OSPO Program Manager

Description

The Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) at Johns Hopkins University is seeking an OSPO Program Manager to expand support for open-source programs and communities at JHU. By creating the first OSPO at a US university, JHU has led the way in defining what it means for an academic institution to embrace open source. The OSPO Program Manager will continue the expansion of OSPO capabilities by collaborating with faculty, researchers, staff, and students who are actively engaged in open-source software development, community management, governance deliberations, and sustainability planning. This will require the OSPO Program Manager to be well versed in the practices and methods surrounding the development of open-source software and communities.

This is an opportunity to have significant influence in the development of programs and strategies to support open source in academia. Not only will you be engaging with colleagues and students at JHU, but also with other emerging OSPOs across the academic landscape as well as community stakeholders and more established open source programs in industry. This role will require a willingness to experiment in order to discover the tools, resources, and support that provides the greatest value to those engaged in open source work at JHU. If you have a passion for open source, understand its purpose, and know how to make it work well, we want to talk with you.

This is a remote position. Some travel will be required to meet with project teams and attend events.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

• Promote adoption of open-source software and participation in open software communities by JHU faculty, staff, and students.
• Develop and implement strategies to grow the capabilities of the JHU OSPO.
• Communicate with open-source project groups to understand their needs, capabilities, and the types of support that will provide them the greatest value.
• Consult with open-source project teams to provide guidance in the development of community and establishment of functional project governance.
• Teach open-source practices, methods, and community building.
• Create and curate documentation that describes best practices and known effective methods for creating, operating, maintaining, governing, and sustaining open source projects.
• Capture and share information about the resources, programs, and tools offered by or through the OSPO.
• Assist with the selection and recommendation of tools and resources to benefit open-source development teams.
• Organize gatherings, events, hackathons, and other engagements.
• Speak about the work of the OSPO at conferences and events.
• Collaborate with OSPOs at other academic institutions, such as through groups like OSPO++
• Engage with individuals and institutions in Baltimore, across the nation, and internationally to promote the use of open-source software and platforms to advance the public good.

Special Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Passionate about building and maintaining healthy and vibrant open source communities.
• Comfortable with software development tools and practices (e.g. Git, GitHub, Docker, etc)
• Experience organizing and facilitating meetings and events.
• Experience developing open-source software utilizing one or more programming languages.
• Familiarity with project management methodologies used in software development (e.g. agile, kanban, waterfall)
• Experience in a leadership role on one or more open-source software projects or communities
• Demonstrated evidence of contributions to open-source projects (e.g. commits, tickets, documentation, blog posts)
• Firm understanding of open-source communities, culture, licensing, governance, and sustainability models.
• Experience creating and delivering training courses or workshops.
• Experience building consensus across diverse groups of stakeholders.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, dynamic environments.
• Ability to work independently while engaging colleagues and supervisors at strategic or key moments.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in related field.
• Five years of relevant work experience.
• Work experience may be substituted for degree where appropriate. Additional education and/or participation in large scale projects may be substituted for experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a role working in or closely with open-source software projects or communities.
• Experience working on a fully remote team.
• Experience developing or supporting software used in research projects.