Lorna Jane Mitchell, on the role of a developer advocate:

The less-visible part of the role is probably the most technical part. People rarely think of the gregarious advocates they see on stage or tweeting as being technical but we are, probably more than you expected. I write sample code and internal tools, but better than that: it’s my business to wade in and improve anything that would make life easier for developers.

An advocate is just that, someone who acts on another’s behalf — a role that requires a variety of skills:

The job requires a really weird mix of skills, and like most advocates I’m endlessly delighted to find that there’s a job that combines such a great combination of stuff I like to do! The role varies a lot between jobs, and also between weeks — it’s a little bit of everything.