Managing Director, Collaborative Capital

The Team

The GitLab Foundation is a high-performing, fully remote team that moves quickly, values curiosity, and is deeply results-oriented. Grounded in our CREDIT values, we bring together diverse experience across philanthropy, nonprofits, the private sector, impact investing, and research. We combine that range of perspectives with collaboration, empathy, and strategic clarity to drive meaningful, measurable impact. Our culture is built on respect, humility, and open debate, with a strong bias for action. We hold ourselves to high standards, operate with transparency and ownership, and take initiative without waiting for perfect clarity. Priorities evolve, ambiguity is part of the work, and we embrace it—adapting, iterating, and improving as we go. We actively use AI and emerging technologies to work smarter, strengthen our systems, and expand what our team can accomplish.

The Role

The Managing Director, Collaborative Capital is a member of the GitLab Foundation Leadership Team and reports directly to the President & CEO. The role leads the Foundation’s Funds team and is responsible for 1) the strategy, development, deployment, and management of the Foundation’s grantmaking portfolio; 2) funding partner attraction, organization, and engagement; and, 3) grantee support services to maximize social return on investment.

As a senior leader in the organization, the Managing Director also contributes to Foundation-wide strategy and decision-making and serves as a strategic thought partner to the President & CEO and other members of the Leadership Team. The role identifies emerging opportunities, develops innovative funding vehicles, cultivates strategic partnerships, and translates ideas into scalable funds and initiatives that maximize social impact while delivering an exceptional experience for donors, fund participants, grantees, and other partners.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Strategy, Deployment, and Management of Collaborative Funds

• Develop, prioritize, and execute fund strategies aligned with the Foundation's North Star of maximizing lifetime earnings gains for every dollar deployed.
• Lead the design, launch, and management of collaborative funds, grantmaking portfolios, donor collaboratives, and other philanthropic capital vehicles across their full lifecycle, from opportunity sourcing and due diligence through capital deployment, grantee support, reporting, and continuous improvement.
• Establish the systems, governance, risk management, operating rhythms, and processes needed to manage and scale multiple funds and grantmaking portfolios with appropriate subject-matter expertise and accountability.
• Build grantee support systems, such as cohort learning communities, coaching, and evidence-building consultative supports, that strengthen grantee organizational capacity, improve outcomes, and maximize social return on investment across funds.
• Partner closely with the Director of Impact to embed impact modeling, evidence generation, measurement, and continuous learning throughout fund strategies, grantmaking, and portfolio management.
• Partner closely with Operations, Development, Communications, Finance, and Impact teams to ensure seamless execution across all funds, and with leaders of emerging Foundation business lines on shared grantmaking and grantee-support capabilities.
• Manage portfolio budgets, performance, and outcomes, using data and continuous learning to optimize deployment decisions and strengthen impact over time.
• Provide strategic recommendations and regular updates to the President & CEO and support reporting and recommendations to the Board on portfolio performance, emerging opportunities, and organizational risks.

Mobilize Capital and Build Strategic Relationships

• Lead the identification and cultivation of funding opportunities for the Foundation’s funds, working closely with the President & CEO and Chief Development Officer to secure external capital.
• Build and steward trusted relationships with foundations, family offices, donor collaboratives, philanthropic advisors, businesses, public-sector leaders, researchers, and other strategic partners.
• Represent fund strategies and investment opportunities with prospective donors and partners, translating the Foundation's approach, evidence, and impact into compelling opportunities for investment.
• Collaborate with peer funders, intermediaries, and ecosystem partners to identify opportunities for co-investment and collective impact, and convene stakeholders around shared opportunities that foster collaboration, learning, and field-building.

Expand GitLab Foundation's Influence as an Ambassador and Thought Leader

• Represent the Foundation externally, communicating its vision, strategy, innovations, lessons learned, and impact through conferences, convenings, donor meetings, and other forums to promote best practices and inspire other funders.
• Contribute to the Foundation's thought leadership through publications, research, presentations, and strategic communications that strengthen the field and advance evidence-based philanthropy.
• Monitor how key trends in philanthropy, economic mobility, technology, macroeconomics, and politics could affect achievement of GitLab Foundation’s goals, and share their implications internally and externally to increase our credibility and influence.

Build and Lead a High-Performing Team

• Build and lead a high-performing Funds team by cultivating top talent, fostering collaboration, and mobilizing team members to meet ambitious goals.
• Champion a culture of experimentation, continuous learning, and psychological safety that encourages open communication, bi-directional feedback, and responsible testing and scaling of new ideas.
• Set clear priorities, expectations, decision rights, and accountability across the Funds function.
• Coach and support team members in their professional growth, preparing them for future roles.
• Ensure clear communication up, down, and across the organization, so that Funds team members stay informed, can raise ideas, celebrations, and concerns to the Leadership Team, and collaborate well across peer functions.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, Experience and Personal Attributes

• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in philanthropy, social enterprise, consulting, venture capital, impact investing, technology, public policy, or related fields, including significant senior leadership experience contributing to organization-wide strategy and decision-making.
• Demonstrated experience developing, launching, managing, or scaling philanthropic funds, grantmaking portfolios, investment strategies, or other capital deployment initiatives.
• Strong understanding of philanthropy, economic mobility, systems change, and evidence-based approaches to social impact.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with experience building and scaling new ideas from concept to execution, including new initiatives, funds, products, services, partnerships, or business lines.
• Demonstrated track record cultivating philanthropists, foundations, family offices, corporate leaders, and other senior stakeholders, including securing significant external funding (e.g., $10 million or more) or strategic partnerships.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, judgment, and problem-solving skills, with the curiosity, adaptability, and bias toward action to navigate ambiguity and identify emerging opportunities in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Outstanding communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, including comfort representing an organization with senior external audiences.
• Proven ability to influence and align diverse stakeholders and lead through collaboration.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data, research, and evidence to inform decisions.
• Demonstrated experience building, managing, and developing high-performing teams.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled tools, emerging technologies, and data-driven approaches to decision-making.
• Mission- and impact-driven, with a commitment to transparency, integrity, humility, active listening, and delivering measurable social impact.

Location: Fully remote. Must be based in the U.S.

Travel: Approximately 20%

Annual Incentive: This role is eligible for the Foundation’s Annual Revenue Incentive Plan, with awards determined annually based on organizational revenue and individual contribution.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage (full premium coverage for team members, spouses, and dependents).
• 401(k) contribution: GitLab Foundation contributes 10% of your salary (no employee contribution required).
• Unlimited vacation, sick time, and other paid time off.
• Additional team member benefits.