Strategy and Operations

The Strategy and Operations team are GitLab’s internal strategy consultants who move from problem to problem in different functional areas.

The Strategy and Operations team are GitLab’s internal strategy consultants who move from problem to problem in different functional areas. This team also plays an operational role in helping to support key initiatives while supporting the Chief of Staff to the CEO and CEO.

Levels

Senior Strategy and Operations Manager

The Senior Strategy and Operations Manager reports to the Chief of Staff to the CEO or another designated individual within the Strategy and Operations Team.

Senior Strategy and Operations Manager Job Grade

The Senior Manager Strategy and Operations is a grade 7 role.

Senior Strategy and Operations Manager Responsibilities

Achieve results on assigned projects and activities
Support the creation of prepared materials, content, and programs
Translate practical needs into technical and/or business requirements
Support one or two projects on an ongoing basis
Provide input into the broader strategy
Demonstrate GitLab values in all work

Senior Strategy and Operations Manager Requirements

Detail-oriented forward thinker
Ability to influence cross-functionally without direct authority
Strong business acumen and application of company priorities
Excellent written, verbal, and technical communicator
Able to manage work to meet deadlines
Track record of being a manager of one
Demonstrated ability to take a project from ideation through to implementation
Ideally, 2+ years experience in high growth startup environments
Familiarity with the industry is a plus
Ability to use GitLab

Staff Strategy and Operations

The Staff Strategy and Operations reports to the Chief of Staff to the CEO or another designated individual within the Strategy and Operations Team.

Staff Strategy and Operations Job Grade

The Staff Strategy and Operations is a grade 8 role.

Staff Strategy and Operations Responsibilities

Extends that of the Sr. Manager of Strategy and Operations requirements
Fill in knowledge gaps of the Chief of Staff to the CEO
Identify procedural gaps in existing workflows and work to resolve with optimization, automation, and data
Support the creation of prepared materials (documents, decks) for the Chief of Staff to the CEO and the CEO
Support special projects that are urgent and important
Execute on projects and ongoing assignments for the Chief of Staff to the CEO
Readiness to partner directly with the CEO, Office of the CEO, or other Strategy and Operations Team members on high priority initiatives
Determine long-term owners outside of the Strategy and Operations team for initiatives and asks that are best served through a functional home. Partner with future owners to ensure that ownership and responsibilities are understood and agreed upon
Demonstrate GitLab values in all work

Staff Strategy and Operations Requirements

Detail-oriented forward thinker
Excellent written, verbal, and technical communicator
Experience making data-driven decisions
Able to manage multiple tasks with competing timelines and deliverables
Track record of leadership independent of role
History of working cross-functionally to move projects forward
Evidence of success in leading key business initiatives. Demonstrated ability to take a project from ideation through to implementation
Experience at a strategy consulting firm is preferred
Ideally, 2+ years experience in high growth startup environments
Familiarity with the industry is a plus
Ability to use GitLab

Principal Strategy and Operations

The Principal Strategy and Operations reports to the Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Principal Strategy and Operations Job Grade

The Principal Strategy and Operations is a grade 9 role.

Principal Strategy and Operations Responsibilities

Extends that of the Staff Strategy and Operations responsibilities
Collaborate cross-functionally with counterparts throughout the business
Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency and make changes to improve the business
Translate practical needs into technical and/or business requirements

Principal Strategy and Operations Requirements

Extends that of the Staff Strategy and Operations requirements
Track record of success as an individual contributor or manager
Ability to work collaboratively and drive results with junior and senior team members
Strategic or operational work experience, preferably both
5+ years of work experience. Ideally, 2+ years experience in high growth startup environments

Director of Strategy and Operations

The Director of Strategy and Operations reports to the Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Director of Strategy and Operations Job Grade

The Director of Strategy and Operations is a grade 10 role.

Director of Strategy and Operations Responsibilities

Responsible for the success of 1-3 high priority, cross-functional initiatives at any given moment. For example, market entries, pricing and packaging projects, important communications, and organizational realignments
Fill in gaps in other parts of the business when there are short-term vacancies or a lack of relevant skills or capacity
Collaborate cross-functionally with senior counterparts throughout the business
Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency and make changes to improve the business
Prepare materials (documents, decks) for the Chief of Staff to the CEO and the CEO
Translate practical needs into technical and/or business requirements
Execute on projects and ongoing assignments for the Chief of Staff to the CEO and/or CEO
Demonstrate GitLab values in all work

Director of Strategy and Operations Requirements

Track record of leadership independent of role
Ability to work collaboratively and drive results with senior leadership
Strategic and operational work experience
Detail-oriented forward thinker
Excellent written, verbal, and technical communicator
Experience making data-driven decisions
Able to manage multiple tasks with competing timelines and deliverables
History of working cross-functionally to move projects forward
Evidence of success in leading key business initiatives. Demonstrated ability to take a project from ideation through to implementation
Experience at a strategy consulting firm and/or working across multiple functions at a fast growing company
8+ years of work experience. Ideally, 4+ years experience in high growth startup environments
Familiarity with the industry is a plus
Ability to use GitLab

Senior Director of Strategy and Operations

The Senior Director of Strategy and Operations reports to the Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Senior Director of Strategy and Operations Job Grade

The Senior Director of Strategy and Operations is a grade 11 role.

Senior Director of Strategy and Operations Responsibilities

Owns initiatives of great importance to the business and consistently delivers great results
Act as a DRI for top priority initiatives. Play a leadership role in achieving desired business outcomes for projects of high importance to the business
Exercise great autonomy in guiding a project, including leading decision making. This means both having good discretion in making decisions and escalating and involving others, as appropriate
Enter projects of great complexity at any point (scoping, alignment, execution, etc.) and can successfully align key stakeholders and steward them toward results
Can lead when projects have limited scoping and asks are abstract
Fill in gaps in other parts of the business when there are short-term vacancies or a lack of relevant skills or capacity
Collaborate cross-functionally with senior counterparts throughout the business
Identify opportunities to improve business efficiency and make changes to improve the business
Prepare materials (documents, decks) for the Chief of Staff to the CEO and the CEO
Translate practical needs into technical and/or business requirements
Execute on projects and ongoing assignments for the Chief of Staff to the CEO and/or CEO
Demonstrate GitLab values in all work

Senior Director of Strategy and Operations Requirements

Evidences the ability to seemlessly align cross-functional stakeholders in important initiatives with tradeoffs and dependencies to achieve project goals
Can directly partner with the CEO and other E-Group leaders on projects of importance. Proactively flags areas that need input, and can proactively lead projects
Exercises great discretion. Knows when to ask for input, how to effectively work with other team members, and is aware of business sensitivities
Can fill in for the Chief of Staff to the CEO on an interim basis
Track record of leadership independent of role
Strategic and operational work experience
Can build strong partnership relationships with other Director+ leaders
Detail-oriented forward thinker
Excellent written, verbal, and technical communicator
Experience making data-driven decisions
Able to manage multiple tasks with competing timelines and deliverables
History of working cross-functionally to move projects forward
Evidence of success in leading key business initiatives. Demonstrated ability to take a project from ideation through to implementation
Is viewed as a role model for how to work within GitLab
Experience at a strategy consulting firm and/or working across multiple functions at a fast growing company
8+ years of work experience. Ideally, 4+ years experience in high growth startup environments
Some familiarity with DevOps
Ability to use GitLab

Specialties

Strategy and Operations (Data)

Extends that of the Staff or Principal level Strategy and Operations
Hands on experience in a data analytics/engineering/science role
Experience working with senior leadership to define and measure KPIs and other operating metrics
Familiarity with proxy metrics where actual measurements aren’t available
Deep understanding of SQL, relational databases (we use Snowflake)
Familiarity with system observability data (logs, metrics, traces) is preferred (we use Elastic Stack)
Familiarity with data management policies and regulations (GDPR, SOX, PCI) is preferred
Ability to take meetings with and work synchronously with folks in Pacific Time

Strategy and Operations (Operations)

Extends that of the Senior Manager, Staff, Principal, or Director level Strategy and Operations
Experience leading ongoing projects and initiatives
Proven ability to manage cross-functional projects with folks at different levels of the business
Track record of moving key initiatives from idea to delivery
Experience in setting goals and driving toward quantifiable results
Ability to operate iteratively
Ability to take meetings with and work synchronously with folks in Pacific Time

Strategy and Operations (Technical)

Extends that of the Staff, Principal, or Director level Strategy and Operations
Deeply understands and is able to synthesize the market, competition, and upcoming solutions in the DevOps space
Proven ability to manage cross-functional projects. Need to not only excel in operating at a strategic level but also need to understand when to dive deep to keep the project on track
Technical background and clear understanding of developer products. Familiarity with Git, Continuous Integration, Containers, Kubernetes, and Project Management software a plus
Ability to find opportunities where teams need to collaborate with each other and help them make those decisions that are optimal for the company even if they maybe sub-optimal in the short term for particular groups
Ability to take meetings with and work synchronously with folks in Pacific Time

Strategy and Operations (Workplace)

Extends that of the Senior Manager, Staff, Principal, or Director level Strategy and Operations
Clearly articulate, communicate, and evangelize Workplace OS
Create supporting documentation and curriculum
Secure opportunities to amplify and showcase Workplace OS in different mediums
Facilitate and drive certifications and learning opportunities globally for Workplace OS
Demonstrate expertise in GitLab values, operating principles, and ways of working

Strategic Technical Partnership Manager for JiHu

Extends that of the Staff, Principal, or Director level Strategy and Operations
Is GitLab’s key point of contact with JiHu, an indepedent company in China that is licensed to sell GitLab software
Has experience with B2B and startup tech businesses in China
Has a proven ability to manage strategic business alliances and support external groups while coordinating with the internal team, including finance, sales, legal, technical and other team members
Has cross-functional and operational experience. This should include direct experience in supporting the operations of different business functions
Has experience in building and managing relationships with folks at executive and more junior levels
Has enough technical understanding to help coordinate required activities between JiHu and GitLab Inc. For instance, understands repos and licensing
Can speak Mandarin and read Simplified Chinese
Can work with some overlap with PST and CST timezones. This role would likely be based somewhere in APAC. Not based in China, Macau, or Hong Kong

Strategy and Operations (Content)

Extends that of the Senior Manager, Staff, Principal, or Director level Strategy and Operations
Proven ability to write high-quality, long-form or short-form content on complex topics
Captures the voice of the CEO in key internal and external communiations
Manages end-to-end development of content with internal teams, ensuring all production deliverables are met on-time and within scope on multiple concurrent projects
Strategically translates messaging into accurate, targeted, and compelling content
Ability to produce multiple blogs, LinkedIn posts, and Twitter blasts each week
3+ years in a content-related role
Proven experience writing for technical audiences on one or more of the following topics: Coding, DevOps, Cloud Computing, IT Infrastructure, Cyber Security, or Application Security
In-depth industry experience and knowledge in a specialty

Performance Indicators

Throughput - Issues or merge requests closed as measurement of projects iterated on

In addition, we are exploring additional ways to measure performance.

Career Ladder

This is a cross-functional role, so team members will have exposure to broader parts of the organization. They may choose to join other teams. They may also be considered for the Chief of Staff to the CEO role as the Chief of Staff to the CEO completes the rotation.

Hiring Process

Candidates for this position can expect the hiring process to follow the order below. Please keep in mind that candidates can be declined from the position at any stage of the process. To learn more about someone who may be conducting the interview, find their job title on our team page

Qualified candidates will be invited to schedule a 30 minute screening call with one of our global recruiters
Next, candidates will be invited to schedule a 50 minute interview with a team member from another department
Then, candidates will be invited to schedule a 50 minute interview with the Chief of Staff to the CEO and be asked to complete a homework assignment
Next, candidates will be invited to schedule a 50 minute interview with a member of our Engineering team and be asked to complete a product assessment
Then candidates will be invited to schedule a 50 minute interview with our CLO or another member of the executive team
Finally, candidates will meet with our CEO who will conduct the final interview

As always, the interviews and screening call will be conducted via a video call. See more details about our hiring process on the hiring handbook.

About GitLab

GitLab Inc. is a company based on the GitLab open-source project. GitLab is a community project to which over 2,200 people worldwide have contributed. We are an active participant in this community, trying to serve its needs and lead by example. We have one vision: everyone can contribute to all digital content, and our mission is to change all creative work from read-only to read-write so that everyone can contribute.

We value results, transparency, sharing, freedom, efficiency, self-learning, frugality, collaboration, directness, kindness, diversity, inclusion and belonging, boring solutions, and quirkiness. If these values match your personality, work ethic, and personal goals, we encourage you to visit our primer to learn more. Open source is our culture, our way of life, our story, and what makes us truly unique.

Top 10 Reasons to Work for GitLab:

Mission: Everyone can contribute
Results: Fast growth, ambitious vision
Flexible Work Hours: Plan your day so you are there for other people & have time for personal interests
Transparency: Over 2,000 webpages in GitLab handbook, GitLab Unfiltered YouTube channel
Iteration: Empower people to be effective & have an impact, Merge Request rate, We dogfood our own product, Directly responsible individuals
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging: A focus on gender parity, Team Member Resource Groups, other initiatives
Collaboration: Kindness, saying thanks, intentionally organize informal communication, no ego
Total Rewards: Competitive market rates for compensation, Equity compensation, global benefits (inclusive of office equipment)
Work/Life Harmony: Flexible workday, Family and Friends days
Remote Done Right: One of the world's largest all-remote companies, prolific inventor of remote best practices

See our culture page for more!

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Last modified June 27, 2024: Fix various vale errors (46417d02)

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