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 <toddmallen(a)gmail.com> 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 <lila(a)wikimedia.org> 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.
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