Manager, Open Source Community Programs

Location(s): Remote Canada

This role works closely with staff across North America and Europe. Consequently, applicants in the ET time zone are strongly preferred.

Why Thunderbird?

MZLA Technologies Corporation (MZLA) is a wholly-owned, for-profit subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation and the home of Thunderbird. Thunderbird is a global, free, and open-source email and productivity app, which has experienced significant growth in revenue, staff, and aspirations since its launch 20 years ago. Our revenue comes from our dedicated users around the world who generously fund our work. As we continue to expand our team and enhance our products and services, we remain dedicated to providing best-in-class productivity solutions independent of big tech. Operating as a small but dynamic team of 40 + staff across seven countries and time zones, we are part of the larger Mozilla family but maintain our distinct and independent identity from both the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation.

Our organizational culture is driven by our mission. We are committed to fostering openness and transparency as a member of the open-source community. We lean into collaboration, creativity, and diversity. We bring a hearty dose of scrappy grit and resilience to our lively and spirited team. Our operating principles leverage data informed decisions, ownership, speed and efficiencies to elevate our work and deliver innovative and impactful solutions to our users.

We work openly and this newly created Manager, Community Programs role is pivotal in advancing and strengthening our relationships with the open-source contributor community that helps power Thunderbird. It’s an incredible opportunity for an experienced community manager to help shape our community engagement activities and build a pipeline of active volunteers who support our varied product development and support initiatives.

The Opportunity:

Our community team is a dynamic and collaborative group dedicated to open-source excellence and innovation, working closely with a global network of volunteers and developers. In this role, you will manage the team and engage directly with our community, facilitating onboarding, communicating priorities, and providing clear direction. You’ll collaborate closely with our internal teams to identify opportunities for engagement (product development, QA, localization and user support) and you’ll organize all community initiatives, measuring and ensuring we see a meaningful return on investment from our engagement efforts.

The Manager, Community Program  will manage a small team and report directly to the Managing Director, Product.

This is a remote, full time position. We require strong written communication skills to facilitate effective work coordination across various virtual communication platforms such as email and video conferencing.

What you’ll do: 

• Develop and implement strategies for community growth, engagement, and retention, while ensuring alignment with the organization's vision and goals.
• Lead and mentor the Community team, fostering their growth through direct management, coaching and mentorship.
• With your team, manage programs to successfully onboard and move volunteers up the contribution curve and ensure they have opportunities to make meaningful contributions.
• Actively participate in community discussions and outreach activities across various channels, provide support and encouragement to members, and moderate interactions to maintain a positive and respectful environment.
• Collaborate with our internal teams (engineering, QA, design, product, support) to source problems and needs appropriate for working with the crowd. 
• Collaborate with marketing to support campaigns and activities to increase community activity and engagement, creating content as needed.
• Create a recognition program that increases and celebrates volunteer engagement and satisfaction.
• Manage the tools that measure community engagement, monitor and take action as needed.
• Serve as a bridge between internal teams and external contributors, listening to feedback and questions with empathy, and responding in kind and sharing feedback and insights so collaboration flows seamlessly.
• Plan and budget for annual outreach programs, such as conferences, online events and other outreach activities.  
• Publicize and apply CPG fairly and consistently. Make recommendations for improvement when appropriate.

What you’ll bring: 

• Seasoned professional experienced working with and supporting multiple stakeholders and delivering results. 
• Minimum 3 years of experience building and/or managing technical communities. Experience or familiarity with Thunderbird or another Mozilla project is a strong plus.
• Prior developer experience is strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years people management experience, holding 1-1s, giving feedback and helping coach team members to grow and thrive.
• Understanding of and ability to use version control systems: experience with Git and/or Mercurial.
• Experience moderating forums, mailing lists and chat channels.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects at the same time.
• Dedication to open source and open standards and passion for engaging with a diverse and global community. 
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with clear and crisp writing, strong cultural awareness and ability to communicate with a variety of audiences.
• Knowledge of inclusive practices for community building, including code of conduct enforcement.
• Ability to de-escalate and balance tensions as they arise. 

Bonus points for:

• Bonus points for fluency in a second language such as German, French, Spanish or Japanese

What you’ll get:

We benchmark our base salaries to local markets and target the 60th percentile of the peer market. The salary ranges for this role are:

• Canada: $100k-115k

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your whole self.

Work & Career

• Fully remote work & schedule flexibility
• Latest Laptop and accessories 
• Annual Remote Work Stipend
• Monthly Internet Stipend
• Professional Development Stipend
• Industry Conferences
• Annual Global Team Offsite

Rest & Play

• 24 days PTO per year (prorated) 
• Your Birthday
• Year-end Company Shutdown
• Pilot 4 Day Work Week (July & August 2024)
• Public Holidays
• Other Paid Leave
• Wellbeing Stipend for Personal / Family Activities

Health & Family

• 401k/Pension Contributions
• Health, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Disability/Income Protection Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program 
• Paid Parental Leave
• Paid Sick Days 

*Applicants must reside in and have work authorization for one of the country locations specified above. We are unable to consider applicants outside of these markets at this time. And we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

All applications should be submitted from our company website (filter jobs by MZLA/Thunderbird).

About Mozilla 

At Mozilla, we have big ambitions for the future, we want to build impactful products that are different — that are built with more respect for the people using them and help us explore new forms of openness. It’s going to take hard work that Mozilla is uniquely suited to take on. It’s why we’re here. It’s who we are. And it’s our future.

Bring your passion, your creativity, your big ideas, and your new perspectives to make the difference we’re aiming for.

MZLA Technologies Corporation (MZLA) Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

Mozilla believes in the value of diverse creative practices and forms of knowledge, and knows diversity, equity and inclusion are crucial to and enrich the company’s core mission. We encourage applications from everyone, including members of all equity-seeking communities, such as (but not limited to) women, racialized and Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race (including hairstyle and texture), religion (including religious grooming and dress practices), gender, gender identity, gender expression, color, national origin, pregnancy, ancestry, domestic partner status, disability, sexual orientation, age, genetic predisposition, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, military or veteran status, or any other basis covered by applicable laws. Mozilla will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics or any other unlawful behavior, conduct, or purpose. 

We will ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, as appropriate. Please contact us at hiringaccommodations@thunderbird.net to request accommodation.

 #LI-REMOTE