Senior Director, Global SME Solutions Architecture

Overview

Build and lead GitLab's global Subject Matter Expert (SME) organization across AMER, EMEA and APJ, managing three regional SME Managers within GitLab's Solutions Architecture team.

What you'll do

• Set the strategy, operating model and global standards for the SME organization, aligned to the VP Global SA and GitLab's go-to-market plan.
• Build the resourcing model from product-level bookings and consumption targets, and size each product group by region based on where the plan needs specialist coverage.
• Act as the field's senior partner to Product Management and Engineering, running a structured feedback loop that shapes roadmap, launch readiness and early-access programs.
• Hire, mentor and develop regional SME Managers and, through them, the full global team.
• Own the engagement model with the regional SA Senior Directors, Post-Sales SAs and Customer Success, including triage rules, coverage thresholds, the closed-won handoff to Post-Sales SAs, and escalation paths.
• Create and improve upon the processes, metrics and KPIs for SME-led technical evaluations, workshops, demos and Proofs of Value.
• Partner with CRO staff, regional sales leaders and AVPs on product-category performance, forecast risk and competitive strategy.
• Partner with Product Marketing and Enablement to drive field readiness for new product launches, including Duo Agent Platform, security and platform offerings.
• Build strong relationships with key customers at the technical sponsor and executive level.
• Use AI to change how the team works, including deal research, demo creation, PoV automation and knowledge sharing.
• Drive organizational transformation by finding gaps early, building structure where none exists, and leading change without waiting for top-down direction.

What you'll need

• 5+ years of second-line leadership experience (managing managers) in Solutions Architecture, Sales Engineering or a technical specialist organization.
• Experience building or scaling a specialist, overlay or global SA team in enterprise SaaS, DevSecOps, security or developer tools.
• A record of tying technical-team design to bookings and consumption outcomes, with the data to show it.
• The ability to lead through ambiguity and rapid organizational change, bringing clarity and direction while strategy is still forming.
• Strong relationships with Product and Engineering leaders, and a history of shaping roadmap from field insight.
• Fluency across the software development lifecycle, application security (SAST, DAST, SCA), cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), Kubernetes and AI-assisted development, including LLM evaluation and production deployment patterns.
• Executive presence with technical practitioners, managers and C-level stakeholders.
• Proven ability to partner across Sales, Partners, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Customer Success and Professional Services.
• A self-starting, entrepreneurial approach.

Details

• Remote, United States.
• Base salary range: $244,200 to $409,500 USD (base salary only; excludes bonuses, equity and benefits). Sales roles are also eligible for incentive pay targeted at up to 100% of base salary.