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Salary: USD 168,000 - 285,600 / annual
GitLab is seeking a Corporate Development Director to lead strategy and M&A for the company's growth beyond organic product development. Reporting to the VP of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships, you will shape GitLab's investment decisions across acquisitions, partnerships, and market entry.
You will own two interconnected areas:
**Strategy & Market Research:** Lead research that maps GitLab's competitive landscape, including AI-native entrants and technology shifts. Build investment theses for priority focus areas in collaboration with Product and Engineering leaders. Maintain competitive intelligence on rivals' strategies, product direction, pricing, M&A activity, and funding. Develop clear recommendations on where GitLab should compete and, critically, where it should not. Produce market maps and landscape analyses that inform executive and Board-level decisions.
**Deal Execution & Integration:** Drive the full M&A process from target identification through close and post-acquisition integration. Validate target fit against GitLab's strategic criteria and product roadmap. Develop valuations, commercial assessments, and business cases. Lead cross-functional diligence spanning Product, Engineering, Security, Finance, Legal, and People functions. Prepare deal documents (NDAs, LOIs, purchase agreements) with Legal and outside counsel. Own integration outcomes as the DRI, measured against roadmap and business goals. Build and maintain relationships with founders, executives, investors, bankers, and advisors to generate pipeline and early insight.
Success is measured not by deal volume but by strategic clarity: well-reasoned market perspectives, investment theses that guide product and executive decisions, acquisitions that accelerate the roadmap when appropriate, and disciplined nos when they are warranted. You will work in a fully remote, asynchronous environment with high ownership and transparency.
**Requirements:**
- 8+ years in corporate development, corporate strategy, strategy consulting, or technology investing
- 5+ years leading acquisitions end-to-end in enterprise software
- Structured strategic thinking: ability to form points of view from incomplete information, test against data, and revise based on evidence
- Expertise in market sizing, competitive analysis, and landscape mapping; ability to translate research into actionable recommendations
- Strong deal craft skills: valuation, financial modeling, deal structuring, negotiation, and integration planning across varied consideration structures
- Technical fluency in software development, DevSecOps, and the AI landscape sufficient to engage substantively with product and engineering leaders
- Excellent executive communication: ability to write concise, decision-ready updates and present trade-offs clearly to executives and the Board in an async-first environment
- Ability to influence without direct authority; strong cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, Finance, and Legal
- Ownership mindset with collaborative approach to research and analysis
- Preferred: familiarity with DevSecOps, security, AI, and open source ecosystems
- Alignment with GitLab's all-remote culture and company values
