Director, Strategic Partnerships

Details

GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps. GitLab enables organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users and more than 50% of the Fortune 100 trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster.

The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems.

Overview

As the Director, Strategic Partnerships, you will own two of GitLab's most important external relationships. This is a single-threaded owner role within the Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships team, reporting to the VP, Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships. You will shape partnership strategy from the top down and drive execution from the ground up — running both the strategic direction and the weekly operational work needed to deliver outcomes.

This role sits close to GitLab's evolving AI strategy and the future of our AI-powered DevSecOps platform. You will help define where technical integration, commercial alignment, and joint go-to-market efforts can create the most value for GitLab and drive execution across multi-year planning and week-to-week follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary owner and point of contact for one hyperscaler and one major AI lab, accountable for direction, operating rhythm, and outcomes of each partnership, including hands-on tactical execution.
• Develop and drive multi-year partnership strategies and joint plans that align GitLab's business priorities, product roadmap, and AI strategy with partner initiatives and ensure execution.
• Build strong working relationships across partner organizations (executives, product, engineering, sales, marketing).
• Run a disciplined operating cadence across complex initiatives with clear priorities, owners, timelines, coordination points, and direct follow-through.
• Coordinate cross-functional work inside GitLab to support partnership goals, aligning product, engineering, sales, marketing, and executive stakeholders.
• Translate partner opportunities and requests into actionable internal plans, including roadmap discussions, integration needs, commercial motions, and executive recommendations.
• Track and communicate measurable partnership outcomes such as pipeline influence, ARR impact, integration progress, and joint go-to-market execution.
• Represent partnerships at the executive level by preparing recommendations, briefing executives, and helping drive alignment on investments and next steps.

Requirements

• Significant experience building and managing strategic partnerships, business development relationships, or alliance programs in enterprise software, cloud, and/or AI — with a track record of being hands-on in execution as well as strategy.
• Strong ownership mindset; ability to operate as a single-threaded owner accountable for both strategy and execution and comfortable doing hands-on work personally.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to distill complex partnership topics into clear executive recommendations and briefings.
• Strong project and program management skills; ability to organize complex workstreams, prioritize, and keep multiple initiatives moving via direct management.
• Technical fluency in software development, platform integrations, and the AI/machine learning landscape; comfortable engaging engineering and product counterparts in substantive conversations.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders on high-visibility initiatives, preparing executive briefings, framing recommendations, and driving follow-through.
• Ability to influence without formal authority, build strong working relationships across internal and external teams, and navigate competing priorities with sound judgment.
• Familiarity with the DevSecOps ecosystem and a results-oriented approach to measuring partnership impact through business and product outcomes.

About the team

The Strategic Partnerships team owns strategy and relationship management for consequential external partners (hyperscalers and AI companies). The team works across product, engineering, sales, marketing, and the executive group to turn partnerships into differentiated growth for GitLab and to support the long-term platform strategy. The role is strategic and deeply operational — setting direction and personally driving joint plans forward in a fully remote and asynchronous environment.

Compensation

United States Salary Range: $168,000 - $285,600 USD (base salary range for residents of the United States only). The range does not include bonuses, equity, or benefits.

Benefits & Support

• Benefits to support 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

Hiring, Privacy & EEO

• GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world; roles are remote but may carry location-based eligibility requirements.
• Privacy: Recruitment Privacy Policy is available to review.
• GitLab is an equal opportunity workplace and affirmative action employer; policies and accommodations are described in the posting.