Engineering Manager - Git Focus

About GitLab

GitLab is a cutting-edge orchestration platform designed to enhance DevSecOps processes. Trusted by over 50 million users and more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, GitLab accelerates developer productivity, operational efficiency, and security compliance to drive faster, better software delivery. The company cultivates a culture where AI integration is a baseline expectation, enabling individuals to innovate and maximize impact while collaborating with top industry leaders.

Role Overview

As an Engineering Manager specializing in Git at GitLab, you will lead a technically advanced team responsible for developing, maintaining, and supporting the Git version control system. This team works on upstream Git development, supporting GitLab teams, innovating tooling, enhancing scalability, advancing data formats, and preserving the Git codebase. The position requires guiding senior and staff engineers through complex, long-term projects while nurturing a culture of accountability, ownership, and technical excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of senior and staff engineers focused on Git system development and related infrastructure.
• Cultivate a team environment emphasizing technical rigor, clear responsibility, and ownership.
• Oversee execution of extensive projects involving performance, scalability, maintainability, and core Git architecture.
• Balance priorities between open source upstream work and GitLab internal product and infrastructure needs.
• Provide mentorship, feedback, and career growth opportunities for team members.
• Promote effective asynchronous communication and written collaboration within a fully distributed, multi-timezone team.
• Collaborate with downstream teams and stakeholders reliant on Git expertise for performance improvements and roadmap discussions.
• Serve as a credible representative for the team in cross-functional engagements and stakeholder conversations regarding Git’s technical direction.

Desired Qualifications

• Proven experience managing engineering teams, including hiring, performance reviews, and career development.
• A leadership approach focused on fostering engineer autonomy and ownership, driven by consistent and sound technical judgment.
• Ability to guide specialized engineers through ambiguity, constructive debate, complex trade-offs, and open-source development processes, including community review cycles.
• Exceptional written communication skills and experience with remote, asynchronous collaboration across geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong track record in delivering under pressure on ambiguous and long-term technical projects with clear, outcome-focused goals.
• Hands-on expertise with version control systems, distributed systems, storage engines, or performance-critical low-level infrastructure work, ideally in languages like C or Go.

Team Environment

The Git team prioritizes upstream contributions and community engagement through mailing lists and collaboration to maintain and evolve Git’s long-term viability. Currently, major efforts focus on scaling Git and foundational infrastructure work.

Employee Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits supporting health, financial security, and well-being
• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Employee Resource Groups
• Equity compensation and stock purchase plans
• Funds dedicated to growth and professional development
• Parental leave benefits

Inclusivity Statement

GitLab encourages applications from candidates with diverse experiences and backgrounds, including those who may not meet every qualification fully. As an equal opportunity employer, GitLab is committed to non-discrimination and providing accommodations throughout the recruitment process.