Manager, Ecosystem Sales - EMEA South

A strong partner ecosystem is crucial in the success and growth of GitLab's business. Partners are a strategic imperative for GitLab's continued growth and market expansion. As customer requirements become more complex we need partners with capability and capacity to help customers implement, support and grow their usage of GitLab. We work closely with cross functional leadership to ensure partners are integrated throughout the sales cycle both pre and post sales. The Manager, Ecosystem Sales - EMEA South leads a high-performing team of Ecosystem Sales Managers across Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, driving strategic partner relationships and ensuring consistent execution of ecosystem sales strategies.

All Ecosystem Sales leaders share the same primary requirements, responsibilities, and performance indicators. Scope of role and command of business will fluctuate based on level.

An overview of this role

As Manager, Ecosystem Sales - EMEA South, you'll lead GitLab's partner ecosystem strategy across Italy, Spain, France, BELUX, Middle East & Africa, and Mediterranean regions including Israel. You'll manage a distributed team of Ecosystem Sales Managers (both Scale and Value ESMs), driving partner-sourced pipeline generation, strategic partner relationships, and regional go-to-market execution. In this role, you'll work closely with regional sales leadership, marketing teams, and strategic partners including hyperscalers, GSIs, and regional system integrators to accelerate GitLab's growth through partner channels.

You'll own team performance across First Order generation, partner-sourced pipeline, services attachment, and strategic partner development while fostering talent development and ensuring global consistency in ecosystem sales execution. Your leadership will directly impact GitLab's regional growth targets by building a scalable, high-performing partner organization that integrates seamlessly with field sales operations.

What you'll do

Leadership Responsibilities

• Coach, develop and mentor a high-performing ecosystem sales team of Scale ESMs, Value ESMs, and specialized roles across EMEA South territories
• Communicate strategy and make sound decisions that support GitLab's ecosystem objectives, cascading important and relevant information to teams in a timely manner
• Provide understanding of business dynamics, key drivers and set strategies, tactics, and success metrics for ecosystem sales within EMEA South region
• Oversee ecosystem sales pipeline building activities across Italy, Spain, France, BELUX, MEA, and Mediterranean areas including Israel
• Facilitate ecosystem sales execution to drive GitLab revenue through partner channels and strategic relationships
• Provide Ecosystem Sales leadership with critical business visibility and weekly business status reporting
• Take a leadership role in representing ecosystem sales in quarterly business reviews and regional planning sessions

Strategic & Operational Responsibilities

• Engage GitLab regional sales leadership, solutions architects, and marketing teams to ensure awareness and leverage of strategic partnerships
• Cultivate ecosystem sales talent through hiring, development, and retention strategies aligned with regional growth objectives
• Collaborate with Marketing on ecosystem sales-related demand generation activities, partner events, and joint marketing initiatives
• Support partner marketing activities and joint go-to-market planning with strategic partners within assigned territories
• Coordinate and collaborate with Finance, Partner Operations, Sales Operations, and Sales teams as needed for operational excellence
• Foster executive relationships both internally and within strategic partner organizations across EMEA South
• Collaborate with VP, Ecosystem Sales to define partner strategy, budget, hiring plans, and team optimization to foster high performance
• Contribute to long-term investment planning, design, and execution for strategic partner engagement
• Ensure ecosystem sales global consistency while adapting to regional market dynamics and partner ecosystem requirements

What you'll bring

Leadership Requirements

• Demonstrated progressive management experience with emphasis on leadership and engaging global and local stakeholders
• Experience building trusted relationships with executive leadership and driving cross-functional engagement
• Ability to rapidly hire and scale a team of world-class professionals in a distributed, remote-first environment
• Strong sales experience managing ecosystem sales teams with focus on partner-sourced revenue and strategic relationships
• Experience managing strategic partner relationships with hyperscalers (AWS, Google Cloud), GSIs, and regional system integrators

Technical & Industry Requirements

• Experience selling software development tools and/or application lifecycle management solutions via cloud marketplaces and partner channels
• Expert knowledge of strategic ecosystem partner development, market analysis, and industry trends across EMEA South region
• Strong understanding of regional market dynamics across Italy, Spain, France, BELUX, MEA, and Mediterranean markets
• Experience with B2B sales and open source solutions in enterprise environments

Personal & Professional Attributes

• Language Proficiency: Fluent English with excellent communication skills, additional European languages (French, Spanish, Italian) preferred
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment; high energy, motivated self-starter
• Strong communicator in person, virtually, and in writing with ability to engage senior stakeholders
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to lead alliance sales teams across cultural and geographic boundaries
• Strong personal network within the EMEA South partner ecosystem and software industry
• Driven, highly motivated and results-oriented with focus on measurable business outcomes
• You share our values and work in accordance with those values
• Ability to use GitLab and modern sales management tools
• Ability to travel up to 50% across EMEA South territories and comply with company travel policy

About the team

The EMEA South Ecosystem Sales team focuses on building and scaling high-impact partner networks across Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa that drive First Order growth, strategic account expansion, and market penetration. As Manager, you'll lead a distributed team that collaborates closely with regional sales leadership, field marketing, and strategic partners including hyperscalers, GSIs, and regional system integrators. We operate with cultural sensitivity across diverse markets while maintaining global consistency in partner strategies and execution. The team is focused on expanding partner-sourced impact, developing regional talent, and building systematic approaches that integrate partners throughout the customer lifecycle from acquisition to expansion.