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GitLab is seeking a Senior Backend Engineer to join the Authentication team and help build the next generation of authentication services. You will work on GATE, GitLab's new service for issuing and validating tokens and managing identities across all deployment models (SaaS, Self-Managed, Dedicated, and air-gapped environments).
Key responsibilities include:
- Shape the roadmap for GATE and GitLab's authentication services alongside the team
- Design and implement token issuance, validation, and identity services in Go and Ruby across the Rails monolith and GATE
- Build new authentication mechanisms such as Workload Identity Federation
- Migrate authentication and token management paths from the monolith into GATE while maintaining reliability across all deployment models
- Strengthen security through access management tooling and vulnerability remediation via the HackerOne program
- Define and improve engineering standards for style, maintainability, and practices in a high-scale environment
- Communicate publicly about GitLab initiatives and contributions
- Ship moderately sized features with moderate guidance and collaborate on larger projects
- Participate in the maintainer trainee program at your own pace
Key projects include building GATE as the centralized token service, consolidating tokens and migrating authentication paths, building passkeys and passwordless authentication, developing composite identities for AI agents, improving service accounts and secure automation, and enhancing SAML, LDAP, OIDC, and SCIM capabilities.
Requirements:
- Professional experience with Go and/or Ruby in scaling or mission-critical SaaS products
- Familiarity with authentication and authorization technologies such as OAuth, OIDC, SAML, SSO, SCIM, LDAP, JWTs, RBAC, or IAM
- Knowledge of token systems, cryptographic signing, and key management
- Experience building or contributing to a service from concept to production, including proposal, discussion, and execution
- Proficiency in written and verbal English with ability to communicate complex problems and solutions clearly in a remote, asynchronous environment
- Experience diagnosing, preventing, and resolving performance and optimization problems
- Experience working in iterative software development processes, managing work effectively, staying organized, and following through on priorities
