The GitLab Foundation’s compensation approach is designed to attract, motivate, and retain talented team members who drive the Foundation’s success and uphold our organizational values. Recognizing the need for top-tier talent, we strive to provide a base salary that exceeds the market when team members are fully proficient and meeting expectations. In addition to base salary, the organization offers a comprehensive benefits package that reflects our commitment to the well-being of our team members and their families.
Our compensation process is intended to be fair and straightforward, ensuring that all team members and managers understand our goals:
We focus on hiring the best candidates and base our initial compensation offers on candidate skills and experience. We aim to be competitive with the market to recruit and retain high-quality team members. We benchmark against aligned nonprofit sector roles using market data from [Payscale](https://www.payscale.com/en-eu/why-payscale/#:~:text=Payscale technology is built so,many of the enterprise features.).
Team members can see where they fall within the compensation range for their role in their location and nationally and can email the Director of Operations to obtain this information (it will also be shared annually with individual team members and their managers when Total Rewards Statements are made available during the Annual Compensation Review cycle). It is rare for a team member to be at the top of the range, as this would leave little to no room for salary growth. Generally:
Please review how we manage performance at the Foundation for more information on how compensation is linked to performance.
At the GitLab Foundation, posted hiring ranges on our job descriptions are typically narrower than the entire market range. New hires generally are placed close to the midpoint of their local pay range. This approach provides room for performance-based salary growth and allows us to manage resources effectively while maintaining equity in compensation practices across the organization.
For promotions, increases are based on ensuring alignment with the new role’s market range, with in-seat promotions resulting in a standard 10% pay rise.
To remain competitive in the talent market, we employ a market-based approach to compensation. This allows us to account for local cost of living differences and adapt to changes effectively. We use role-based and location-specific benchmarks based on market data from [Payscale](https://www.payscale.com/en-eu/why-payscale/#:~:text=Payscale technology is built so,many of the enterprise features.) and refresh these benchmarks annually. Team members’ “markets” are determined by their place of residence and where taxes are paid.
Currently, the Foundation does not have international team members. However, we aim to make positions available in select markets outside of the US (currently, in Colombia and Kenya). We will use a market-based approach for team members in these countries and aim to offer localized benefits packages in line with those provided to the Foundation’s US-based team members.
Pay is based on the team member’s role and the market rate in the location where they reside and pay taxes. Therefore, a relocation may result in a compensation adjustment, which could increase or decrease compensation, depending on the new market. Learn more.
Increases within market pay bands are based on team members' annual performance. Exemplary performers will receive the most significant increases, and those rated “Opportunity for Improvement” will receive the lowest increases (or, sometimes, no increase).
The Annual Compensation Review is baked into the annual performance management process. Its purpose is to allow managers to reflect on team members’ accomplishments, measure achievements against goals, and reward demonstrated performance.
October-November
The Director of Operations will conduct a market review by pulling data for every role within the Foundation, including national and location-specific rates. A pay equity review will also occur annually during the annual compensation review cycle to ensure that all team members are fairly compensated for their work, regardless of gender, race, or background.
The results will be reviewed with the President & CEO and Chief Financial Officer as one data point in determining salary increase ranges within the annual budget for the following fiscal year.
December
After board approval of the upcoming year's budget, the Director of Operations will communicate the salary adjustment range for the upcoming fiscal year to the Foundation team.
February 1
Compensation adjustments depend on organizational and individual performance, market rates, and organizational funding conditions. Cost-of-living adjustments are built into our annual market-based compensation reviews. Individual salary adjustment decisions within the provided ranges are at the manager's discretion. Team members who have been with the organization for less than four months (as of Feb 1) will not be eligible for a compensation adjustment (“too new to rate”). Team members who have been with the organization for less than one year will have increases scaled based on the time they have spent in their current role at the Foundation.
We monitor pay across the organization to ensure that all team members are fairly compensated for their work, regardless of gender, race, or background. A pay equity review will occur annually during the annual compensation review cycle.
The GitLab Foundation takes a “total rewards” approach to compensation. This broader concept includes compensation but extends beyond monetary benefits to encompass all the tools that may be used to attract, motivate, and retain team members. At the Foundation, it includes:
In hiring, promotions, and annual review discussions, we make visible the complete set of rewards that team members receive in a Total Rewards Statement. These statements showcase a team member’s previous and future total rewards (for all elements of total rewards that can be monetarily represented).
Team members can access Total Compensation Statements at any time in TriNet. The Total Compensation Statement only includes some aspects of Total Rewards, including base pay, bonuses, health benefits (medical, dental, vision), income protection (life insurance), government benefits (social security and Medicare), and retirement benefits (401k).
To access:
The Foundation does not publicly disclose individual compensation details except when required for legal or financial reasons (e.g., 990 disclosures, audits, etc.). However, both your direct manager and their manager can access your salary information (as does the President & CEO, CFO, and Director of Operations). Team members are free to share their compensation details if they so choose.
Function leads are DRIs for final compensation decisions for current team members within their respective departments, as they are best positioned to manage their teams' budgets and align with departmental goals.
The Director of Operations is the DRI for hiring compensation decisions. Before making offers, the DRI collects input from the function lead(s).
This division of responsibility empowers function leads while maintaining cohesive and fair compensation practices across the organization. Specifically:
The President & CEO is the DRI for the organization’s overall compensation policy, ensuring consistency and alignment with the organization's broader strategic objectives.