Posts Tagged with “staff”

I’m working on defining a search process for the Mozilla Foundation Executive Director. I’ve put an outline of my thinking so far in the mozilla.governance newsgroup, as that seems a better place for discussion. Take a look if you are interested in this topic.

As I mentioned a while back, the Mozilla Foundation is seeking an Executive Director. I’ve included the complete job description below. The search process for the Executive Director must be open, with significant community involvement. I’ll post a proposed plan for the search activities in the next couple of days for review and comment.

Information about the search as well as the job specification can also be found at the Mozilla Foundation website.

If you have thoughts on the job description, or on the proposed search process, please post them either as comments here, or as comments in the mozilla.governance newsgroup (available via newsreader or mailing list, or via the browser). And if you know anyone you think would be a good candidate, please contact Eunice Azzani at Eunice [dot] Azzani [at] kornferry [dot] com.

Position

Executive Director

Location

Mountain View, California

Organization

The Mozilla Project is one of the largest open-source software development projects in existence. Mozilla represents a user-base that is approaching 100 million people, paid and volunteer staff members, engineers paid by various employers to work on Mozilla, a volunteer population numbering in the thousands, a range of spin-off projects, and a set of companies using Mozilla technology to build products.

The Mozilla Project — which includes the Foundation and its wholly owned subsidiary the Mozilla Corporation — demonstrates that the open source development model is a vibrant addition to the traditional proprietary business models.

The Mozilla Corporation operates an extraordinarily transparent product development process and engages a global community of volunteer developers and enthusiasts to create and promote adoption for the browser. By harnessing the brainpower and creativity of a broad community, Mozilla has sparked a whole new wave of competition and choice on the Internet. At the same time, Mozilla has been able to provide Firefox users with a customizable and secure way to surf the Web — without the hassle of pop-up windows, adware and other nuisances.

Overview and Responsibilities

The Mozilla Foundation seeks an Executive Director with the passion to provide strategic leadership and vision for “an open Internet.” He/She should be motivated by the Foundation’s ability to connect people, technology and social possibilities.

The Mozilla community is made up of tens of millions of Firefox users, hundreds of thousands of contributors that are creating new technologies to ensure choice and promote innovation on the Internet. The Foundation with a current asset base of $35 million and the ability to leverage the work of Mozilla Corporation — is poised and ready to move to the next level which will focus on keeping the Internet open and accessible.

Leadership

• Serves as spokesperson for the organization and must be able to articulate and promote the Mozilla Foundation’s vision and mission.
• Builds, motivates, and promotes a high quality staff.
• Provides strong and innovative leadership in an open source environment with hands-on experience in running an organization, and developing and implementing programs.
• Leads the long-range and strategic planning process of the Board of Directors, ensuring that benchmarks are established for measuring success and that the planning cycles recur as appropriate.
• Implements and evaluates the action plan based on the approved strategic goals and opportunities.

Management/Program

• A proven decision maker with the ability to set priorities, manage, and implement them.
• Develops, establishes and maintains strong relationships with Mozilla Corporation and the Mozilla community.
• Creates and develops programs within the Foundation to achieve the overall mission for Mozilla.
• Develops strategic partnerships with appropriate organizations/people to advance the access and ease of the Internet.
• Creates and encourages a collegial and participatory work environment where trust, integrity and open communication are valued.

Community and Board Development

• Represents a strong cadre of volunteers, assuring their integration into the organization, culture, and leadership of the Foundation.
• Provide avenues for full and open communication and collaboration with the community at large and promote an awareness of the diverse and changing needs of the community.
• Initiates and encourages collaboration and cooperation among other organizations and leaders. Assists in building a shared vision of how to address and solve issues related to the Internet.
• Develops Board meeting agendas, in collaboration with the Board Chair, and regularly provides information to the Board on activities in relation to the mission and progress toward the strategic goals adopted by the Board.
• Provides information and recommendations to the Board for setting or revising the Foundation’s goals and objectives, operating policies, strategic planning and grant making priorities.

Qualifications

• Ten years senior management experience in either the not-for-profit or for-profit environments that are technology driven.
• Experience with open source environments is highly desirable.
• Ability to channel and synthesize expectations and needs of multiple constituencies including users, developers and volunteers.
• Should have an open and inclusive management style and be comfortable with working and resolving issues “in a fishbowl.”
• Ability to manage personnel remotely.
• He/she should have a high level of comfort and passion for technology and a sense of the possibilities of the Internet.
• Experience in working with an international community of people and organizations.
• A highly regarded professional stature and credibility, coupled with strong leadership skills.
• Effective at leading and managing highly independent and self-motivated employees and volunteers.
• The ability to prioritize and tackle multiple tasks and see the “big picture” are key. Maturity and sound judgment are essential.
• Experience in setting strategic direction and driving it.

Personal Characteristics

• Inspiring, creative and visionary about the Internet.
• Entrepreneurial style and spirit.
• Enjoys being in the company of technical people.
• Excellent communicator with all people at every level, a leader and bridge builder.
• Ability to work well under pressure and adapt easily to changing situations and priorities.
• Good judgment and consensus building skills.

Education

Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in experience is required.

Compensation

A base salary commensurate with experience plus attractive benefits.

The Mozilla Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.

Please send your resume or recommendations to:

Eunice J. Azzani

Eunice [dot] Azzani [at] kornferry [dot] com

One of the great strengths of the Mozilla project is the dedication of its participants. Many people participate over a period of years — sometimes as volunteers, sometimes as employees — figuring out new ways to contribute.

Frank Hecker is one such participant. Frank has been active in the Mozilla project since the very beginning, helping with the project’s launch in 1998. He then participated as a volunteer for many years. When the Mozilla Foundation needed an Executive Director, Frank agreed to take on that role, becoming an employee of the Foundation. Frank has just noted his desire to change his role, to remain active with the Mozilla Foundation, and to help the Foundation identify its next Executive Director.

On behalf of the Mozilla project I want to thank Frank deeply for serving as the Foundation’s Executive Director and providing a much-needed anchor. The Mozilla Foundation would be far weaker without Frank’s dedication and efforts, which represent much of what is great about the Mozilla project. I am looking forward to working with Frank in the future. I suspect he will continue to do much of the same work he has been doing, particularly in the accessibility and grants area where he has been leading such great efforts.

The Mozilla Foundation has engaged an executive recruiter to help us identify good candidates and to conduct a healthy process for identifying, evaluating and ultimately deciding on the right person for its next Executive Director. We haven’t yet mapped out exactly what that process will look like, but we know it will be open, public and highly interactive.

Our recruiter for this selection process is Eunice Azzani, who has a great deal of experience in recruiting both non-profit and for-profit leaders. She specializes in finding “out of the box” individuals that want to make a difference and have a strong passion for the work they do.

Eunice has interviewed Mozilla Foundation and Corporation Board members, and is talking with a few other long-time and active contributors to get a general idea of a job description. We hope to have that description drafted shortly. The job description will be posted for public review and input. From there, we’ll figure out what’s a good process to make sure candidates are identified and evaluated in a way that represents the Mozilla communities. The Executive Director is responsible to the Foundation Board of Directors in an organizational and legal sense; and to the Mozilla community in a leadership sense.

If you have suggestions about how to run an effective, open process please raise them in the mozilla.governance newsgroup (available via newsreader or mailing list, or via the browser). For example, one early step I’ve been thinking of is to set up a method — IM, podcast, conference call, whatever — for community members to talk with Eunice directly. If you have suggestions about candidates or specific questions for Eunice, you can reach her at: Eunice [dot] Azzani [at] kornferry [dot] com.

The Mozilla Foundation has an enormous opportunity to improve online experience for tens of millions of people. The Executive Director we seek will have internalized the possibilities and bring both expertise and passion to achieving the Mozilla vision.

The Mozilla Corporation is looking for a General Counsel to join its executive staff. The Mozilla Corporation is focused on creating great software and maintaining choice and innovation in key Internet activities, such as the highly acclaimed Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird applications. The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Internet.

The Mozilla Corporation

The Mozilla Corporation is at the heart of one of the largest open-source software development projects in existence. It includes a userbase of 70,000,000 people, paid and volunteer contributors numbering in the thousands, a range of spin-off projects, and a set of companies using Mozilla technology to build products. The Mozilla Corporation is also at the heart of the burgeoning innovation in web-based activities.

Mozilla Corporation employees work within a unique structure that combines open source DNA and development methodologies with extensive commercial involvement. Successful Mozilla Corporation employees are quick learners, excited by change, unbothered by ambiguity, motivated by personal excellence, happy when doing many things and highly dedicated to the success of the project.

The General Counsel

The General Counsel will provide legal, business and strategic advice to the CEO, management team, and Board of Directors regarding legal aspects of the company’s objectives. The General Counsel must have an exceptional understanding of software and Internet business transactions, intellectual property issues, and the trade-offs between legal and business risks, as well as a good grasp of corporate governance and other operational issues (HR, etc). He or she will be expected to:

• Identify, articulate, execute and publicly explain legal initiatives to the management team, Board of Directors, employees, participants in the Mozilla project and the public;
• Use expertise to create new and innovative solutions;
• Lead industry-wide discussions and initiatives relevant to the Mozillla Corporation;
• Work well with the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit parent of the Mozilla Corporation; and
• Help shape business relationships between the Mozilla Corporation and commercial entities.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Significant leadership experience with management teams across a range of issues; preferably as a General Counsel
• “Knock ‘em dead” understanding of the software and online business and legal worlds
• Proven ability to identify, design and implement creative solutions
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and team skills
• An aggressive creative streak, coupled with extreme flexibility
• Strong affinity for open, transparent, distributed work environments and for the goals of the Mozilla project
• A driving interest in the overall health of the Internet and related public policy issues
• Familiarity with and high interest in open source software

If you think you are this person, please contact Dan Portillo at careers@mozilla.com.

One of the big changes Firefox initiated was our extension model. It’s turned out to be an important area for keeping the minimalist product goal, providing opportunities for customization and innovation, and creating an active area for developer involvement. There’s a lot to think about to make the extension world work well, and to help developers building on our products more generally.

Mike Shaver has agreed to turn his focus to these topics. Mike has been involved in many aspects of the Mozilla project starting way back in 1998, and has done a varied set of things since joining us full-time last summer. Mike is now going to turn his focus to the extension space in particular and the software ecosystem around Firefox and our technologies in general.

Mike’s initial focus will be on the extension space, where he’ll coordinate the development of a clear strategy for helping users and developers get the most out of Firefox extensions. I’ll leave it to Mike to specify in detail his current view on what this entails, and how he’ll go about learning more from interested people.

More generally, Mike will focus on development of the ecosystem around Firefox. The goal here is to work with technical leads, partners and our community to make developers happier and more productive with Firefox and the web.