Forward Deployed Engineer - EMEA

About GitLab and the Role

GitLab is a comprehensive orchestration platform designed for DevSecOps, trusted by over 50 million users worldwide and a significant portion of Fortune 100 companies. The platform enhances developer efficiency, operational performance, and security compliance while speeding digital transformation initiatives. True to its product principles, GitLab fosters a culture where AI integration is fundamental, expecting team members to embed AI into everyday workflows to maximize productivity and innovation.

The Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team operates at the intersection of customer strategic needs, AI adoption, and GitLab product development. This team uniquely blends field engagement with the product engineering discipline, delivering high-impact solutions and firsthand contributions to the codebase targeted at resolving complicated customer challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Produce production-level code enhancements, including bug fixes, new features, integrations, tools, and performance upgrades aligned with priority customer needs.
• Adhere to GitLab’s established engineering protocols encompassing issue tracking, code review, testing, documentation, and maintainability standards.
• Collaborate closely with Product and Engineering teams ensuring customer-driven solutions integrate into product roadmaps rather than becoming isolated customizations.
• Transform field-identified obstacles into permanent product improvements, comprehensive reference architectures, documentation, and scalable implementation frameworks.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership with strategic customers at risk of adoption issues, retention challenges, or reputation concerns.
• Analyze multifaceted problems involving GitLab behaviors, customer environments, Git internals, CI/CD workflows, APIs, observability, infrastructure, and security constraints.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Support, SRE, Solutions Architecture, Customer Success, and Professional Services to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Leverage data and system traces to recommend enhancements for GitLab usage, automation workflows, and architectural designs.
• Lead AI adoption with strategic clients by mitigating governance, security, compliance, and workflow adoption barriers related to the GitLab Duo Agent Platform and agentic SDLC.
• Create reusable AI adoption patterns supporting AI-assisted development, intent-based code review, and human-in-the-loop software delivery.
• Author thought leadership content including whitepapers, webinars, reference architectures, and strategic memos to influence industry practices and internal company capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive experience at a Staff engineering level contributing to complex, production-grade software systems with high standards of testing, security, and maintainability.
• Proficiency in Ruby on Rails or Go with the capability to deliver impactful code directly within GitLab’s ecosystem.
• Experience with AI-assisted development workflows, agentic SDLC, AI governance frameworks, model evaluation techniques, and enterprise AI adoption challenges.
• Proven ability to diagnose systemic software and infrastructure problems spanning application code, data stores, networking, observability, and API usage.
• Deep expertise in modern DevSecOps practices including Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, security protocols, and compliance considerations.
• Track record of engaging with senior technical stakeholders and strategic customers to resolve ambiguous and complex technical barriers under pressing circumstances.
• Exceptional coordination and communication skills facilitating collaboration across engineering, product, and customer-facing teams without direct line authority.

Preferred Expertise

• Hands-on experience with GitLab platforms such as GitLab.com, Dedicated, or Self-Managed instances.
• Familiarity with Ruby on Rails, Go, PostgreSQL, Redis, Sidekiq, Vue.js, TypeScript, Kubernetes, Docker, Linux system internals, and observability technologies.
• In-depth understanding of Git internals, repository performance tuning, and GitLab Runner operations at scale.
• Background in producing technical thought leadership materials including whitepapers, architecture frameworks, and strategic engineering documents.
• Experience in performance, reliability, platform, infrastructure, or distributed systems engineering.
• Comfortable working within asynchronous, open-source engineering environments.

Technology Domains

• Ruby on Rails and Go programming languages
• Agentic software development lifecycle and AI-assisted coding
• Data management with PostgreSQL, caching with Redis and Sidekiq
• Git internals and GitLab Runner architecture
• Container orchestration with Kubernetes and Docker
• Infrastructure as Code using Terraform
• Linux systems, networking, observability, and system performance analysis
• Frontend technologies including Vue.js and TypeScript
• API development and automation
• DevSecOps practices encompassing security, governance, and compliance

What This Role Does Not Include

• This is not a conventional field engineering, solution architecture, or professional services position.
• It is not a prototype or proof-of-concept production role.
• It is distinct from customer success, support, product management, or engineering replacement functions.
• It does not serve as a mechanism for one-off client customizations or unbilled professional services.

Measures of Success

• Successful stabilization of critical customer adoption or retention risks.
• Delivery of product bug fixes and features that enhance the GitLab platform.
• Elimination of AI adoption blockers for key accounts and fostering reusable AI solutions.
• Development and handoff of scalable implementation patterns and well-architected frameworks.
• Creation and dissemination of influential technical narratives, whitepapers, and educational webinars.
• Resolve complex cross-departmental challenges without prolonged reliance on the Forward Deployed Engineering team.
• Enable broader teams—including Product, Engineering, Support, and Customer Success—to leverage field insights and solutions effectively.
• Increase adoption and maximize utility of GitLab’s Duo Agent Platform within strategic clients.

Team Overview

The Forward Deployed Engineering team bridges advanced technical expertise with direct customer engagement to tackle major adoption hurdles and deliver foundational improvements to GitLab’s offerings. The team emphasizes long-term impact and sustainable results by transitioning responsibilities to appropriate teams after resolution.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a seasoned Staff-level engineer comfortable navigating both customer-facing situations and internal product development. They must demonstrate strong technical troubleshooting skills, a capacity for writing production code, expertise in AI governance, and the ability to communicate technical concepts effectively across varied stakeholders.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

GitLab promotes an inclusive work environment committed to equal opportunity employment. The company encourages applicants from all backgrounds, including underrepresented groups, and welcomes candidates with varying levels of experience to apply.

Employee Benefits

• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellness support programs.
• Flexible paid time off policies.
• Employee resource groups promoting diversity and inclusion.
• Equity compensation and employee stock purchase plans.
• Fund for ongoing professional growth and development.
• Parental leave programs.