The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to helping Ethereum become an open, decentralized infrastructure for the world. We allocate resources to critical projects when needed and step back when others can take the lead.

Since 2014, EF has hosted Devcon, an annual 4-day conference which has become the oldest and most prominent event in the Ethereum community (and arguably the entire blockchain space).

Devcon is the gathering for the global Ethereum community to build and use decentralized systems. It's a conference for builders of all kinds, with content ranging from the deeply technical to the profoundly human. Each edition moves to a new region and brings together designers, researchers, students, and creators from around the world, many of whom are intrigued by cutting-edge technology, decentralization, privacy, security, free and open-source software, and the potential for Ethereum to change the world for the better. For a look at past Devcon editions and their speakers, see here: http://archive.devcon.org/

Devcon 8 will take place from November 3-6, 2026, in India, a region with deep technical talent, fast-growing developer communities, and increasing crypto adoption. For more information you can review our website https://devcon.org/en/

Programming Lead

The Devcon Programming Lead...

• is not someone who singlehandedly chooses all content that will be presented at Devcon.

• is someone who can create and (most-challengingly) execute on processes, who loves to collaborate with the community, and who can herd community reviewers while recognizing the high-level topics and challenges the Ethereum ecosystem needs to address today.

Coordinating a team of reviewers and ensuring fair consideration of the ecosystem at large is a complex way to contribute to Devcon, but it also has a huge opportunity for positive impact. While a big part of Devcon is the ability to collaborate and reunite in-person, the content and program presented at Devcon can have an important impact on our community and ecosystem.

Devcon is a conference for the community from the community: anyone can apply to be a speaker at Devcon through an open application process, and while the review process has differed over the years, we continually aim to involve the community where possible in the selection of Devcon programming.

While we expect you to have a great high-level grasp on the many topics, challenges, and priorities within the Ethereum ecosystem — it is not expected that you have an extremely deep understanding of every topic within the Ethereum ecosystem to date.

One of your main tasks will be to review the current process, iterate with improvements, and then execute. The bulk of this role will be an operational one: sourcing reviewers, coordinating with them, lots of emails/telegram chats/etc., mastering Pretalx, and more! And where applicable, we should aim to involve community input. At a high level, this will likely encompass defining:

• Application process

  • How and when do people apply, what do they need to submit, etc.

• Review process

  • Sourcing volunteer community reviewers, organizing them into review groups based on their expertise and the tracks, coordinating them to review applications in the most fair and timely manner.

• A method for effective scheduling & room assignments

  • Again involving the community to help create a schedule that has: minimal overlap btw similar topics, more popular talks assigned to bigger rooms.

• Manage speakers logistics throughout the year

• Facilitate a feedback loop to provide feedback to speakers and to us on the overall program

Desired skills and experience

The successful applicant will be:

Motivated

• You feel passionate about Ethereum as a movement and the positive impact it can have on our world

• You recognize the importance high-quality Devcon programming can have on the ability for our community to make a positive impact

• Dedicated to delivering quality and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to final results (each detail counts).

• Inspired by the expectation that events hosted by EF should set the bar high for quality.

• Willing to assist the broader team where needed on initiatives outside of just programming.

Qualified

• You have been in the ecosystem for a while and/or you have become familiar with the many diverse topics and people's needs.

• You have attended (or preferably assisted with) other Ethereum events in the past.

• You are an operational person — while there is still some process to review and modify, this will largely be an operational job with lots of emails, coordination, use of systems, etc.

• Good at managing expectations: being able to motivate and inspire community volunteers (aka reviewers) to do their jobs on time, people who’ve applied and are waiting for answers, unhappy rejected speakers, etc...

• Being able to take on responsibility and remain neutral: you may get pressure from reviewers to get their friends in, well-known speakers who don’t respect rules, people changing their mind, etc., and you need to be able to say no and not feel too bad about it.

• You can grasp, at a high-level, technical topics as well as non-technical topics, and how they fit together

• Effective while working under pressure with hard deadlines and unknown issues that are ever-present in event planning.

• Proactively troubleshoot problems blocking your path, and the problems blocking the paths of others.

• Good communication skills, knowing how to address any and everyone great people and.

• Have an ownership mentality. When you take on a task, you get it done well and on time.

• Able to work with a multicultural team.

• Experienced with organizing events is a big plus.

Logistics & Availability

• This role is fully remote, with in-person participation required during Devcon.

• We use a range of project management and communication tools, including Notion, Telegram, Mattermost, Google Docs, etc. You will be expected to gain familiarity with them (though prior experience is not necessary)

• Time commitment is expected to start part-time (≈20 hrs/week) in April 2026 and ramp to full-time around June as Devcon approaches.

• Flexibility to work nights and weekends is required, particularly leading up to and during the event.

• This is a contract role with hours billed monthly, which vary by month.

• Availability to respond across global time zones is expected.

• Must hold a valid passport and be able to travel, including to Mumbai, India.

• Able to travel to India in Q4 2026 and support Devcon on-site as needed.

• Comfortable working with a globally distributed, remote team across multiple time zones.