The opportunity
The Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships team helps GitLab decide how to grow beyond what we build on our own. We own inorganic strategy: acquisitions, strategic partnerships with hyperscalers and AI labs, and the research that tells us which to pursue and which to pass on.
What you'll do
Own the wider market view. Research the broader market GitLab competes in,: beyond specific product categories: competitive dynamics, AI-native entrants, technology shifts and where value is moving. Collaborate with the team's Analyst on the research and turn the findings into a clear point of view on where GitLab should play.
Build an investment thesis for each focus area. Work with Product and: Engineering leaders to define the problems worth solving, the capabilities GitLab needs, and what it would cost in time and money to get there on our own.
Own the competitive and landscape view. Maintain market maps and a current: read on GitLab's competitors: their strategy, product direction, positioning, pricing, and M&A and funding activity. Produce competitor analyses that show where we lead, where we're exposed and how rivals are likely to move. Flag shifts by competitors, hyperscalers and AI labs that change our options, and bring the implications to Product and the executive team.
Define where GitLab should not play. Identify adjacencies that dilute focus: and markets where the economics or competition work against us. Make the case for a no with the same rigor as a yes.
Run the build, buy, partner analysis. For each strategic gap, compare the: options side by side on speed, cost, risk, control and strategic fit, and bring a clear recommendation.
Deliver strategic clarity to executives and the Board. Produce short strategy: memos/decks and business cases that set out the decision, the trade-offs and what we give up with each path.
What they're looking for
- Feed company strategy and planning. Bring an outside-in view of the market: and the inorganic options available into annual and long-range planning.
- Work hand in hand with Strategic Partnerships. When partnering is the right: answer, frame the opportunity and hand it to the partnership owner with a clear thesis. When it isn't, explain why.
- Own end-to-end deal process management. Validate target fit against GitLab's: our target profile, product roadmap and other criteria, and build the acquisition rationale and business case. Drive our M&A process from intro call through the various steps through to closing and integration.
- Evaluate the deal. Develop valuation, commercial integrity assessment, impact: on GitLab's business and provide negotiations assistance to the VP and the executive team.