Manager, Support Engineering (AMER)

An overview of this role

Like other managers at GitLab, you'll see your team as your product. You'll spend your time hiring and developing world-class Support Engineers who deliver exceptional technical support while continuously improving how your team solves problems. GitLab is working through it’s own AI transformation so you’ll be a leader in designing and implementing AI strategy for our Support team. As a Support Manager, you shape the customer support experience in your region. You'll balance direct customer relationships with the work of scaling your team, improving internal processes, adopting AI, and collaborating across departments to ship tools and solutions that make support more efficient. You'll help your team become self-sufficient, take ownership of complex issues from initial contact through resolution, and create a psychologically safe environment where people grow.

Some examples of our projects:

• A tool to automatically check a GitLab Omnibus install for known issues
• A solution that captures the state of a customer's server for easier troubleshooting
• A tool that turns log files into interactive tables so you can easily sort and filter columns
• Functionality for ChatOps that makes it easier to identify user accounts on the GitLab.com platform

What you’ll do

• Partner with other support managers to hire and maintain a world-class Support Engineering team focused on delivering excellent technical support to GitLab's customers.
• Develop your team members' technical skills and experience through mentorship, structured training, and career growth opportunities.
• Drive team ownership by fostering self-sufficiency, accountability, and alignment with key performance indicators.
• Build scalable processes and workflows that enable your team to collaborate effectively and execute with excellence.
• Conduct regular 1:1s with all team members to support their growth, address challenges, and create psychological safety.
• Train Support Engineers to conduct high-quality technical interviews, strengthening your hiring pipeline.
• Partner across GitLab to deepen understanding of customer needs and business goals, informing product and support improvements.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that enhance the customer experience through measurable, repeatable solutions.
• Document how the team works and find ways to make it more efficient through tools, process changes, and automation. Use AI well in your own work and coach your team to do the same.

What you’ll bring

• Ability to lead technical, customer-facing teams and support the growth of Support Engineers at different levels through feedback, mentoring, and growth opportunities.
• Ability to create and implement processes and procedures that improve team efficiency.
• Ability to provide technical customer support and manage the full support lifecycle, from understanding customer needs and initial engagement through resolution, in collaboration with development.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills to troubleshoot complex technical issues and the ability to grow your team’s problem-solving skills.
• Understanding of Linux System Administration and web application development concepts (with MVC frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, Python, Django, PHP, or Laravel).

About the team

We are distributed globally across the AMER, EMEA, and APAC regions and own the customer support experience for GitLab. We work on support tickets, dig into code and logs to troubleshoot issues, and collaborate across departments to resolve customer challenges. Our team operates asynchronously with regular pairing sessions, one-on-ones, and Slack conversations that keep us connected. We create an environment where Support Engineers can grow and do their best work. We build processes that balance customer needs with team wellbeing, recognizing that a healthy customer experience comes from a healthy team. For more on how our team works, see the Support team handbook page