In the three months since TED, a lot of the groundwork has been laid in order to start making Jill Tarter’s wish a reality. A TEDster, Rob Reid, came on board to work with the TED Prize and the SETI Institute to help create a 2-year action plan. We’ve spec’d out the technology requirements and are currently in conversations with companies around supporting those needs. We’re also in the midst of pulling together experts in the open source, gaming and user interface worlds to figure out how to present this data in a way that is engaging enough to keep the MANY eyeballs needed each day to find a signal that the current detection algorithms might miss.

As we move into the execution phase, we’re looking for someone to come on board to manage the process at the SETI Institute.

We are seeking someone with deep experience in managing open source software projects and the communities that power them to drive a bold & agenda-setting initiative. The initiative will involve managing a traditional open source software project, as well as a complex public-facing system that will enlist the general/non-technical public’s assistance in conducting our search. To succeed, a candidate above all needs a history of success in managing major open source projects. While it’s not essential that this person be a coding engineer, it is essential that s/he be comfortable enough with C++ code to have technically meaningful interactions with committers and the broader open source community. It’s also essential that s/he be a strong evangelist – able to speak inspiringly in public, and to energize, recruit, and maintain engagement with key influencers in the open source coding world.

The other part of the job will be governing a project that will in many ways resemble Galaxy Zoo (an intriguing “citizen scientist” system that can be found at www.galaxyzoo.org). This will involve managing a respected Web development company as it creates the site, and thereafter overseeing/”gardening” a large community of non-technical contributors. We expect this community to be self-policing and self-monitoring, like Wikipedia’s editorial community. But it will need leadership and a baseline architecture, and our hire will be responsible for delivering this.

This is a unique opportunity to work in both open source software and social media, on a project whose ramifications are literally beyond global.

This will be a full-time role at the SETI Institute for two years, funded by the money TED has allocated toward granting Jill’s wish. However, because this is a TED Prize wish, one in which many people and individuals are giving a lot to make happen, we do hope to find someone who will do this at a reduced rate. We have a large brainstorm taking place on June 1 and would love to have the right person chosen and at the table for that meeting.

Please send an email to tedprize1@ted.com if you are interested in the position.

Forward and share this opportunity on to anyone you believe possess the right skills.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 11:53 am and is filed under Jill Tarter's Wish Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.