Announcing Rory Sawyer for the OpenRefine Developer & Contributor Engagement Position
We are excited to announce that Rory Sawyer has joined the OpenRefine team as our new Developer and Contributor Engagement Specialist. After our job posting in November 2024 and a thorough interview process, Rory emerged as the best candidate for this position.
With over a decade of experience in software and data engineering, Rory has a proven track record of making data more accessible for people across various technical backgrounds. His journey includes significant contributions to the Open edX and dbt stack, where he developed his skills in collaborative development and communication within open-source projects. Rory's expertise spans backend development and infrastructure work, including managing deployment processes.
During the recruitment process, Rory's interpersonal skills stood out among other candidates. His considerate approach to open source development and understanding of the challenges faced by contributors align perfectly with OpenRefine values.
As Rory ramps up on the OpenRefine codebase, his time will be equally balanced between code improvement (bug fixes, quality enhancement, release management) and community engagement (issue triaging, assisting volunteer contributors, PR reviews).
Rory's position is funded via the EOSS-5 grant until October 2025, and we hope to extend his contract with future funding. Rory's contract starts March 3, 2025, and he will work an average of 20 hours per week.