Hello! Welcome to my README!
My name is Natalie Pinto and I’m a Staff Product Program Manager here at GitLab. I was most recently at Split.io, and you can see more about my background on my linkedin profile.
About Me
- I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area and have lived here all my life. I didn’t even go very far for college; I attended UC Santa Cruz (which is debatably part of the Monterey Bay and not the San Francisco Bay, but it’s very close, geographically speaking).
- While at UC Santa Cruz I studied History and Literature with a goal of becoming a middle school teacher. Life threw me a curveball and I ended up not pursuing that goal after graduation. Instead I found my way into the startup world and the rest is history (comedic punchline drum sound).
- When I’m not at work I spend my time reading, playing escape rooms and board games, gardening, and working on various fiber arts (I’m currently in a knitting phase and I’m trying to resist the urge to buy a weaving loom).
- I read a ton, mostly sci-fi and fantasy. I love talking about books and I volunteer at my local library because being surrounded by books is my happy place.
- I’m also on the board of a local theater company called Silicon Valley Shakespeare, where I lead the board’s fundraising efforts.
Why Program Management?
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Here are a few of my Program Management principles:
- Always be a force multiplier. It’s a Program Manager’s primary goal to facilitate, guide, and smooth the path of their projects. Sometimes that means finding new and creative ways to do things and sometimes it means avoiding anything new and disruptive. I trust the team to be experts in their field and it’s my job to find the right way to elevate their work.
- A good Program Manager is a neutral party. I’m here to facilitate and help teams find more efficiency and happiness with their work. I can’t do that if I have my own motivations and agendas. I’m aligned to the business goals and not to a specific team, methodology, or person.
- Keep an eye on Communication, Planning, and Dependencies. These tend to be the most challenging parts of managing cross-functional efforts and is often why a Program Manager is pulled into a project in the first place. I want to make sure these pieces are going well so that the rest of the team can focus on their primary areas of expertise.
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Program Management is the perfect combination of everything I love doing. I get to spend time working on a variety of challenges, projects, and problems. I get to interact with a lot of different people and their various working styles. I have to find ways to be equally effective across all those different challenges and people. I love it!
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Feel free to set up a coffee chat to discuss how you think Program Management could be beneficial here at GitLab.
Feedback
- Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any feedback, big or small. Because I work with so many different teams and people, it’s vital that I understand if my work is effective with one group, but not another.
- If you aren’t comfortable providing feedback to me live in-person (for example, in a 1:1 over Zoom), please feel free to send it to me over Slack or email or fill out this anonymous form.
- If you would like to ask me for feedback, please allow me some time to think through any feedback I may have for you. I generally like to take time to think about these questions rather than replying off the top of my head. I will try to provide feedback promptly and constructively.
Communication
- I check the various communication mediums (Slack, email, GitLab) 2-3 times per day and I follow an “inbox zero” mindset. My goal is to reply to / acknowledge messages by the end of my working day (5pm Pacific), but within 24 hours at most.
Personal projects
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Pronouns: She/her/hers
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Staff Product Program Manager at GitLab
Member since October 16, 2023