Volunteer IT Team Lead

We are looking for a Volunteer IT Team Lead to provide technical leadership, coordinate the work of our volunteer IT team, and help shape the organisation's digital infrastructure.

This role combines technical expertise with team coordination. You'll work closely with volunteers across different technical disciplines, help prioritise work, and ensure our systems remain reliable, secure, and aligned with our values of openness, privacy, and digital sovereignty.

As the Volunteer IT Team Lead, you will:

• Lead and coordinate the day-to-day activities of the IT team.
• Define priorities and help plan technical work across ongoing projects.
• Mentor and support volunteer contributors with varying levels of technical experience.
• Coordinate infrastructure improvements, deployments, and maintenance activities.
• Oversee user management, security practices, backups, and system reliability.
• Review technical proposals and help make architectural decisions.
• Ensure documentation is maintained and technical knowledge is shared across the team.
• Work closely with leadership and other teams to understand technical needs and translate them into actionable plans.
• Coordinate incident response and help resolve complex technical issues.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive team environment.
• Help recruit, onboard, and mentor new IT volunteers.

We're looking for someone with:

• Experience leading technical teams or coordinating technical projects.
• Strong Linux system administration skills.
• Experience managing self-hosted services, cloud infrastructure, or containerised applications.
• Good understanding of networking, security, authentication, and access management.
• Ability to prioritise work and coordinate multiple volunteers.
• Strong communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to make practical technical decisions while balancing long-term sustainability.
• A collaborative leadership style and willingness to mentor others.

The following experience is helpful but not required:

• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, or other container technologies.
• Familiarity with identity management (OIDC, LDAP, SSO).
• Experience with Matrix, Mattermost, Nextcloud, or other open-source collaboration platforms.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience managing GitHub organisations and open-source development workflows.
• Experience in non-profit, political, or volunteer organisations.
• Interest in digital rights, privacy, transparency, and digital sovereignty.

• Role: Volunteer (Unpaid)
• Availability: Approximately 5 hours per week
• Location: Fully remote
• Working Style: Flexible and asynchronous collaboration

You care about privacy, secure communication, and open technologies. You enjoy helping communities adopt better tools and understand that reliable communication infrastructure is essential for collaboration and participation.

This is an opportunity to contribute your technical skills to a movement that values digital freedom, transparency, and user-controlled technology.