Heather Tarver

Technical Recruiter | R&D

Professional Overview
Heather Tarver is an experienced technical recruiter with a proven track record of driving talent acquisition and workforce development initiatives in the software engineering, research and development, and information security industries. As a Technical Recruiter | R&D at GitLab, she leverages her expertise to identify and attract top-caliber talent for the company's research and development teams.

Experience Summary

Current Role
In her current role at GitLab, Heather is responsible for leading the end-to-end recruitment process for R&D roles, including sourcing, screening, and selecting qualified candidates. She works closely with hiring managers to understand their team's evolving needs and develop tailored recruitment strategies to meet their talent requirements. Heather's data-driven approach and strong stakeholder management skills have enabled her to consistently deliver high-quality hires that positively impact GitLab's product innovation and development.

Career Progression
Prior to joining GitLab, Heather held senior talent acquisition roles at leading technology companies, including Flexport, Twilio, and Microsoft. As a Sr. Technical Recruiter | Software Engineering & InfoSec at Flexport, she played a pivotal role in scaling the company's engineering and security teams, contributing to its rapid growth. At Twilio, she served as a Sr. Talent Partner | R&D and Talent Manager | R&D, where she partnered with engineering leaders to build high-performing, diverse teams. Earlier in her career, Heather honed her skills as a Technical Talent Sourcer | Software Engineering at Microsoft and as a Manager of Talent Acquisition and Retention at AIM Consulting Group.

Academic Background
Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Washington, where she graduated with distinction.

Areas of Expertise

• Technical talent acquisition and recruitment strategy

• Workforce planning and talent pipeline development

• Candidate sourcing, screening, and selection

• Stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration

• Data-driven decision making and metrics-based performance tracking

Professional Impact
Throughout her career, Heather has consistently demonstrated her ability to identify and attract top technical talent, contributing to the growth and success of the organizations she has served. At Flexport, she played a pivotal role in scaling the engineering and security teams, helping the company to expand its product offerings and market reach. At Twilio, her talent acquisition strategies and partnership with engineering leaders enabled the company to build high-performing, diverse R&D teams that drove innovative product development.

Conclusion
With her extensive experience, strategic mindset, and deep understanding of the technology industry, Heather Tarver is a highly valued talent acquisition professional. In her current role at GitLab, she continues to leverage her expertise to identify and recruit the exceptional technical talent that fuels the company's research and development efforts, contributing to its ongoing success and growth.