R&D PMO
Mission and Vision
This is in progress and will be finalized at the upcoming R&D PMO offsite in Q2.
Core Responsibilities
More information can be found in the R&D TPM Job Family.
Team Structure
The Program Management Org (PMO) is a cross-functional team that is based within the Engineering org. Our scope of work primarily spans across Engineering, Product, and Security, with some cross over into GTM. While individual TPMs have their own focus areas, we regularly align as a team to ensure we have common practices and standards.
Project Assignments
We aim to ensure that TPMs are working in similar ways across different areas of the company. Ideally we want our stakeholders to have a common understanding of how TPMs engage with their programs, without having to know the details of how each team works. Here is a bit more information about how we assign projects across the PMO.
| Product Focus Area | Engineering Focus Area | Security Focus Area | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area of Domain Expertise (primarily focused on) | End to end feature delivery and launches (primarily cross-functional feature development), Monetization strategy and execution, Customer engagement programs that inform our roadmap (CAB, etc) | Large scale eng-led programs that focus on scalability, quality, and resilience, Dedicated reliability and migration, Bug triage / management | Large scale programs that focus on addressing security vulnerabilities, improving security posture, Compliance related efforts |
| Likely connected to the following cross-org areas: | Product, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, CS, Security | Product, CS, Security | Engineering, Security, Legal |
| Requirements | Generally requires prior experience in a technical company, with an understanding of technical and business needs. This can vary depending on the focus area of an individual TPM. | Generally requires an engineering degree or prior experience in a technical role. This can vary depending on the focus area of an individual TPM. | Generally requires prior experience in a technical company, with understanding of security and compliance domains. This can vary depending on the focus area of an individual TPM. |
Core responsibilities are the same by TPM level across both teams. Job-specific responsibilities vary by the focus area of an individual TPM. More info on TPM leveling and associated responsibilities can be found on the job family page.
Communication
Our team is (as of this writing) distributed across the United States and EMEA. Individual team members define their working hours according to their personal preferences and their projects’ needs. We are looking to expand our team’s time zone coverage within EMEA.
Generally, our team will default to async communication in alignment with GitLab values. When it is needed, we will pull team members into a call or meeting to ensure we are working effectively and efficiently if needed. Cross-functional initiatives typically need more sync time. If you are part of a core project team, we will likely find recurring meeting time to drive execution for the length of the project.
Requesting TPM Support
In order to request TPM coverage, please open an issue using this template. Details on this process can be found in our TPM Epic. Work that can benefit from program management support is typically complex, cross-functional, and critical to the business. We determine if a project is a good match for TPM support with the TPM Coverage Calculator (internal only link). The calculator is currently being revised to incorporate security projects.
Incoming project requests will be routed to the right TPM based on resource availability, TPM specialties, and project goals.
Please don’t directly DM individual members of the TPM team to ask for their support on a project. This can seem like a fast way to get support, but it doesn’t allow for proper resource allocation across the PMO. Filing an issue ensures that you are connected with a program manager who is a good fit for your project and has bandwidth to take on something new.
If you’d like to contact the team for general questions or advice, please reach out over slack in #r-and-d-pmo.
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