Director of Support Experience and Strategy

An Overview of this Role

GitLab is seeking an experienced Director of Support Experience and Strategy to help guide the evolution of our customer support organization. This role combines strategic vision with operational excellence to deliver world-class support experiences that drive customer satisfaction, retention, and business growth. You'll be responsible for working with the senior management team defining and executing the support strategy while championing innovative approaches to our customers' experiences.

What you’ll do

Support Experience Innovation

• Design and implement innovative support experiences that exceed customer expectations and differentiate GitLab in the market
• Lead and guide the development of self-service capabilities, knowledge management systems, and community-driven support initiatives
• Champion emerging technologies including AI-powered support tools, chatbots, and predictive analytics to enhance customer interactions
• Establish feedback loops and voice-of-customer programs to continuously improve support touchpoints
• Drive omnichannel support strategy ensuring seamless experiences across all customer interaction points
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to influence product development based on support insights

Strategic Planning and Vision

• Develop and execute comprehensive support strategy aligned with GitLab's business objectives and customer goals
• Create long-term roadmaps for support transformation, including technology investments, process improvements, and organization evolution
• Define support experience metrics and KPIs that align with business outcomes and customer value
• Lead annual planning processes, budget allocation, and resource optimization across support functions
• Establish strategic partnerships with vendors, technology providers, and industry organizations
• Drive cross-functional alignment with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams

Operational Excellence

• Design and implement quality assurance programs to maintain consistent support delivery standards
• Assist in definition of capacity planning and workforce management to ensure appropriate coverage across global time zones
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives through process automation, workflow optimization, and tool consolidation

Data Analysis and Performance Management

• Develop comprehensive analytics framework to measure support performance, customer satisfaction, and business impact
• Create executive dashboards and reporting systems that provide actionable insights for leadership decision-making
• Conduct deep-dive analysis on support trends, customer behavior patterns, and operational metrics
• Implement predictive modeling to forecast support demand, identify at-risk accounts, and optimize resource allocation
• Establish data-driven decision-making culture within the support organization
• Partner with Business Intelligence and Data Science teams to leverage advanced analytics capabilities

Team Leadership and Development

• Establish talent development programs, career progression frameworks, and succession planning
• Help drive diversity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives to build representative and inclusive teams
• Implement performance management systems that recognize and reward exceptional customer advocacy

What you’ll bring

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in customer support, success, or related customer-facing roles
• 5+ years of experience in director or VP-level positions with P&L responsibility
• Proven track record of building and scaling support organizations in high-growth technology companies
• Experience with DevOps, software development tools, or related technical products
• Strong analytical skills with experience in data-driven decision making and performance optimization
• Demonstrated expertise in support technology platforms, CRM systems, and analytics tools such as Zendesk, Salesforce, Tableau, and Snowflake
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with ability to influence at all organizational levels

Preferably you’ll also bring

• Experience with open-source software communities and development workflows
• Background in SaaS, enterprise software, or developer tools
• Experience with GitLab or similar DevOps platforms
• Track record of successful digital transformation initiatives
• Experience with remote-first organizational models and global team management

About the team

The Support team is distributed all over the world across AMER, EMEA, and APAC regions. Support Engineers and Managers work on Support Tickets and helping GitLab’s customers, but they also dig into the code and logs to find out why something is not working as expected. The Collaboration here at GitLab is extraordinary and exciting - Support Engineers solve complex problems together and participate in regular pairing sessions and 1:1s, as well as coffee chats and Slack conversations that help them stay connected. Support Team members are core contributors to our customer experience. We think a healthy customer experience is delivered by a healthy team. We focus on building processes at the intersection of our customer needs and our team’s wellbeing. GitLab Team Members have the opportunity for flexibility in their days to achieve that healthy balance. Thanks to our Transparency value, you can see what we are working on in our Support Team page. Additionally, you can see our company roadmap and listen to some of our meetings.

How GitLab will support you

• Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being
• All remote, asynchronous work environment
• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Team Member Resource Groups
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Growth and development budget
• Parental leave
• Home office support