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An overview of this role
As Manager, Engineering, Nonlinear Productivity (Friction Elimination & Solutions), you’ll help GitLab break the linear relationship between headcount and engineering output. In this role, you’ll oversee the initiative’s forward-scanning work, reviewing GitLab’s software development lifecycle and code-generation workflows to spot recurring friction, test durable fixes, and identify internal solutions that could become customer-facing products.
You’ll report to the Senior Manager or Director, Nonlinear Productivity and work at the intersection of engineering, developer productivity, AI-assisted development, and product. You’ll build a data-backed view of where technical interventions can have the highest leverage, test solutions through prototypes, drive validated fixes into internal adoption, and help build the case for productizing the strongest outcomes.
What you’ll do
- Survey GitLab’s internal software development lifecycle and code-generation workflows to identify structural friction early, and build a data-backed view of where technical interventions will have the highest leverage.
- Evaluate build, buy, and adapt options for each opportunity, including emerging agentic and AI tooling, with a clear view of cost, risk, and durability.
- Stand up prototypes and review architecture directly to test whether a proposed fix moves a target metric and represents a durable solution before GitLab makes broader engineering investment.
- Hire and manage a small, high-caliber team, or operate as a hands-on working manager, with a focus on talent density over headcount.
- Drive validated fixes from prototype to internal adoption by partnering with affected teams so solutions are relied on, used, and maintained.
- Build the technical and business case for productizing internal fixes that prove durable, in partnership with product.
- Document reusable learnings so successful internal fixes don’t remain tribal knowledge.
- Report impact through changes in key metrics and progress on turning internal fixes into products, including a clear account of what didn’t work.
What you’ll bring
- Ability to use GitLab.
- A track record of identifying and shipping technical fixes for developer productivity, continuous integration and continuous delivery, or platform friction, including problems you found before they were assigned.
- Comfort operating with high ambiguity and no existing backlog, building the roadmap rather than executing one handed down.
- People management experience, including in a small-team or working-manager capacity.
- Technical depth to evaluate and prototype solutions directly, not only direct others toward them.
- Product judgment to assess whether an internal tool could hold up for paying customers.
- Familiarity with agentic or AI-assisted development tooling.
- Experience moving an internal tool toward an external, customer-facing product is advantageous.
About the team
The Nonlinear Productivity team improves how GitLab engineers, and increasingly agents, build, review, and ship code. We test and scale durable technical fixes that improve our internal engineering output.
Career ladder
In this role, you can progress to Senior Manager, Nonlinear Productivity, with an expanded mandate across the full set of team metrics we use to track improvement.
Additional details about our process can be found on our hiring page.
How GitLab Supports Full-Time Employees
- Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being
- Flexible Paid Time Off
- Team Member Resource Groups
- Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Growth and Development Fund
- Parental Leave
Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application.
Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.
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GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.