Sr. Manager, Solutions Architect - SMB

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.

Overview

As the Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture, you will lead and develop a distributed team of Solutions Architects working with customers across the India region. In this player-coach role, you will guide technical sales strategy across complex sales motions, step into strategic opportunities to secure technical wins, and build customer confidence in GitLab's platform.

You will partner closely with regional go-to-market teams and cross-functional partners across Sales, Channel, Marketing, Enablement, Product Management, and the global Solutions Architecture organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a team of intermediate and senior Solutions Architects across India, providing clear direction and driving high-quality execution.
• Act as a player-coach by partnering directly on strategic deals, fostering executive relationships, and coaching the team through complex sales cycles.
• Lead regional strategy for technical evaluations, workshops, demonstrations, and proof-of-concept engagements.
• Partner cross-functionally with global Solutions Architecture, Sales, Channel, Marketing, Sales Enablement, and Product Management.
• Manage dotted-line relationships with Channel Solutions Architects and subject matter experts to drive alignment and accountability.
• Maintain operational discipline across workload planning, resource allocation, headcount forecasting, and field execution.
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), communicating progress, risks, and priorities clearly to stakeholders.
• Hire, develop, and retain high-performing Solutions Architects to build a scalable regional organization.

What You'll Bring

• Experience managing customer-facing technical teams in software/tech sales, pre-sales, or consulting, with direct exposure to the India market.
• Strong background in solutions architecture, with practical ability to translate technical depth into customer business value.
• Proven track record of developing, mentoring, and scaling Solutions Architecture or technical pre-sales practices.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills across diverse technical and executive audiences.
• Solid business acumen balancing technical execution with commercial success and regional priorities.
• Experience establishing accountability and operational practices within a remote or distributed team environment.
• Ability to travel at least 25%.