Director, Sales Incentive Compensation

GitLab is an open-core software company that develops the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps Platform, used by more than 100,000 organizations. Our mission is to enable everyone to contribute to and co-create the software that powers our world. When everyone can contribute, consumers become contributors, significantly accelerating human progress. Our platform unites teams and organizations, breaking down barriers and redefining what's possible in software development. Thanks to products like Duo Enterprise and Duo Agent Platform, customers get AI benefits at every stage of the SDLC.

The same principles built into our products are reflected in how our team works: we embrace AI as a core productivity multiplier, with all team members expected to incorporate AI into their daily workflows to drive efficiency, innovation, and impact. GitLab is where careers accelerate, innovation flourishes, and every voice is valued. Our high-performance culture is driven by our values and continuous knowledge exchange, enabling our team members to reach their full potential while collaborating with industry leaders to solve complex problems. Co-create the future with us as we build technology that transforms how the world develops software.

An overview of this role

As the Director of Sales Incentive Compensation, you'll own how GitLab designs, operates, and improves incentive programs that power a high-performance, values-driven Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) organization. You'll turn our go-to-market and revenue strategy into clear, fair, and competitive compensation plans that are easy to understand and administer for Sales, Customer Success, Professional Services, Channel/Partnerships, and Revenue Operations roles. You'll report to the VP of Revenue Strategy and Operations and partner closely with the CRO staff, Finance, and Legal to lead the full lifecycle of sales incentive design, analytics, governance, and communication.

What you’ll do

• Own the end-to-end incentive compensation strategy for the Chief Revenue Officer organization, aligning plans with GitLab’s go-to-market and revenue priorities.

• Lead the annual sales compensation design cycle with CRO staff, Sales and Customer Success leaders, and Finance, translating business objectives into clear, scalable incentive structures.

• Design, document, and maintain role-specific compensation frameworks, including base/variable mix, quota-to-on-target-earnings ratios, accelerators, decelerators, thresholds, performance tiers, and targeted spiffs or special programs.

• Develop and run governance for sales incentive programs, including plan approval workflows, exception and dispute handling, policy standards, and change management processes across all regions.

• Build and manage analytics and reporting on plan performance. Use payout distributions, attainment curves, and cost-per-dollar-sold to recommend data-driven changes to plans and quotas.

• Partner with Revenue Strategy and Operations, Sales Analytics, and Finance/FP&A to model scenarios, align compensation assumptions with planning and forecasting, and support accurate accruals and budget management.

• Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, and regional business partners to ensure plans and processes meet regulatory requirements and support consistent, fair administration globally.

• Lead communication and enablement for incentive programs, including plan documentation, training for leaders and field teams, and ongoing support so GitLab team members clearly understand plan mechanics and how they earn.

What you’ll bring

• Experience designing, operating, and improving sales incentive compensation programs for diverse go-to-market roles, including Sales, Customer Success, Professional Services, Channel/Partner, and Revenue Operations.

• Background advising CROs and senior revenue leaders on incentive design, trade-offs, and policy, with a focus on driving desired behaviors while maintaining equity, competitiveness, and cost discipline.

• Experience scaling global incentive programs through growth, organizational change, and evolving revenue strategies in complex, multi-region environments.

• Strong analytical and financial modeling skills, including interpreting performance and market data, running scenario and sensitivity analyses, and turning insights into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.

• Attention to detail and accuracy when working with complex compensation data, quota models, attainment distributions, and plan documentation, with an emphasis on consistency and compliance.

• Clear and practical communication skills, with the ability to explain plan mechanics and policy implications to both technical and non-technical audiences and build understanding and trust in incentive programs.

• Alignment with GitLab’s values, including integrity, confidentiality in all compensation matters, transparency, and collaborative decision-making across the CRO organization.

• Familiarity with sales compensation and analytics tools (for example, Xactly, CaptivateIQ, Varicent) and productivity tools such as Google Workspace, with openness to applying transferable skills from related revenue operations roles.

About the team

The Revenue Strategy and Operations team at GitLab designs, manages, and improves incentive compensation programs for the Chief Revenue Officer organization. We are a small, highly collaborative, all-remote team that partners closely with Sales Leadership, Customer Success, Professional Services, Channel/Partnerships, Revenue Operations, and Finance across regions. Together we align plan design, quota-to-OTE frameworks, incentive operations, and annual plan rollout with GitLab's broader revenue strategy. We focus on building scalable, data-driven, and transparent compensation structures that support growth, reinforce GitLab's values, and stay equitable and compliant as the business evolves.

The base salary range for this role’s listed level is currently for residents of the United States only. This range is intended to reflect the role's base salary rate in locations throughout the US. Grade level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, alignment with market data, and geographic location. The base salary range does not include any bonuses, equity, or benefits. See more information on our benefits and equity. Sales roles are also eligible for incentive pay targeted at up to 100% of the offered base salary.

United States Salary Range
$167,000—$313,000 USD

How GitLab will support you

• 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

• Home office support

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.

Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us.

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.