The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director

The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director 🔗 **Source:** [The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director](https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [PHP, Open Source, Leadership] > author: [MISSING] > source: The PHP Foundation > reference: [https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/] > date created: 2025-11-10 00:00 > > # 🏷️ Title: The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director >  ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - Include links cited in or relevant to the article. ## 📝 Summary - What happened: The PHP Foundation opened a global search for a new Executive Director; Roman Pronskiy will conclude tenure in early 2026 and remain on the Board as JetBrains’ representative. - Why it matters: Leadership transition at a key open source foundation stewarding a widely used language. - Key stakeholders: PHP Foundation Board, search committee (Sebastian Bergmann, Nils Adermann, Lorna Jane Mitchell, Ben Ramsey), sponsors (e.g., JetBrains), PHP community. - Risks and tradeoffs: Continuity vs. change; fundraising and governance maturity; community trust and sponsor alignment. - Bottom line: Apply by 2025-12-15; role is remote, contract via Open Source Collective with base $90k–$105k plus performance bonus up to $65k. ## 📖 Main Content - Core: The Executive Director will “define strategic vision” and run day-to-day operations, bridging Board, staff, community, and sponsors. The foundation, launched in 2021, seeks to mature structures and scale impact. - Responsibilities: Strategy and annual review; marketing to promote PHP; fundraising and financial oversight; staff management (incl. contracted core devs); program execution; board updates. - Qualifications: Leadership in open source; deep PHP ecosystem knowledge; project management and communication; strategic vision; stakeholder and sponsor engagement; remote team management; public speaking. - Terms: Remote; contractor via Open Source Collective (501(c)(6)); 1-year renewable; base $90k–$105k with up to $65k bonus tied to fundraising; limited travel covered. - Process: Rolling applications through 2025-12-15; multi-stage committee and Board review; final Board vote requires 2/3 majority. - Uncertainties: Exact KPIs beyond fundraising; headcount authority beyond “hiring necessary staff” if part-time; regional travel cadence. ### 🗒️ Notes - “We’re opening the search for our next Executive Director… Roman… will conclude his tenure in early 2026.” - Roman remains on Board; JetBrains stays platinum sponsor; transition planned with incoming ED. - Search committee: Sebastian Bergmann, Nils Adermann, Lorna Jane Mitchell, Ben Ramsey. - Role highlights: strategy, marketing for PHP’s public image, fundraising, finance, operations, staff oversight, board reporting. - Valued experience: FOSS governance, PHP community network, sponsor relations, PR/marketing, public speaking, remote leadership. - Compensation: Base $90k–$105k; bonus up to $65k; fully remote; limited, covered travel. - Application asks: cover letter, resume, 500–1000 word vision statement; references during interviews. - Applications accepted until 2025-12-15; contact [email protected]. ## 📚 References - The PHP Foundation — call for Executive Director: https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/ - PHP language site: https://www.php.net/ - Open Source Collective (501(c)(6)): https://www.oscollective.org/ - JetBrains (platinum sponsor context): https://www.jetbrains.com/ ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Paragraph A: The Foundation is launching a search for a new Executive Director as Roman Pronskiy transitions to focus on JetBrains, while staying on the Board to ensure continuity. - Paragraph B: The Executive Director will lead strategy, fundraising, marketing, and operations to mature the young foundation and support the PHP ecosystem. ## 📰 Newsletter - The PHP Foundation is hiring a new Executive Director to guide strategy, fundraising, and community programs. Remote, contractor role via Open Source Collective, base $90–$105k with up to $65k bonus. Applications accepted through December 15, 2025. Explore the announcement and consider sharing with qualified leaders in the PHP community. Helpful links: The PHP Foundation job post, PHP.net release news, and Open Source Collective background. ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Define ED-led content plan promoting PHP’s roadmap and core improvements with quarterly metrics. - Stand up office hours and contributor mentorship; track participant conversion to first PRs. - Ship examples-first docs updates and quickstarts for modern PHP patterns. - Map campaigns to sponsor attribution; build a funnel report. - Establish community moderation SOPs and an annual survey. #### OSPO - Publish contribution policies and decision rights; clarify release governance. - Implement license compliance training and scanning cadence. - Define vuln intake and coordinated disclosure policy; signing/attestations plan. - Maintain SBOM strategy and ownership map; freshness SLOs. - Offer office hours for legal/engineering guidance; document guardrails. - Align KPIs/OKRs with Board reporting; publish initiative roadmap. #### Community - Host roadmap clinics; share governance templates; release checklists. - Run “first issue” rotations and pairing; widen reviewer pool. - Share budget/milestones; publish impact reports for sponsors. - Coordinate cross-project incident drills and disclosures. #### WordPress - Core: triage cadence, perf budgets, release criteria. - Performance: profiling plan, metrics dashboards, perf bounties. - Core AI: guardrails, eval sets, pilots. - Program Team: rituals, dependencies, retros. - Playground/Training/Docs: labs, learning paths, examples-first patterns. - Accessibility/Meta/CLI/Hosting/Tide/Openverse/Themes/Plugins: targeted backlogs, reliability, and provenance checks. #### The WPOCC - Launch fellowships and microgrants; maintainer stipends. - Governance clinics, doc sprints, release teams. - Pilot matched grants with transparent ledgers. ### FAIR - Independent signatures/provenance; funding transparency; sunset clauses; standard governance artifacts. ## 🧪 Hypotheses - A named ED with strong PHP network increases sponsor revenue ≥20% YoY. - Publishing a yearly strategy + retro improves contributor retention by ≥15%. - Proactive marketing of PHP improvements increases positive sentiment and adoption intent in surveys. - Clear vuln intake and disclosure policy reduces mean time to remediate by ≥25%. ### 📊 Methodology - Pre/post fundraising and sponsor pipeline analysis; A/B of campaigns. - Contributor cohort survival analysis across releases. - Quarterly sentiment surveys; website analytics on “Why PHP” pages. - Security metric tracking: MTTD/MTTR before/after policy rollout. ### ❓ Questions - Which strategic bets (performance, DX, safety) most influence sponsor interest? - What mix of paid vs. volunteer effort sustains core maintenance? - How should the ED balance governance maturity with agility? ### 🔮 Future Research - Funding models for language foundations. - Impact of marketing on perceived language modernity. - Best practices for remote open source org operations. ### 💡 Implications - Strong leadership can stabilize funding and roadmap. - Clear governance and security posture improve trust. - Marketing can counter outdated perceptions of PHP. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment - Reading level: Flesch-Kincaid grade ≈ 9–10. #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: role bullets, process steps. - Improve: org/flow diagrams; budget visuals. #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: none. - Improve: 3–5 minute audio summary. #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: definitions of role and process. - Improve: analogies and glossary. #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: application checklist. - Improve: step-by-step application playbook. #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: numbered selection steps. - Improve: RACI and KPI trees. #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: community involvement ask. - Improve: cohort Q&A sessions. #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: written materials. - Improve: self-assessment for fit. #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: ecosystem framing. - Improve: lifecycle/ecosystem maps. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: clear headings. - Improve: alt text for any graphics. #### Keyboard navigation - Present: simple page. - Improve: ensure skip links. #### Contrast and readability - Present: likely adequate. - Improve: verify 4.5:1 and line-height. #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: responsive blog layout. - Improve: motion preferences. #### Media and captions - Present: text-only. - Improve: optional audio description. #### Forms and interactions - Present: Google Form application. - Improve: labels, error states, target sizes. #### Standards reference - Map to WCAG 2.2 AA. ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: global remote eligibility. - Improve: explicit timezone flexibility. #### Inclusive language - Present: neutral tone. - Improve: plain-language summary of duties. #### Neurodiversity support - Present: structured bullets. - Improve: icon+text labels; predictable patterns. #### Representation - Present: diverse committee. - Improve: demographic transparency (optional). #### Psychological safety - Present: respectful framing. - Improve: community guidelines and escalation paths. ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Inductive: linking fundraising bonus to impact creates aligned incentives. - Procedural: 2/3 Board vote ensures broad consensus. #### Fallacies - None apparent; avoid assuming marketing alone boosts adoption—pair with metrics. #### Tone of voice - Professional, appreciative, invitational (“We’re immensely grateful…”). ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - No denial, attack, or role reversal present; announcement is constructive and transparent. ## 🎯 Conclusion - Bottom line: The PHP Foundation seeks an ED to lead strategy, fundraising, marketing, and operations; remote, contractor via Open Source Collective; apply by 2025-12-15. Next steps: review the role, prepare a vision statement, and submit via the listed form or refer strong candidates. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix (append after 🎯 Conclusion) ### 📚 Literature Split Pad - Purpose: Stage Konik CEE units that become per-source Literature notes. - Split level: H3. - Include verbatim quotes under 25 words and a [view highlight] link. ### [H1] 5–10-word present-tense claim > [!quote] The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director (https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/) by an unnamed author via [[The PHP Foundation]]. Published 2025-11-10. Accessed 2025-11-10. > “We’re opening the search for our next Executive Director.” Two lines: context and use. Cite data if relevant. [view highlight](https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/#H1) #xref #articleseed ID:rw_[MISSING] ### [H2] 5–10-word present-tense claim > [!quote] The PHP Foundation is Seeking a New Executive Director (https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/) > “Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until 2025-12-15.” Two lines: context and use. [view highlight](https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/#H2) #xref ID:rw_[MISSING] --- ### 🔖 Atomic Split Pad (Zettel Candidates) - Purpose: Promote reusable claims into Atomic notes. - Split level: H4. - Each item: one idea, present tense, specific, testable. #### [Z1] Fundraising-aligned bonus drives ED focus - Scope: language foundations with sponsor-led budgets. - Pointer: compensation section. - Links: [[Open-Source-Governance]] [[Foundation-Fundraising]] #### [Z2] Board supermajority secures leadership legitimacy - Scope: nonprofit technical orgs. - Pointer: selection process step 5. - Links: [[Governance-Design]] [[Decision-Rights]] --- ### ✏️ Fleeting Queue (Extract by Selection) - Purpose: Capture quick actions or sparks for Fleeting notes. - Extraction: Select one line → “Refactor: Extract selection to new note (content only).” - Keep each line short and self-contained. - [F1] Draft 800-word ED vision aligned to PHP roadmap — context/https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/ #fleeting #inbox - [F2] Map sponsor pipeline targets and KPIs — context/https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/ #fleeting #inbox - [F3] Outline governance maturity plan (RACI, policies) — context/https://thephp.foundation/blog/2025/11/10/seeking-new-executive-director/ #fleeting #inbox ---