Principal Solutions Architect, AI / Core DevOps SME

What you’ll do

• Lead technical discovery, architecture design, demos, and end-to-end evaluations (POC/POV) to validate GitLab as the preferred agentic, AI-powered DevSecOps platform for prospects and customers.
• Drive AI-focused solution strategy as the team’s AI subject matter expert, including competitive positioning and business value justifications.
• Own the technical strategy and influence Customer Success Plans for assigned accounts, acting as the “technical CTO” to guide multi-team, multi-year transformation initiatives across the DevSecOps lifecycle.
• Collaborate with Sales, Customer Success, Product Management, Engineering, and Marketing to shape account strategies, inform territory planning, and ensure successful platform adoption.
• Provide advanced technical guidance during the pre-sales cycle, including tender and audit support, workshop design, and solving complex integration and implementation challenges.
• Serve as the voice of the customer by translating real-world feedback into product requirements, documentation improvements, and roadmap input, especially for AI, security, and platform capabilities.
• Create and share reusable technical assets such as reference architectures, working examples, best practice guides, and internal enablement content to scale impact across regions.
• Mentor other Solutions Architects, contribute to global initiatives for the Center of Excellence, and act as an external industry authority through thought leadership, standards participation, and ecosystem relationships.

What you’ll bring

• Expert resonance for the most strategic aspects of GitLab’s product and customer personas while empowering the field with domain knowledge.
• Deep hands-on expertise with AI, such as designing or implementing AI-powered solutions, advising on AI adoption, or acting as an AI subject matter expert for customers or internal teams.
• Experience in technical pre-sales, software consulting, or similar roles where you connect complex technology to business outcomes.
• Practical background in modern software development or operations, including CI/CD, DevSecOps practices, and related tooling.
• Knowledge of cloud computing concepts and architectures, and how cloud services integrate into secure, scalable application delivery.
• Ability to design and explain technical architectures that span multiple teams and phases of the software lifecycle, from planning through monitoring.
• Skill in leading technical evaluations and workshops (for example, proofs of value or solution design sessions) with diverse stakeholders, from engineers to executives.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to act as a trusted advisor and customer advocate across sales, product, and engineering teams.
• Openness to learning and growth, with experience building new skills over time; candidates with transferable experience in adjacent domains (for example security, data, or cloud architecture) are encouraged to apply.