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Senior Site Reliability Engineer Database Operations

GitLab

RemoteRemote

Original Job Summary

Overview

GitLab is an open-core software company offering a comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform that empowers teams worldwide to co-create and innovate. As a Senior Site Reliability Engineer Database Operations, you will join the Database Operations team and take full ownership of PostgreSQL—the backbone of GitLab.com—ensuring reliability, performance, and scalability at massive scale.

Key Responsibilities

  • Automate operational tasks across environments to minimize manual intervention.
  • Build and evolve the observability stack for PostgreSQL.
  • Respond to production incidents and debug complex database issues.
  • Plan and execute database infrastructure growth and capacity expansion.
  • Develop self-service automation tools for engineering teams.
  • Document operational actions for repeatable, automated processes.

What You’ll Bring

  • Experience as an SRE with a focus on database operations.
  • Proven expertise running PostgreSQL at scale.
  • Proficiency with infrastructure automation tools (Terraform, Chef, Ansible, etc.).
  • Strong SQL and PL/pgSQL skills including data modeling.
  • Background in large-scale distributed SaaS environments.
  • A proactive mindset and commitment to collaboration.

About the Team

The team is dedicated to managing the lifecycle of GitLab.com’s PostgreSQL infrastructure. You will work in a remote, asynchronous environment, collaborating on automation, incident response, and capacity planning for one of the largest open source SaaS sites.

Benefits

  • Flexible Paid Time Off
  • Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
  • Growth and Development Fund
  • Parental Leave
  • Home Office Support

Key skills/competency

  • PostgreSQL
  • SRE
  • Automation
  • Terraform
  • Ansible
  • Observability
  • Incident Response
  • Distributed Systems
  • Database Operations
  • DevSecOps

How to Get Hired at GitLab

🎯 Tips for Getting Hired

  • Customize your resume: Highlight PostgreSQL and automation experience.
  • Showcase SRE skills: Emphasize incident management and reliability.
  • Research GitLab: Understand their AI-powered DevSecOps platform.
  • Prepare for interviews: Practice incident response and automation scenarios.

📝 Interview Preparation Advice

Technical Preparation

Practice PostgreSQL tuning and replication strategies.
Review Terraform, Chef, and Ansible automation.
Study observability stack implementation basics.
Refresh scripting skills in SQL and PL/pgSQL.

Behavioral Questions

Describe a challenging production incident you managed.
Explain how you prioritize automation tasks.
Share an instance of effective cross-team collaboration.
Discuss a time for proactive problem solving.