribution, support, and FinOps.
Partner with product teams to prioritize database platform investments and balance infrastructure tradeoffs.
Oversee hiring plans, organizational design, retention, and performance management for regional teams.
Set quarterly objectives, key results, and engineering key performance indicators while managing the database infrastructure budget.
Act as an escalation point for database incidents, standardize efficient processes, and maintain documentation in the company handbook.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience leading managers of managers, including mentoring newer managers.
Hands-on operational experience with large-scale PostgreSQL including performance, capacity planning, upgrades, replication, and large production clusters.
Track record of using data to guide strategic technical decisions and connecting platform investments to product results.
Experience supporting customer-managed software or navigating self-managed upgrade challenges.
Background leading backend engineering teams responsible for production infrastructure using site reliability engineering principles.
Proficiency in clear written communication suited for an asynchronous, handbook-first organization.
Experience managing globally distributed remote teams.

Qualifications

Experience working with Redis
Experience working with ClickHouse
Experience working with OpenSearch
Experience with object storage
Experience using Google Cloud Platform
Experience with Kubernetes
Experience with Terraform
Experience with Chef
Experience with managed database services
Background in FinOps
Familiarity with AI-assisted engineering workflows
Background in platform and infrastructure organizations

Core Skills

SQL PostgreSQL Kubernetes Git Leadership Excel Sales Recruitment

Benefits

Flexible paid time off
Team member resource groups
Equity compensation and employee stock purchase plan
Growth and development fund
Parental leave

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.

What is the employment type for this role?

This is a full-time position.

Is this position remote?

Yes, GitLab hires new team members globally and all roles are remote, though certain positions may carry specific location-based eligibility guidelines.

What is the salary range for this position?

The base salary range listed for United States residents is $230,400 to $345,600 USD, determined through interviews, education, experience, and market alignment.

Where is the job located?

The specific location is not stated, although the posting notes that teams operate across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India.