Presales Consultant - Japan

An overview of this role

As a Solutions Architect, you’ll be a trusted advisor to GitLab prospects and customers in Japan helping them understand how GitLab’s DevSecOps platform addresses both technical requirements and business objectives across the entire software development lifecycle. You’ll guide organizations through their digital transformation journeys, from planning through monitoring, using your technical expertise, understanding of cloud and modern software development practices, and strong customer empathy. Reporting to a regional Solutions Architect manager and partnering closely with Account Executives and cross-functional teams, you’ll own technical evaluations (including proof of value initiatives and workshops), shape solution architectures, and serve as the voice of the customer back to Product Management. In your first year, you’ll focus on driving successful platform adoption, influencing revenue growth through solution selling, and building long-term, trust-based relationships that showcase GitLab’s differentiated position in an AI-driven DevSecOps landscape.

What you’ll do

• Lead technical discovery, demos, and validation (including proofs of value) to show how GitLab’s AI-powered DevSecOps platform meets customers’ technical and business needs across the full lifecycle.
• Drive the technical evaluation process as the Directly Responsible Individual, including solution design, POC/POV ownership, workshop design, and the technical components of tenders, audits, and value stream assessments.
• Collaborate with Account Executives and regional sales teams in Japan to shape and execute account strategies that support new customer acquisition and expansion.
• Build and deepen relationships with technical practitioners and business leaders, guiding them through GitLab-driven digital transformation and enabling them to become GitLab advocates.
• Advise customers on modern software development, continuous integration, continuous deployment, security, and cloud practices, challenging existing approaches to improve return on investment.
• Serve as the voice of the customer with Product Management, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing by sharing feedback, use cases, and competitive insights that inform roadmap and positioning.
• Maintain and extend your technical expertise in GitLab, DevSecOps, AI, and related cloud technologies, creating reusable examples, best practice guidance, and technical collateral for customers and partners.
• Invest in your own growth and development through ongoing learning, mentorship, and knowledge sharing to continuously improve the impact of the Solutions Architect team.

What you’ll bring

• Experience engaging with customers in technical pre-sales, consulting, or similar roles, guiding them through solution design and evaluation.
• Proficiency with the end-to-end software development lifecycle, including modern DevSecOps practices and continuous integration and continuous deployment workflows.
• Hands-on experience with GitLab or comparable source control, CI/CD, and collaboration platforms, and the ability to map platform capabilities to customer use cases.
• Practical knowledge of cloud computing concepts and related technologies, with the ability to discuss deployment, security, and operations options with technical teams.
• Ability to lead technical evaluations such as proofs of concept or proofs of value, contribute to tenders or audits, and design and run workshops or value stream assessments.
• Clear technical communication and presentation skills, with the ability to adapt messages for practitioners through to senior business and technical decision makers.
• Skill in building trusted relationships, listening with empathy, and acting as a customer advocate to internal teams such as Product, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing.
• Motivation to continuously develop professionally, including learning new technologies, deepening GitLab platform expertise, and applying transferable experience from related fields.

About the team

We, the Solutions Architect team, are part of GitLab’s Sales organization and serve as the technical counterpart to Account Executives, with this role focused on opportunities in Japan and reporting into a regional Solutions Architect Manager. Our mission is to help customers realize the full value of GitLab’s AI-powered DevSecOps platform by advising on architecture, running technical evaluations such as proofs of value, and guiding customers through their digital transformation. We work closely with Sales, Product Management, Engineering, and Marketing, collaborating asynchronously across regions to share best practices, create reusable technical collateral, and act as the voice of the customer. We are focused on helping customers modernize end-to-end software delivery, adopt GitLab at scale, and navigate a rapidly evolving AI and DevSecOps landscape.