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An overview of this role
As a Backend Engineer on the Secret Detection team, you'll help protect sensitive data by building the services, scanning workflows, and remediation paths that prevent leaked secrets from reaching production. Your work will contribute to the full secret management lifecycle, from push protection to pipeline-based scanning, validation, and auditability, so developers can move quickly without taking on avoidable security risk. This is a strong opportunity if you want to work on security features with clear customer impact, improve detection quality, and help teams act when credentials, API keys, or other secrets are exposed.
You'll focus on backend systems that power Secret Detection across GitLab's DevSecOps platform, working closely with product management and engineering peers in an async-first environment. In your first year, you'll contribute to core product capabilities, improve performance and result quality, and help shape technical direction through code reviews, RFCs, and proof of concepts.
Some examples of our projects:
- Prevent secret leaks in source code with GitLab Secret Push Protection
- Verify validity of secret detection findings
What you’ll do
- Guide the design and implementation of backend features for GitLab Secret Detection in Ruby on Rails, GraphQL, and Go, delivering capabilities that improve coverage, reliability, or response time for secret detection workflows.
- Build clean, well-tested, maintainable code that meets GitLab standards for reliability and performance, helping reduce regressions and maintain backend systems at scale.
- Partner with product management and engineering peers to deliver backend capabilities that improve detection, validation, remediation, and audit trail coverage across the secret management lifecycle.
- Improve detection quality by reducing false positives, strengthening secret validation workflows, and enabling faster, more effective remediation paths.
- Contribute to code reviews, RFCs, and proof-of-concept work that guide technical approaches across the Secret Detection category.
- Identify technical debt and operational inefficiencies, then propose and implement practical improvements.
- Diagnose performance and optimization issues in backend systems and implement improvements that increase efficiency, scalability, and service reliability.
- Work effectively in a globally distributed, async-first team while participating in planning, engineering discussions, and pairing when needed.
What you’ll bring
- Experience building backend applications and services using Ruby on Rails, with working knowledge of GraphQL and interest in backend-focused product development.
- Experience designing and delivering secure, maintainable systems that power production web applications at scale.
- Knowledge of security concepts, common vulnerabilities, mitigation techniques, and secure coding practices.
- Background developing or working with security tools or products, especially in areas related to code scanning or secret detection.
- Experience investigating performance issues and improving backend reliability, efficiency, and maintainability.
- Ability to work closely with cross-functional partners, including product, design, and technical writing, to deliver useful product outcomes.
- Communicate clearly in writing and in conversation, especially in remote, async-first environments with distributed teams.
- Bring transferable experience and a willingness to grow into parts of the security or Go stack.
About the team
The Secret Detection team owns GitLab's Secret Detection category, and we build the backend systems and related user workflows that help developers identify and mitigate exposed secrets as code is contributed. We work with the broader security product suite while maintaining focused investment in secret scanning quality, validation, remediation, and developer experience. Our work spans Rails and Go services, and we work primarily asynchronously across time zones as a globally distributed team. Current opportunities include expanding coverage across the secret management lifecycle and improving result quality across the findings our tools detect. For more on how we work, see the Team Handbook page.
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.
United States Salary Range
$117,600—$252,000 USD
How GitLab Supports Full-Time Employees
- 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
- Home Office Support
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.
**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.
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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 and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.