Community Tech-Leads ==================== Slide 1: Community Tech-Leads Narration Anna: This section sets up Community Tech-Leads. Treat it as the frame for the decisions, handoffs, and evidence that appear in the next slides. Greg: The practical question is simple: by the end, what should a junior IT professional be able to explain, check, or document in a real workplace? On-screen text Community Tech-Leads The connective tissue between code, culture and contributors Slide 2: Why the role exists Narration Anna: Our opener frames community tech-leads as connective tissue because they sit between governance, engineering and contributor care. Once a project grows past a couple dozen maintainers, somebody has to watch the whole ecosystem. Greg: Right, otherwise RFCs stall, moderation escalations slip, and users lose trust. That ratio call-out—one tech-lead per 150 to 250 active contributors—gives learners a benchmark for when to lobby their foundation for funding the role. On-screen text Why the role exists - Mature projects need a bridge between maintainers, contributors and users - Tech-leads translate community values into technical direction and roadmap trade-offs - They coordinate security, accessibility and localisation work that no single maintainer can own - Rough ratio: 1 tech-lead per 150–250 active contributors to keep reviews under 72 hours - Without them, governance charters drift from reality and contributor trust erodes Slide 3: Core responsibilities Narration Anna: On the responsibilities slide we emphasise facilitation as much as technical leadership. Tech-leads host backlog triage, shepherd RFCs and ensure incident responses loop back into documentation. Greg: And they are the culture keepers. Calling out inclusive communication, mentorship pipelines and reporting to sponsors signals that this role is accountable to people, not just code. On-screen text Core responsibilities - Facilitate backlog triage, RFC discussions and release planning with transparent decision logs - Model inclusive communication and uphold the code of conduct in technical forums - Pair emerging maintainers with mentors and steward succession plans for critical subsystems - Own dependency hygiene, SBOM updates and incident coordination across distributed teams - Report progress to fiscal sponsors, foundations and partner organisations Slide 4: Bridging community & engineering Narration Anna: Bridging community & engineering focuses attention on a concrete part of the work. Hosts contributor office hours across time zones and languages, Converts user research, localisation feedback and Indigenous data protocols into actionable issues, and Maintains tooling for translation, documentation builds and contributor analytics. Greg: In practice, ask who owns the work, what evidence proves it happened, and what handoff comes next. Use the supporting details as a checklist: Converts user research, localisation feedback and Indigenous data protocols into actionable issues; Maintains tooling for translation, documentation builds and contributor analytics; Negotiates with corporate stakeholders to ensure funding aligns with community roadmap. On-screen text Bridging community & engineering - Hosts contributor office hours across time zones and languages - Converts user research, localisation feedback and Indigenous data protocols into actionable issues - Maintains tooling for translation, documentation builds and contributor analytics - Negotiates with corporate stakeholders to ensure funding aligns with community roadmap - Acts as escalation path for moderation teams when disputes have technical roots Slide 5: Day-to-day workflow Narration Anna: The bridge slide paints the tech-lead as translator—turning localisation, Indigenous data sovereignty requirements and user research into engineering tickets. Greg: Exactly, and the workflow slide anchors that translation in a daily cadence. Learners see how office hours, merge queue triage and mentoring rosters all live on the same calendar. On-screen text Day-to-day workflow - Morning: async stand-up posts, merge queue review, security patch triage - Midday: roadmap sync with governance committee, unblock volunteer maintainers, update mentoring roster - Evening: community livestream or timezone-friendly pairing session - Time allocation trends: ~35% technical design, 30% community facilitation, 20% mentoring, 15% reporting - Success metric: 90% of pull requests receive actionable feedback within three business days Slide 6: Entry pathways Narration Anna: For pathways we wanted to show this isn’t a mysterious promotion—you can come through long-term contribution, fellowship programs or corporate OSPO rotations. Greg: Including iwi digital innovation hubs reinforces that Indigenous technologists belong in these roles. The 4 to 6 year experience band sets expectations for skill depth without gatekeeping specific degrees. On-screen text Entry pathways - Long-term contributor promoted after stewarding a module through multiple releases - Fellows from programs like Outreachy, Google Season of Docs or GitHub OSS Maintainer Scholarships - Engineers rotating out of corporate OSPOs seeking community-facing leadership - Community organisers with technical upskilling via bootcamps or iwi digital innovation hubs - Typical baseline: 4–6 years combined engineering and facilitation experience with demonstrated community impact Slide 7: Skills & traits that stick Narration Anna: The skills slide leans into empathy, multilingual communication and systems thinking because tech-leads spend most of their time orchestrating people, not just writing code. Greg: We also highlight calm incident facilitation and documentation-first habits—those are the traits that reduce burnout and make governance transparent to new contributors. On-screen text Skills & traits that stick - Bilingual or multilingual communication to bridge global communities - High empathy and conflict navigation, grounded in cultural safety principles - Systems thinking to map how infrastructure, funding and governance intersect - Calm under incident pressure; able to host blameless retros that include community voice - Documentation-first mindset so decisions are legible to newcomers Slide 8: Working with the wider team Narration Anna: The team slide shows how tech-leads partner with community managers, legal counsel and accessibility experts. It grounds the abstract role in a concrete staffing model. Greg: Calling out stipend advocacy and data-sharing up to boards also keeps the justice lens present—tech-leads are accountable for equitable recognition, not just sprint velocity. On-screen text Working with the wider team - Partners closely with product/community managers, legal counsel and accessibility reviewers - Oversees volunteer squads: docs, localisation, security response, release engineering - Advocates for stipend budgets and equitable recognition programs - Ensures foundation boards hear frontline contributor data before policy votes - Typical staffing: 1 community tech-lead supported by 2–3 senior maintainers and 4–6 rotating fellows Slide 9: Career progression Narration Anna: For progression we mapped a lattice: maintainer to tech-lead to ecosystem leadership, with lateral moves into OSPOs, developer relations or policy work. Greg: That helps students see longevity—this isn’t a cul-de-sac role. It can lead to foundation CTO seats or Indigenous data sovereignty leadership, which signals strategic impact. On-screen text Career progression - Entry: Maintainer or module steward coordinating limited scope features - Mid-level: Community tech-lead accountable for cross-project initiatives and contributor health metrics - Senior: Ecosystem lead or OSPO director guiding multi-project strategy and funding partnerships - Executive pathways: Foundation CTO, cooperative digital steward, or policy advisor on open-source sustainability - Career lattice allows lateral moves into developer relations, governance, or Indigenous data sovereignty leadership roles Slide 10: Key takeaway Narration Anna: We close by reminding learners that investing in tech-leads is about sustaining trust and resilience, not just adding another title. Greg: Exactly—funding this role protects values, speeds reviews and keeps governance tethered to community reality. That’s the north star for Part 7. On-screen text Key takeaway Intentional investment in community tech-leads sustains contributor trust, equitable governance and long-term project resilience.