Developer Relations Lead

HeroDevs, Inc.•,

About The Position

HeroDevs provides security support for open source software after it reaches end of life. Its Never-Ending Support (NES) products offer drop-in replacements for end-of-life frameworks and libraries, and its Evergreen platform helps teams stay current. The company works with the people who built these projects and invests directly in maintainers through partnerships, co-created work, and the Open Source Sustainability Fund. Developer Relations serves as HeroDevs’ bridge to open source maintainers, foundations, and developer communities. The Developer Relations Lead will own these relationships over time, develop content and campaigns that highlight projects and their maintainers, and represent HeroDevs as a trusted community voice. This is an early Developer Relations role, reporting to the Chief Product Officer and working with product leaders, marketing, and partnerships leaders as an individual contributor.

Requirements

At least 4 years of experience in developer relations, developer advocacy, or software engineering with a strong community-facing focus.
Deep, genuine connections across the open source community and the ability to engage credibly with framework maintainers.
A track record of building lasting relationships with open source maintainers or foundations.
A public body of work, such as talks, blog posts, videos, podcasts, or open source contributions.
Strong technical writing and storytelling skills, including the ability to turn a maintainer’s story into a campaign.
A solid understanding of open source governance, licensing, sustainability, and the pressures maintainers face.
Comfort with cold outreach and following through over months.
Experience working with product managers and marketers toward shared goals.
Willingness to travel for conferences and maintainer meetings.

Nice To Haves

Deep ties in the Java open source community, such as Spring, Jakarta EE, or Apache; JavaScript connections are a plus.
Experience with open source foundations such as the Linux Foundation, OpenJS, Apache, or Eclipse.
Background in application security, CVEs, software supply chain, or SCA tooling.
Familiarity with ecosystems beyond Java and JavaScript, such as .NET, PHP, and Python, to support the Incubator.
Experience hosting a podcast, running a meetup, or organizing community events.
Prior work at a startup or a company that funds or commercially supports open source.

Responsibilities

Identify maintainers, projects, and foundations to partner with in collaboration with NES product leads.
Nurture strategic relationships over time and involve product leaders and executives to deepen partnerships.
Participate in identifying strategic partners and developing approaches for pursuing relationships.
Co-create content with maintainers and run joint campaigns showcasing their projects and work.
Gather maintainer quotes, stories, and other materials for Sales and Marketing go-to-market activities.
Coordinate with Product Marketing so maintainer content aligns with launches and campaigns.
Speak at conferences and meetups, appear on or host podcasts, and represent HeroDevs at events.
Engage in communities where users and maintainers spend time.
Contribute thought leadership on open source sustainability, security, and compliance.
Share insights from maintainers and developers with Product to inform what the company builds and how it communicates.