Lead Customer Advocacy Manager, APJ - GitLab

GitLab is the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps, enabling organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. More than 50 million registered users trust GitLab to ship better, more secure software faster.

An Overview of the Role

As the Customer Advocacy Lead for APJ, you will celebrate our customers and spotlight their achievements, turning GitLab's most successful customers into visible, influential champions. You will identify and activate advocates and their stories that showcase customer outcomes, support pipeline and revenue goals, and deepen trust in GitLab across Asia Pacific and Japan.

Reporting into the growth marketing organization, you will own the day-to-day development and delivery of customer advocacy initiatives in close partnership with APJ sales, marketing, and global teams. You will build trusted customer relationships, identify stories and advocates, and connect the right customers to references, campaigns, events, and executive engagements.

In your first year, you will establish clear, measurable advocacy goals for the region, strengthen collaboration with regional stakeholders, and increase the visibility of customer outcomes across go-to-market motions.

Example Projects

• Partnering with sales, pre-sales, and marketing to turn complex customer solutions into compelling narratives for campaigns, events, and executive engagements.
• Creating and executing customer references, case studies, speaking opportunities, and other advocacy activities across APJ markets.

What You'll Do

• Own the APJ customer story, reference and proof library, and associated pipeline.
• Build and nurture relationships with customer advocates, including senior stakeholders, and identify opportunities for references, case studies, events, and thought leadership.
• Manage the customer advocacy lifecycle: identify and recruit advocates, understand their goals, coordinate participation, and maintain mutually valuable relationships over time.
• Bring the voice of the customer into GitLab’s narratives, campaigns, and go-to-market plans.
• Partner with regional and global sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams to align advocacy initiatives with pipeline, expansion, and retention priorities.
• Define and track program measures, such as advocacy participation, reference fulfillment, pipeline influence, and customer-story impact.
• Prioritize and coordinate advocacy requests supporting strategic initiatives through clear intake, fulfillment, and reporting processes.
• Adapt engagement and storytelling approaches to APJ’s varied markets and customer contexts, working effectively across cultures and time zones.
• Continuously improve programs, content formats, and engagement models using customer feedback and program data.

What You'll Bring

• Experience building or delivering customer advocacy, customer marketing, customer reference, or related customer story programs in enterprise technology or SaaS.
• Strong history of creating impactful customer stories and proof, and an advanced understanding of the customer reference lifecycle.
• Track record coordinating across multiple markets, with an understanding of considerations involved in serving APJ customers.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with the ability to influence sales, marketing, and customer success stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, including confident engagement with executive stakeholders on business and technical topics.
• Strong program management skills with the ability to prioritize competing requests and deliver reliably in a changing environment.
• Ability to work autonomously and asynchronously in a fully remote environment while staying aligned to shared goals.
• Comfort defining and reporting on program performance, including customer participation, reference support, and pipeline influence.

Benefits & Perks

• Health, financial, and well-being benefits
• Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Growth and Development Fund
• Paid Parental Leave
• Team Member Resource Groups