TELIP: Governance Director Roles for Telcoin Association

[Andrew_Pinch]

Abstract

This proposal introduces two new full-time, election-based Governance Director positions within the Telcoin Association. One role will oversee the Platform and Treasury Councils, while the other will oversee the TELx and TAN Councils. These positions are designed to improve the operational efficiency, transparency, and accountability of Council functions across the Telcoin DAO ecosystem.

Each position will be compensated 12 million TEL per year, subject to annual review based on token price and job scope. These roles may be dissolved at a later date by community vote if deemed unnecessary after implementation.

Specification

New Positions Created

1. Global Governance Director – Platform & Treasury Councils

   • Manages the operations and documentation for internal-facing Councils

   • Oversees treasury disbursement tracking, proposal execution

   • Coordinates platform-related proposal reviews and cross-council alignment

2. Local Governance Director – TELx & TAN Councils

   • Coordinates all administrative and operational duties for the TELx and TAN Councils

   • Tracks proposal lifecycles (TELxIP and TANIP), documents meetings, and ensures follow-through

   • Supports proposers, manages Council communication, and provides quarterly reporting

Terms of Employment

• 40 hours/week, remote

• Paid in TEL (12M TEL annually per role)

• Compensation reviewed yearly by the Treasury Council

• Subject to community re-approval and may be dissolved via proposal

• Elections will be open to all eligible Telcoin Network participants, including validators, developers, stakers, and liquidity miners—in alignment with the DAO principles of the Association

Motivation

As the Telcoin Association matures and the number of active Councils and proposals increases, the operational burden on volunteers and part-time contributors has grown significantly. Without dedicated coordinators, delays in proposal implementation, inconsistent reporting, and communication gaps risk undermining DAO effectiveness and transparency.

This operational need is expected to grow substantially over the next 12–24 months due to the rollout of the Telcoin Network. As the Telcoin ecosystem expands beyond remittances into the full-stack deployment of a Layer 1 network, DAO-managed responsibilities will increase across nearly every governance area:

• Platform Council will evaluate more frequent protocol upgrades, including validator and MNO onboarding

• Treasury Council will process higher volumes of funding requests for builders, partnerships, and infrastructure

• TELx Council will see increased liquidity program management, partner onboarding, and cross-chain expansion

• TAN Council will handle more grant proposals as third-party developers begin building applications on the Telcoin Network

Without dedicated full-time management, the increasing complexity and volume of work may outpace the community’s ability to govern effectively.

Rationale

While Council members are responsible for voting and strategic decision-making, they often lack the capacity or mandate to manage operations, documentation, or proposal execution. These Governance Directors will:

• Act as a central point of coordination for internal and external stakeholders

• Improve the quality and timeliness of Council outputs

• Enable better continuity across election cycles

• Reduce dependency on core contributors for basic governance functions

Structuring these roles as elected positions ensures they remain accountable to the community, in line with the decentralized principles of the Telcoin Association.

Implementation

• This TELIP, if passed, will authorize the Treasury Council to allocate 24M TEL per year (12M per role) for compensation

• Role descriptions will be published publicly and elections organized by the Association’s operational team (TAO) or a neutral third party

• Elected candidates will serve one-year terms, renewable via community vote

• Compensation will be paid monthly in TEL from the Treasury multisig

• Role performance will be reviewed quarterly by the Treasury Council and subject to budget renewal annually

• The election process for these roles will follow the same DAO election procedures used for Council seats, with voting power extended to all miners across the Telcoin Network—including validators, developers, stakers, and liquidity miners

Expected Outcomes

• Stronger proposal pipeline management and follow-through

• Increased transparency and documentation of Council activity

• More accessible governance system for external proposers and contributors

• Higher throughput of initiatives across all five governance Councils

• Clearer division of responsibility between elected Council members and support staff

Budget & Funding Source

• Maximum annual budget: 24,000,000 TEL

• Disbursement frequency: Monthly

• Source: Telcoin Treasury Council multisig

• Governance: Subject to annual reauthorization by DAO vote

• Revocability: Either role may be removed via proposal at any time

Precedent

• DAO ecosystems such as ENS, Optimism, and Arbitrum have all adopted funded operational roles (e.g., stewards, DAO coordinators, grants leads)

• These roles ensure separation of powers between proposal creators, funders, and implementers

• The Telcoin Association’s election-based Council structure provides a natural framework to support these roles within the DAO model

[brozee]

As the association continues to ramp up, further accountability, transparency and efficiency will be needed. At its base, this is a great framework and one I support fully.

One methodology to discuss will be candidacy. As we discussed, we could consider looking at instructing the TAO to find X amount of qualified candidates, and set a vote based on said candidates.

one other item to consider is compliance and the framework, legal organization and recordkeeping of all developers onboarding into the ecosystem.

Thanks for putting this together. really looking forward to discussing at length.