EMEP Project Management: Governance and Cadence

Governance model for EMEP including docs-first development, ADR-driven changes, phase gates, RACI assignments, and team cadence.

EMEP follows a docs-first governance model. Every change starts as a specification update, proceeds through architectural decision review, and only then moves to implementation. This page defines the governance structure, decision rights, and operational cadence.

Governance Model

ADR-Driven Changes

Every architectural or behavioral change requires an Architecture Decision Record (ADR). The ADR template is maintained in the decisions log. ADRs cover:

• Merge strategy selection
• Evaluation harness choice
• GPU orchestration approach
• Security architecture changes

ADRs are immutable once merged. Superseded ADRs link to their replacements.

Phase Gates

Each phase in the roadmap ends with a formal gate review. The gate checklist is:

1. All phase tasks marked DONE or DEFERRED
2. Spec-to-test traceability above 90%
3. No open risks rated HIGH without mitigation plan
4. Consistency audit passed (consistency report)
5. Stakeholder sign-off recorded

RACI Table

Artifact	Product Lead	Tech Lead	ML Engineer	Platform Engineer	Security Lead
Project Constitution	A	R	C	I	I
System Architecture	C	A/R	C	C	I
Merge Engine Spec	I	A	R	C	I
Evolution Engine Spec	I	A	R	C	I
Security Architecture	I	C	I	C	A/R
Benchmark Catalog	C	C	A/R	I	I
Deployment Spec	C	C	I	A/R	C
KPI Dashboard	A/R	C	C	C	I

R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

Team Cadence

Meeting	Frequency	Duration	Attendees	Purpose
Planning	Weekly	60 min	Core team	Sprint planning, task assignment
Spec Review	Bi-weekly	90 min	Core + advisors	ADR review, spec changes
Phase Gate	Per phase	120 min	All stakeholders	Go/no-go decision
Retro	Per phase	60 min	Core team	Process improvement
Risk Review	Monthly	45 min	Leads	Risk register update

Documentation First Rule

No implementation task may start without:

1. A merged specification page
2. Linked tasks with traceability to the spec
3. Test plan defined in testing strategy

This rule applies to all components including ModelRegistry, MergeEngine, EvolutionEngine, and EvaluationEngine.