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Corporate Development Director
Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Remote
Experience
Senior · 8+ years
Job description
The Corporate Development Director leads market research, strategy and M&A deal execution for GitLab, deciding what the company builds, buys, partners on, or avoids. The role sits in the Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships team and reports to the VP, Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships.
At a glance
- Employment
- Full-time
- Work mode
- Remote
What you'll do
- Own the wider market view: research competitive dynamics, AI-native entrants, technology shifts and where value is moving, and turn findings into a clear point of view on where GitLab should play
- Build an investment thesis for each focus area with Product and Engineering leaders, defining problems worth solving, capabilities needed and the cost in time and money to build on our own
- Maintain market maps and a current read on competitors' strategy, product direction, positioning, pricing, and M&A and funding activity; produce competitor analyses and flag shifts by competitors, hyperscalers and AI labs
- Define where GitLab should not play, identifying adjacencies that dilute focus and markets where economics or competition work against us
- Run the build, buy, partner analysis, comparing options on speed, cost, risk, control and strategic fit and bringing a clear recommendation
- Produce short strategy memos/decks and business cases for executives and the Board that set out the decision, trade-offs and what is given up with each path
- Feed company strategy and planning with an outside-in view of the market and inorganic options
- Work with Strategic Partnerships: frame opportunities and hand them to the partnership owner with a clear thesis, or explain why not
- Own end-to-end deal process management: validate target fit, build acquisition rationale and business case, and drive the M&A process from intro call through closing and integration
- Develop valuation, commercial integrity assessment and impact on GitLab's business, and provide negotiations assistance to the VP and executive team
- Lead cross-functional diligence across Product, Engineering, Security, Finance, Legal and People, including pre-LOI validation
- Prepare NDAs, LOIs and purchase agreements with GitLab Legal and outside counsel
- Lead post-acquisition integration as the DRI, measured against the roadmap and business goals in the business case, and bring lessons learned back into strategy work
- Maintain relationships with founders, executives, investors, bankers and advisors to bring early insight and pipeline
What we're looking for
- 8+ years across corporate development, corporate strategy, strategy consulting or technology investing, including 5+ years leading acquisitions end to end in enterprise software
- Structured strategic thinking: form a point of view from incomplete information, test it against data, and change your mind when the evidence says so
- Market research depth: skilled in market sizing, competitive analysis and landscape mapping, and in turning research into a recommendation
- Deal craft: skilled in valuation, financial modeling, deal structuring, negotiation and integration planning, with experience across varied consideration structures
- Technical fluency: a working understanding of software development, DevSecOps and the AI landscape, enough to hold substantive conversations with product and engineering leaders about roadmaps and architecture
- Clear executive communication: write short, decision-ready updates and present trade-offs plainly to executives and the Board in an async-first environment
- Influence without authority: build trust across Product, Engineering, Finance and Legal and move decisions forward across functions
- Ownership with collaboration: own the strategic view and recommendation, and partner closely with the team's Analyst on research and analysis
Nice to have
- Familiarity with the DevSecOps, security, AI and open source ecosystems
- You value the all remote lifestyle and share our values
Your team
Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships
Owns inorganic strategy: acquisitions, strategic partnerships with hyperscalers and AI labs, and the research that tells us which to pursue and which to pass on. Works across Product, Engineering, Finance, Legal and the executive group in a fully remote, asynchronous environment.
Benefits
- Flexible Paid Time Off
- Team Member Resource Groups
- Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Growth and Development Fund
- Parental Leave
Apply
About GitLab
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.
Key facts
- DevSecOps software
- More than 50 million registered users
- More than 50% of the Fortune 100 trust GitLab
- All remote company
- Embraces AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows