[Hiring] Senior Director, Global SME Solutions Architecture @GitLab

Role Description

As the Senior Director, Global Subject Matter Expertise (SME) Solutions Architecture, you will build and lead GitLab's Subject Matter Expert organization: three regional teams in AMER, EMEA and APJ, each covering Security & Compliance, Platform, Core DevSecOps, and AI & Competitive. This team is the depth layer of GitLab's technical selling model.

• Wins the most complex opportunities.
• Scales product expertise into the Account SA team.
• Turns field insight into product direction.

This is a leader of leaders role. You will manage three regional SME Managers, not individual contributors, and develop them as leaders in their own right. The SME organization is new, so we are looking for a transformational leader who thrives in ambiguity, builds structure where none exists, and has a track record of standing up high-performing technical teams in fast-growing, evolving businesses.

You will work as a peer to GitLab's regional Solutions Architecture Senior Directors and partner closely with Sales, Customer Success, Product, Engineering, Product Marketing and Sales Operations.

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.
• Act as the field's senior partner to Product Management and Engineering.
• 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.
• 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 Enablement to drive field readiness for new product launches.
• Build strong relationships with key customers at the technical sponsor and executive level.
• Use AI to change how the team works.
• Drive organizational transformation by finding gaps early and leading change.

Qualifications

• 5+ years second-line leadership experience 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.
• The ability to lead through ambiguity and rapid organizational change.
• Strong relationships with Product and Engineering leaders.
• Fluency across the software development lifecycle, application security, cloud platforms, Kubernetes and AI-assisted development.
• 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.

Requirements

• Global product-category commit attainment and consumption growth.
• Time from technical win to first workload in customer’s production environment.
• SME coverage and engagement speed on the top 10% of opportunities.
• Account Team capability lift: fewer escalations and more deals handled without an SME over time.
• Product impact: field sentiment on the product feedback process.
• Team health: hiring against plan, manager development, engagement and retention.

Benefits

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Team Member Resource Groups
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Growth and Development Fund
• Parental Leave