Principles - Processes - Categorization - GitLab the Product - PM Responsibilities - Being a PM - Performance Indicators - Leadership
The GitLab Product team includes team members at various levels of Product Management job titles across our organizational levels with scope at various points in our product hierarchy. As a result there can be instances where peers across layers don't have the same title. We will always abide by GitLab's layer structure.
| Level | Job Families | Hierarchy Scopes |
|---|---|---|
| IC | Product Manager | Group, Stage |
| Manager | Group Manager Product, Director of Product | Section |
| Senior Leader | VP | All Sections |
| Executive | VP, Product | Entire Function |
All Managers and above in the Product function are considered product leaders. They can be referenced using the @gl-product-leadership handle. This document describes important leadership concepts specific to the product management team. See also our page on general GitLab leadership guidance.
Product team members who report directly to the VP, Product are members of the Product Leadership Team.
This group can be referenced in GitLab.com issues using the @gl-product-plt handle.
The Product Group Conversation will be hosted by a member of the Product Leadership team as defined by the rotating schedule listed below. All members of the Product Leadership team are encouraged to host the Product Group Conversation. The Group Conversations will either reference a previous Product Key Review or Product Group Conversation presentation, depending on which is most recent. Details on how to drive the tasks will be in the automatated issue that gets assigned that months speaker.
For more details, visit the Group Conversations handbook page The host can add more content to the Key Review slides if they want to share any additional updates.
The VP and Product Operations will be assigned an automatated issue as a reminder on the 1st day of every month to initiate this workflow. Starting in May the host of the GC will be the Product leader who presented at the previous Monthly Direction Section Review. (eg: May's Section Review leader will host June's GC)
| Date | Host | Planning Issue |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-09-27 | Kenny Johnston | TBD |
| 2021-11-01 | David DeSanto | TBD |
| 2021-12-09 | Joshua Lambert | TBD |
| 2022-01-10 | David DeSanto | TBD |
| 2022-02-10 | Hila Qu | Issue 3708 |
| 2022-03-14 | Hillary Benson | Issue 3857 |
| 2022-04-13 | Kenny Johnston | TBD |
| 2022-05-10 | Joshua Lambert | TBD |
| 2022-06-15 | Omar Fernandez | TBD |
| 2022-07-27 | Orit Golowinski | Issue 4462 |
| 2022-08-24 | Hillary Benson | Issue 4627 |
| 2022-09-14 | Justin Farris and David DeSanto | Issue 4787 |
| 2022-10-18 | Taylor McCaslin | Issue 4912 |
| 2022-11-10 | Joshua Lambert | Issue 5026 |
| 2022-12-14 | Omar Fernandez | Issue 5164 |
| 2023-01-17 | Sarah Waldner (Dev) | Issue 5268 |
| 2023-02-28 | Jackie Porter (Ops) | TBD |
| 2023-03-22 | Hillary Benson (Sec) | Issue 5501 |
| 2023-04-13 | Joshua Lambert (Enablement) | TBD |
| 2023-05-23 | Justin Farris (Product Monetization) | TBD |
| 2023-06-20 | Orit Golowinski (Dev) | TBD |
| 2023-07-12 | Jackie Porter (Ops) | TBD |
| 2023-08-23 | Hillary Benson (Sec) | TBD |
| 2023-09-21 | Joshua Lambert (Enablement) | TBD |
| 2023-10-11 | Justin Farris (Product Monetization) | TBD |
| 2023-11-09 | Orit Golowinski (Dev) | TBD |
| 2023-12-13 | Jackie Porter (Ops) | TBD |
In an effort to ensure cross-section understanding of performance indicators and activities to improve them, section leaders are assigned another section on a quarterly basis. Section leaders attend and investigate PIs for that section throughout the course of the quarter.
| Section | FY23Q2 Pair |
|---|---|
| Dev | KennyJ |
| Sec | OmarF |
| Ops | HillaryB |
| Data Science | OmarF |
| Enablement | OritG |
| Fulfillment | SamA |
| Growth | JoshL |
Below you'll find the ReadMe's for our Product Division leaders who manage teams.
As a product team leader, it's important to set the tone for the organization. We put our PMs individually in the forefront as Directly Responsible Individuals (DRI), with the trust and power that they can make the right decisions with our support as product leaders. This section is intended to outline some best practices for working between PMs and their leaders. It contains guidance on responsibilities and expectations the leader should have in working with PMs, but is not intended to be hard and fast rules that take the place of having a strong working relationship and prioritizing things effectively together.
Note - This is intended as a supplement to the product director or group manager of product job descriptions with specific focus on the interaction between PMs and their managers. General job responsibilities can be found at that link.
An effective product leader should:
