At a Glance
- Tasks: Code new features and enhance operational systems for a leading open-source platform.
- Company: Join Grafana Labs, a remote-first tech powerhouse with a global collaborative culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, RSUs, modern AI tools, and a focus on developer productivity.
- Other info: Dynamic remote work environment with opportunities for mentorship and career growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on observability solutions used by millions worldwide.
- Qualifications: Strong coding skills, SaaS experience, and excellent communication abilities.
Grafana Labs is a remote-first, open-source powerhouse. There are more than 20M users of Grafana, the open source visualization tool, around the globe, monitoring everything from beehives to climate change in the Alps. The instantly recognizable dashboards have been spotted everywhere from a NASA launch and Minecraft HQ to Wimbledon and the Tour de France. Grafana Labs also helps more than 3,000 companies manage their observability strategies with the Grafana LGTM Stack, which can be run fully managed with Grafana Cloud or self-managed with the Grafana Enterprise Stack, both featuring scalable metrics (Grafana Mimir), logs (Grafana Loki), and traces (Grafana Tempo).
We’re scaling fast and staying true to what makes us different: an open-source legacy, a global collaborative culture, and a passion for meaningful work. Our team thrives in an innovation-driven environment where transparency, autonomy, and trust fuel everything we do. You may not meet every requirement, and that’s okay. If this role excites you, we’d love you to raise your hand for what could be a truly career-defining opportunity. This is a remote position. We are looking for candidates in the UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Ireland only.
The Opportunity: As our Cloud / Grafana-as-a-service business continues to grow, we've started to change Grafana's core architecture to be fully multi-tenant and scalable, as well as a solid platform for our opinionated Cloud apps. We're looking for someone with a lot of experience with SaaS platforms at scale. We are turning Grafana into a proper observability app platform where OSS and proprietary apps can directly tap into dashboards, alerts, incidents, and telemetry and deliver even more integrated experiences. To get there, we need to refactor a big part of Grafana so that it’s simpler and standardized. Planning and rolling out changes safely to avoid service disruptions is crucial; we are looking for someone who is excited about this sort of work.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Coding new features, enhancing the operational experience of the systems you develop, and iteratively improving them based on production insights.
- Authoring, contributing to and reviewing design documents.
- Taking an active role in shaping the roadmap.
- Mentoring and supporting other team members and collaborating with different teams across the organization.
- Owning the experience of our customers by participating in weekday 12h x 5d and a separate weekend 24h x 2d on-call rotations.
We invest heavily in developer productivity. You can use modern AI coding assistants as part of your daily workflow (your choice of tools, within security guidelines), backed by a company-funded usage budget so you can iterate quickly without unnecessary friction. We encourage pragmatic AI-assisted development: faster prototyping, test generation, refactors, documentation, and incident follow-ups—always paired with strong code review and quality standards. You’ll also have access to frontier models (e.g., GPT-Codex 5/3, Claude Opus 4.7, Gemini 3 Pro).
What Makes You a Great Fit:
- You have strong coding skills and operational experience; you were responsible for operating the software you have built.
- You have worked on a SaaS platform and dealt with common distributed systems problems (e.g. scalability, multi-tenancy, data isolation, HA).
- You have excellent communication skills. You can express your ideas with great clarity in writing and during meetings.
- You know when to pick which mode of communication.
- You are willing to work across teams. Your work has to be aligned with the needs of other squads and external stakeholders.
- You make your plans transparent, bring stakeholders on board, and are open to feedback and suggestions.
- You are pragmatic; you prioritize progress over perfection; you can handle ambiguity.
- We are using Golang on the backend; you are either already familiar with Golang or are excited to learn the language.
In the UK, the compensation range for this role is £103,958 - £124,750. Actual compensation may vary based on level, experience, and skillset as assessed throughout the interview process. All of our roles include Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), giving every team member ownership in Grafana Labs' success. We believe in shared outcomes—RSUs help us stay aligned and invested as we scale globally.
Remote Staff Backend Engineer - Grafana App Platform | UK | Remote in Bournemouth employer: Grafana Labs
Grafana Labs is an exceptional employer that champions a remote-first, open-source culture, fostering innovation and collaboration among its diverse team. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, you will have access to cutting-edge tools and resources, including AI coding assistants, to enhance your productivity and creativity. The company also offers competitive compensation packages, including Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), ensuring that every team member shares in the success of Grafana Labs as we continue to scale globally.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Remote Staff Backend Engineer - Grafana App Platform | UK | Remote in Bournemouth
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in the industry, especially those at Grafana Labs. A friendly chat can open doors and give you insights that a job description just can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! If you've got a GitHub or portfolio, make sure it's up to date. Share projects that highlight your experience with SaaS platforms and coding—this is your chance to shine!
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for the interview by diving deep into Grafana's products. Understand their architecture and be ready to discuss how you can contribute to their mission of creating an amazing observability app platform.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows you're genuinely interested in joining the Grafana Labs team. Don’t miss out!
We think you need these skills to ace Remote Staff Backend Engineer - Grafana App Platform | UK | Remote in Bournemouth
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion:When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for the role shine through! We love candidates who are genuinely excited about what we do at Grafana Labs and how they can contribute to our mission.
Tailor Your CV:Make sure to customise your CV to highlight relevant experience that aligns with the job description. We want to see how your skills and background make you a perfect fit for the Backend Engineer role!
Be Clear and Concise:In your written application, clarity is key. Use straightforward language and avoid jargon where possible. We appreciate candidates who can communicate their ideas effectively and succinctly.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity at Grafana Labs!
How to prepare for a job interview at Grafana Labs
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your coding skills, especially in Golang, as it's a key part of the backend. Familiarise yourself with SaaS platforms and distributed systems problems like scalability and multi-tenancy. Being able to discuss these topics confidently will show that you're ready for the challenges ahead.
✨Show Your Collaborative Spirit
Grafana Labs values teamwork, so be prepared to talk about your experiences working across different teams. Share examples of how you've communicated effectively and brought stakeholders on board with your plans. This will demonstrate that you can thrive in their collaborative culture.
✨Be Pragmatic and Open to Feedback
During the interview, highlight your ability to prioritise progress over perfection. Discuss times when you've handled ambiguity and adapted to changing requirements. Showing that you're open to feedback and willing to iterate will resonate well with their innovation-driven environment.
✨Prepare Questions That Matter
Think of insightful questions to ask your interviewers about Grafana's future direction, the team dynamics, or the technologies they use. This not only shows your genuine interest in the role but also gives you a chance to assess if the company aligns with your career goals.