Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Pine W]

Hi Quim,

I was digressing a little from the original subject of this thread when I
talked about WMF career development support for volunteers, but here are a
few suggestions:

1. Prioritize work on the open badges system.

2. Make information about WMF contract positions more public. Currently,
the system for hiring contractors seems to be opaque and largely at the
discretion of the C staff. The discretion is fine, but some additional
openness could be beneficial here, for recruiting purposes and for
financial & programmatic transparency.

3. Develop a central hub where WMF, Wikimedia affiliates, and
mission-aligned organizations can post links to intern, contract, and staff
openings. WMF could do this in partnership with an organization like
Mozilla, the Free Software Foundation, Code for America, or the Ford
Foundation. This hub might fit well with the WMF Partnership Department's
mission, in addition to WMF HR's recruiting mission.

4. Support the Volunteer Supporters Network
 initiative
on Meta; encourage peer support and networking opportunities among
Wikimedia volunteers.

5. Post monthly emails to appropriate Wikimedia mailing lists about intern,
contract, and full-time openings at WMF and affiliates that may be of
interest to members of those lists.

6. Develop an active mentorship program at WMF that encourages WMF
employees to mentor high-potential volunteers in their career development,
ideally leading to a role at WMF or a mission-aligned organization. The
Individual Engagement Grants Program and GSOC already do some of this with
their grantees and interns, and the concept could be expanded to other
programs and departments.

7. Continue to expand the number of intern opportunities at WMF. WMF
benefits from the inexpensive labor, and the interns benefit from the
experience and the networking opportunities.

Thoughts? We can take this discussion to Meta if it's getting to
complicated and diverging too much from the original purpose of this thread.

Thanks!

Pine



Pine


On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 7:13 AM, Quim Gil  wrote:

> Anders, I don't think I'm underestimating the competence we have in this
> community. I'm wondering which demographics we should look at in order to
> detect potential candidates for engineering executives (replying to Pine's
> ping). I'm also suggesting that improving the communication of our open
> positions with our communities is probably the way to go because I think
> potential candidates do exist, although finding a good CTO is more complex
> than finding a good JavaScript developer (although, wait..)  ;)
>
> Pine, for what is worth, in almost every Google Summer of Code / Outreachy
> round we have ended up recruiting a volunteer. Several WMF teams offer
> internships, some of them filled with Wikimedia volunteers. A percentage of
> new hires comes from our communities (I don't have data but I do read the
> announcements). I'm sure more can be done, and I'm sure implementable
> solutions are welcome. But back to this thread, one thing is to help
> volunteers to develop skills and experience to apply for junior positions,
> and another thing is to do... what? to ease the search of potential
> executives within our communities.
>
> I don't want to argue, I just want to know what can the Engineering
> Community team realistically do to connect better our technical volunteers
> with our technical job openings. I'm sure HR welcomes feedback about
> implementable improvements as well. They want to find best candidates
> anywhere, and they know that Wikimedia itself is a good pool. But we cannot
> hire the candidates that don't find us or that we cannot find... Which
> brings us back to the need to formulate practical solutions.
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 3:14 PM, Pine W  wrote:
>
> > Another thought: perhaps more investment could be made in providing
> career
> > development support for our volunteers of all kinds. It's relatively
> common
> > in the United States for organizations with lots of volunteers to put
> some
> > investment explicitly into helping the volunteers develop skills snd
> > experience that are useful for both their voluntary and paid work CVs. If
> > more of that kind of investment was made by WMF, volunteering would be
> more
> > attractive *and* WMF would benefit by having more ability to fill paid
> > positions from the ranks of volunteers.
> >
> > Pine
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Quim Gil
> Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
> http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, gu

[Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Brian Wolff]

>Another thought: perhaps more investment could be made in providing career
>development support for our volunteers of all kinds. It's relatively common
>in the United States for organizations with lots of volunteers to put some
>investment explicitly into helping the volunteers develop skills snd
>experience that are useful for both their voluntary and paid work CVs. If
>more of that kind of investment was made by WMF, volunteering would be more
>attractive *and* WMF would benefit by having more ability to fill paid
>positions from the ranks of volunteers.
>
>Pine

I'm curious, concretely speaking, what do you have in mind?

FWIW, I'm very thankful to say that Wikimedia has given me many
opportunities to develop skills etc. When I made my first edit I
didn't know how to program, now that's what I do for living. Much of
that is thanks to help and guidance of many Wikimedians. Obviously
that's a different type of mentoring than you're suggesting, but
nonetheless much of what I know can be directly attributed to
mentoring by various people associated with the movement.

--
bawolff

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Quim Gil]

Anders, I don't think I'm underestimating the competence we have in this
community. I'm wondering which demographics we should look at in order to
detect potential candidates for engineering executives (replying to Pine's
ping). I'm also suggesting that improving the communication of our open
positions with our communities is probably the way to go because I think
potential candidates do exist, although finding a good CTO is more complex
than finding a good JavaScript developer (although, wait..)  ;)

Pine, for what is worth, in almost every Google Summer of Code / Outreachy
round we have ended up recruiting a volunteer. Several WMF teams offer
internships, some of them filled with Wikimedia volunteers. A percentage of
new hires comes from our communities (I don't have data but I do read the
announcements). I'm sure more can be done, and I'm sure implementable
solutions are welcome. But back to this thread, one thing is to help
volunteers to develop skills and experience to apply for junior positions,
and another thing is to do... what? to ease the search of potential
executives within our communities.

I don't want to argue, I just want to know what can the Engineering
Community team realistically do to connect better our technical volunteers
with our technical job openings. I'm sure HR welcomes feedback about
implementable improvements as well. They want to find best candidates
anywhere, and they know that Wikimedia itself is a good pool. But we cannot
hire the candidates that don't find us or that we cannot find... Which
brings us back to the need to formulate practical solutions.


On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 3:14 PM, Pine W  wrote:

> Another thought: perhaps more investment could be made in providing career
> development support for our volunteers of all kinds. It's relatively common
> in the United States for organizations with lots of volunteers to put some
> investment explicitly into helping the volunteers develop skills snd
> experience that are useful for both their voluntary and paid work CVs. If
> more of that kind of investment was made by WMF, volunteering would be more
> attractive *and* WMF would benefit by having more ability to fill paid
> positions from the ranks of volunteers.
>
> Pine
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>



-- 
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Pine W]

Another thought: perhaps more investment could be made in providing career
development support for our volunteers of all kinds. It's relatively common
in the United States for organizations with lots of volunteers to put some
investment explicitly into helping the volunteers develop skills snd
experience that are useful for both their voluntary and paid work CVs. If
more of that kind of investment was made by WMF, volunteering would be more
attractive *and* WMF would benefit by having more ability to fill paid
positions from the ranks of volunteers.

Pine
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Anders Wennersten]

Quim Gil skrev den 2015-07-03 14:27:
I think that if there would be a good candidate for a VP of 
Engineering in our community, they wouldn't have been unnoticed (but I 
might be wrong). 

Please do not underestimate the competence existing in the community.

For myself I have seven years of experience of being a successful 
manager of a department made up by of 130 sw designer producing sw 
design tools for 4000 sw engineers residing in 40 different local 
offices all over the world.  Almost a blueprint of the CTO position at WMF


But I am certainly not a candidate, and only mention this to counter 
your statement.  And I do would like that WMF sometimes took a look 
outside the Bay area and into out global community, also for recruiting 
key personnel


Anders

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Quim Gil]

On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 3:30 AM, Pine W  wrote:

> Pinging Quim in case he can give us some demographics of Wikimedia's
> volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks it might be possible to find an
> engineering executive in that pool.
>

I'm not sure which demographics we should look at. While we have data about
technical contributions, they won't tell us much about the skills required
to perform well in an engineering executive role. I think that if there
would be a good candidate for a VP of Engineering in our community, they
wouldn't have been unnoticed (but I might be wrong). If anything, we could
improve our communication about open positions to reach likely targets in
our community and our readership, but I have no idea how this could be
done; it's not an easy task.

Most importantly, I think the main point of this discussion is this answer
in the FAQ:

> Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
> identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
> CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.

Do you know a Wikimedia contributor that could become a good CTO? Is our
future CTO editing articles, writing bots or reviewing code in Gerrit,
unaware that this job hunt is happening? Ask them to apply!
http://grnh.se/30f54b

-- 
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Risker]

It would be nice if there was an appropriately qualified person who was
interested in the position - although one must remember that the previous
Deputy ED and VP Engineering was very much "of the community" and several
past and current engineering and tech leaders (and staff!) have come from
the community as well.

On the other hand, given the scope of the job, it really needs someone with
solid managerial experience to handle a very large team and the lion's
share of the WMF's budget.  While there is a lot of talent in the community
(and even in the WMF), this job requires much more than
developer/engineering skills. The WMF does have some experience with
pushing talented and highly motivated developers/engineers into management
positions, where they didn't have the skill sets (or, in several cases, the
innate desire) to be the kind of leaders needed for those positions; it
wasn't a good situation for either the engineers or the WMF.  Or, to twist
an old expression, it's not good use of resources to try and make a silk
purse out of a Cray supercomputer.

Best wishes to Damon.

Risker/Anne

On 2 July 2015 at 22:06, Pine W  wrote:

> I think most VPNs are tone deaf. ;)
>
> Yes, in general I would like to see more respect from WMF for the
> collective wisdom of the community and for the use of volunteer time.
> Appointing a technical or content contributor to an executive role would be
> a good thing IMO.
>
> Pine
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:48 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:
>
> > ...
> >
> > Tone deafness of the WMF, and thank my phone for silly spelling.
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:47 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:
> >
> > > You're talking to one now, and I know several others. Now speaking for
> > me,
> > > I would never want to be "VP of anything", and so I'm certainly not
> > asking
> > > this on my own behalf, but that's not necessarily true of everyone.
> > >
> > > Regardless, I'd at least like to see some preference given toward
> > > volunteers who might apply and encouragement for them to do so if
> > > qualified. There's been, to put it mildly, some tone deafness of the
> VPN
> > in
> > > dealing with the community, and though some of the people engaged in
> that
> > > were indeed volunteers as well, I have no idea if that was actually
> their
> > > idea. (I hope not.) Perhaps having some people who have been volunteers
> > > actually in charge might help to bridge that disconnect.
> > >
> > > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:30 PM, Pine W  wrote:
> > >
> > >> Todd,
> > >>
> > >> I'm not speaking for WMF or Lila here, just repeating what I've heard
> in
> > >> other circles: it's rare to find a software engineer or designer who's
> > an
> > >> experienced Wikimedia content contributor. More common, but still far
> > from
> > >> plentiful, are experienced engineers who've contributed to MediaWiki
> and
> > >> other open source tech tools. Pinging Quim in case he can give us some
> > >> demographics of Wikimedia's volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks
> it
> > >> might be possible to find an engineering executive in that pool.
> > >>
> > >> Pine
> > >>
> > >> Pine
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Todd Allen 
> > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > Lila,
> > >> >
> > >> > Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for
> the
> > >> > engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia
> > >> project
> > >> > for some period of time?
> > >> >
> > >> > Thanks,
> > >> >
> > >> > Todd
> > >> >
> > >> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov 
> > >> wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> > > Dear all,
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF
> > was
> > >> > June
> > >> > > 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and
> > >> played a
> > >> > > role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission
> > of
> > >> > > delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans
> > for
> > >> > > Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that
> > should
> > >> > > address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I
> > know
> > >> > you
> > >> > > may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding
> > personnel
> > >> > > issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Lila
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Q. Why did Damon leave?
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to
> > comment
> > >> on
> > >> > > it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s
> > privacy.
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
> > >> > >
> > >> > >
> > >> > > Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be
> > >> sharing
> > >> > > oversight for the Engineerin

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Pine W]

I think most VPNs are tone deaf. ;)

Yes, in general I would like to see more respect from WMF for the
collective wisdom of the community and for the use of volunteer time.
Appointing a technical or content contributor to an executive role would be
a good thing IMO.

Pine


On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:48 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:

> ...
>
> Tone deafness of the WMF, and thank my phone for silly spelling.
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:47 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:
>
> > You're talking to one now, and I know several others. Now speaking for
> me,
> > I would never want to be "VP of anything", and so I'm certainly not
> asking
> > this on my own behalf, but that's not necessarily true of everyone.
> >
> > Regardless, I'd at least like to see some preference given toward
> > volunteers who might apply and encouragement for them to do so if
> > qualified. There's been, to put it mildly, some tone deafness of the VPN
> in
> > dealing with the community, and though some of the people engaged in that
> > were indeed volunteers as well, I have no idea if that was actually their
> > idea. (I hope not.) Perhaps having some people who have been volunteers
> > actually in charge might help to bridge that disconnect.
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:30 PM, Pine W  wrote:
> >
> >> Todd,
> >>
> >> I'm not speaking for WMF or Lila here, just repeating what I've heard in
> >> other circles: it's rare to find a software engineer or designer who's
> an
> >> experienced Wikimedia content contributor. More common, but still far
> from
> >> plentiful, are experienced engineers who've contributed to MediaWiki and
> >> other open source tech tools. Pinging Quim in case he can give us some
> >> demographics of Wikimedia's volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks it
> >> might be possible to find an engineering executive in that pool.
> >>
> >> Pine
> >>
> >> Pine
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Todd Allen 
> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Lila,
> >> >
> >> > Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for the
> >> > engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia
> >> project
> >> > for some period of time?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> >
> >> > Todd
> >> >
> >> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov 
> >> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > Dear all,
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF
> was
> >> > June
> >> > > 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and
> >> played a
> >> > > role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission
> of
> >> > > delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans
> for
> >> > > Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that
> should
> >> > > address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I
> know
> >> > you
> >> > > may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding
> personnel
> >> > > issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Lila
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Q. Why did Damon leave?
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to
> comment
> >> on
> >> > > it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s
> privacy.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be
> >> sharing
> >> > > oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level.
> >> > They'll
> >> > > work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals
> and
> >> > > individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor
> >> Parscal,
> >> > Wes
> >> > > Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
> >> > > disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
> >> > > transition.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
> >> > > approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these
> >> > commitments.
> >> > > The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that
> >> > their
> >> > > work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology
> >> department
> >> > > structure?
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the
> >> same.
> >> > > The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe
> >> they
> >> > > remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work
> we
> >> > have
> >> > > ahead of us in the next few years.
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of
> >> > this?
> >

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Todd Allen]

...

Tone deafness of the WMF, and thank my phone for silly spelling.

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:47 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:

> You're talking to one now, and I know several others. Now speaking for me,
> I would never want to be "VP of anything", and so I'm certainly not asking
> this on my own behalf, but that's not necessarily true of everyone.
>
> Regardless, I'd at least like to see some preference given toward
> volunteers who might apply and encouragement for them to do so if
> qualified. There's been, to put it mildly, some tone deafness of the VPN in
> dealing with the community, and though some of the people engaged in that
> were indeed volunteers as well, I have no idea if that was actually their
> idea. (I hope not.) Perhaps having some people who have been volunteers
> actually in charge might help to bridge that disconnect.
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:30 PM, Pine W  wrote:
>
>> Todd,
>>
>> I'm not speaking for WMF or Lila here, just repeating what I've heard in
>> other circles: it's rare to find a software engineer or designer who's an
>> experienced Wikimedia content contributor. More common, but still far from
>> plentiful, are experienced engineers who've contributed to MediaWiki and
>> other open source tech tools. Pinging Quim in case he can give us some
>> demographics of Wikimedia's volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks it
>> might be possible to find an engineering executive in that pool.
>>
>> Pine
>>
>> Pine
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:
>>
>> > Lila,
>> >
>> > Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for the
>> > engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia
>> project
>> > for some period of time?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Todd
>> >
>> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov 
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Dear all,
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was
>> > June
>> > > 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and
>> played a
>> > > role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
>> > > delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
>> > > Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
>> > > address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know
>> > you
>> > > may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
>> > > issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Lila
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. Why did Damon leave?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment
>> on
>> > > it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be
>> sharing
>> > > oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level.
>> > They'll
>> > > work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
>> > > individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor
>> Parscal,
>> > Wes
>> > > Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
>> > > disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
>> > > transition.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
>> > > approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these
>> > commitments.
>> > > The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that
>> > their
>> > > work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology
>> department
>> > > structure?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the
>> same.
>> > > The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe
>> they
>> > > remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we
>> > have
>> > > ahead of us in the next few years.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of
>> > this?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as
>> > planned.
>> > > The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
>> > > engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO
>> with
>> > > the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is
>> the
>> > > timeline?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > 

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Todd Allen]

You're talking to one now, and I know several others. Now speaking for me,
I would never want to be "VP of anything", and so I'm certainly not asking
this on my own behalf, but that's not necessarily true of everyone.

Regardless, I'd at least like to see some preference given toward
volunteers who might apply and encouragement for them to do so if
qualified. There's been, to put it mildly, some tone deafness of the VPN in
dealing with the community, and though some of the people engaged in that
were indeed volunteers as well, I have no idea if that was actually their
idea. (I hope not.) Perhaps having some people who have been volunteers
actually in charge might help to bridge that disconnect.

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:30 PM, Pine W  wrote:

> Todd,
>
> I'm not speaking for WMF or Lila here, just repeating what I've heard in
> other circles: it's rare to find a software engineer or designer who's an
> experienced Wikimedia content contributor. More common, but still far from
> plentiful, are experienced engineers who've contributed to MediaWiki and
> other open source tech tools. Pinging Quim in case he can give us some
> demographics of Wikimedia's volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks it
> might be possible to find an engineering executive in that pool.
>
> Pine
>
> Pine
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:
>
> > Lila,
> >
> > Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for the
> > engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia
> project
> > for some period of time?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Todd
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov 
> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear all,
> > >
> > >
> > > I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was
> > June
> > > 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played
> a
> > > role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
> > > delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
> > >
> > >
> > > Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
> > > Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
> > > address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know
> > you
> > > may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
> > > issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
> > >
> > >
> > > Lila
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. Why did Damon leave?
> > >
> > >
> > > Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment
> on
> > > it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
> > >
> > >
> > > Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be
> sharing
> > > oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level.
> > They'll
> > > work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
> > > individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal,
> > Wes
> > > Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
> > > disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
> > > transition.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
> > >
> > >
> > > The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
> > > approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these
> > commitments.
> > > The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that
> > their
> > > work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology
> department
> > > structure?
> > >
> > >
> > > The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the
> same.
> > > The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe
> they
> > > remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we
> > have
> > > ahead of us in the next few years.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of
> > this?
> > >
> > >
> > > We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
> > >
> > >
> > > We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as
> > planned.
> > > The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
> > > engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO
> with
> > > the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
> > >
> > >
> > > Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
> > > timeline?
> > >
> > >
> > > Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
> > > identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
> > > CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
> > > ___
> > > Wikimedia-l mailing list,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Pine W]

Todd,

I'm not speaking for WMF or Lila here, just repeating what I've heard in
other circles: it's rare to find a software engineer or designer who's an
experienced Wikimedia content contributor. More common, but still far from
plentiful, are experienced engineers who've contributed to MediaWiki and
other open source tech tools. Pinging Quim in case he can give us some
demographics of Wikimedia's volunteer tech pool and whether he thinks it
might be possible to find an engineering executive in that pool.

Pine

Pine


On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 6:21 PM, Todd Allen  wrote:

> Lila,
>
> Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for the
> engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia project
> for some period of time?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> > I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was
> June
> > 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
> > role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
> > delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
> >
> >
> > Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
> > Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
> > address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know
> you
> > may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
> > issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
> >
> >
> > Lila
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Q. Why did Damon leave?
> >
> >
> > Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
> > it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
> >
> >
> > Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
> >
> >
> > Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
> > oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level.
> They'll
> > work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
> > individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal,
> Wes
> > Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
> > disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
> > transition.
> >
> >
> > Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
> >
> >
> > The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
> > approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these
> commitments.
> > The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that
> their
> > work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
> >
> >
> > Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
> > structure?
> >
> >
> > The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
> > The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
> > remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we
> have
> > ahead of us in the next few years.
> >
> >
> > Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of
> this?
> >
> >
> > We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
> >
> >
> > Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
> >
> >
> > We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as
> planned.
> > The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
> > engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
> > the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
> >
> >
> > Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
> > timeline?
> >
> >
> > Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
> > identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
> > CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> ___
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> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Todd Allen]

Lila,

Will any consideration be given toward selecting a new leader for the
engineering team who has been an active volunteer with a Wikimedia project
for some period of time?

Thanks,

Todd

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 5:35 PM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
> I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was June
> 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
> role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
> delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
>
>
> Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
> Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
> address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know you
> may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
> issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
>
>
> Lila
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Q. Why did Damon leave?
>
>
> Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
> it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
>
>
> Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
>
>
> Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
> oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level. They'll
> work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
> individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal, Wes
> Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
> disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
> transition.
>
>
> Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
>
>
> The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
> approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these commitments.
> The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that their
> work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
>
>
> Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
> structure?
>
>
> The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
> The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
> remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we have
> ahead of us in the next few years.
>
>
> Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of this?
>
>
> We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
>
>
> Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
>
>
> We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as planned.
> The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
> engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
> the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
>
>
> Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
> timeline?
>
>
> Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
> identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
> CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Ricordisamoa]

Il 03/07/2015 02:38, Pete Forsyth ha scritto:

On Jul 2, 2015 5:32 PM, "Ricordisamoa"  wrote:

Il 03/07/2015 01:35, Lila Tretikov ha scritto:

(Snip)


While I know you
may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel


Personal?

No, "personnel." It means, more or less, issues about an individual,
relating to his/her employment.


I know what "personnel" means, just thought it was a typo.


Pete

[[User:Peteforsyth]]
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Pete Forsyth]

On Jul 2, 2015 5:32 PM, "Ricordisamoa"  wrote:
>
> Il 03/07/2015 01:35, Lila Tretikov ha scritto:

(Snip)

>> While I know you
>> may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
>
>
> Personal?

No, "personnel." It means, more or less, issues about an individual,
relating to his/her employment.
Pete

[[User:Peteforsyth]]
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Ricordisamoa]

Il 03/07/2015 01:35, Lila Tretikov ha scritto:

Dear all,


I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was June
30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.


Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know you
may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel


Personal?


issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.


Lila







Q. Why did Damon leave?


Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.


Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?


Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level. They'll
work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal, Wes
Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
transition.


Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?


The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these commitments.
The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that their
work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.


Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
structure?


The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we have
ahead of us in the next few years.


Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of this?


We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.


Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?


We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as planned.
The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.


Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
timeline?


Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Liam Wyatt]

Thank you for this announcement Lila.

Good luck to Damon in his future endeavours;
Good luck to the leadership of the engineering teams during this transition;
And, good luck for recruiting the important CTO role soon!

Sincerely,
-Liam / Wittylama

On Friday, 3 July 2015, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
> I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was June
> 30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
> role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
> delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
>
>
> Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
> Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
> address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know you
> may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
> issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
>
>
> Lila
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Q. Why did Damon leave?
>
>
> Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
> it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
>
>
> Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
>
>
> Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
> oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level. They'll
> work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
> individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal, Wes
> Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
> disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
> transition.
>
>
> Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
>
>
> The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
> approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these commitments.
> The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that their
> work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
>
>
> Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
> structure?
>
>
> The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
> The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
> remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we have
> ahead of us in the next few years.
>
>
> Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of this?
>
>
> We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
>
>
> Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
>
>
> We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as planned.
> The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
> engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
> the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
>
>
> Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
> timeline?
>
>
> Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
> identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
> CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>  ?subject=unsubscribe>



-- 
wittylama.com
Peace, love & metadata
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[Wikimedia-l] Changes in Engineering leadership

[Lila Tretikov]

Dear all,


I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was June
30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.


Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know you
may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.


Lila







Q. Why did Damon leave?


Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.


Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?


Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level. They'll
work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal, Wes
Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
transition.


Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?


The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these commitments.
The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that their
work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.


Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
structure?


The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we have
ahead of us in the next few years.


Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of this?


We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.


Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?


We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as planned.
The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.


Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
timeline?


Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
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