SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, ABSTRACT WIKIPEDIA

Summary

The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to support our work on Abstract Wikipedia, a project that aims to improve knowledge equity by enabling more people to share more knowledge in more languages.

We’re committed to making knowledge available to everyone globally. This is an opportunity to do good while building new technology at the intersection of machine learning, natural language generation, and computational linguistics.

Our geographically-distributed team is writing the code to build Wikifunctions, a new technology to enable a collaboratively edited catalog of computer functions that will power Abstract Wikipedia. Working in the open alongside our community is the norm.

The Wikimedia Foundation values diversity and recognizes that employees from a broad range of perspectives are essential to creating a knowledge source that benefits everyone. We are committed to inclusion, diversifying tech, and advocating for diversity in our employees, their experiences, and the people we serve.

Our teams build products that enable our communities to achieve our Vision: a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.

You will be responsible for:

• Designing and building robust and scalable systems, together with a multidisciplinary team, to support knowledge equity.
• Becoming familiar with a new codebase and how it interacts with a large, mature codebase to drive engineering solutions.
• Supporting fellow engineers through code reviews, transferring knowledge, collaborating on projects, and writing documentation.

Requirements:

• Proficient with JavaScript, server-side with Node.js, and client-side with Vue.js.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of work experience in software development.
• An interest in and ability to work with a distributed team (which requires good asynchronous written communication skills as well as good verbal communication skills in English).
• Experience with open source development methodologies and open source community.
• Ability to interact effectively and develop productive working relationships with management, peers, and communities, including non-technical staff.
• Must be comfortable with evolving requirements and priorities in a dynamic environment.

Qualities that are important to us:

• Experience with large-scale, global developer ecosystems.
• Alignment with our mission and values.
• Resilience—we work on new and interesting problems in public and collaborative ways.
• Working together for outcomes, and being willing to change course.
• Sharing a culture of constructive criticism and respect.

Additionally, we would love it if you have:

• Experience with the Wikipedia, Wikidata, or Wikimedia Commons communities, or other collaborative enterprises.
• Familiarity with MediaWiki.
• Experience in developing systems using structured content, knowledge graphs, or taxonomies.
• Experience supporting teams developing Web-scale deployments in PHP.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge, and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive.

The Wikimedia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. We receive donations from millions of individuals around the world, with an average donation of about $15. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

As an equal opportunity employer, the Wikimedia Foundation values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any person based upon their race, traits historically associated with race, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy or related medical conditions, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristics.

The Wikimedia Foundation is a remote-first organization with staff members including contractors based in more than 50 countries. Salaries at the Wikimedia Foundation are set in a way that is competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated annual pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is US$101,161 to US$157,200 with multiple individualized factors, including cost of living in the location, being the determinants of the offered pay. For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire. We neither ask for nor take into consideration the salary history of applicants. The compensation for a successful applicant will be based on their skills, experience and location.

All applicants can reach out to their recruiter to understand more about the specific pay range for their location during the interview process.

If you are a qualified applicant requiring assistance or an accommodation to complete any step of the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at recruiting@wikimedia.org or +1 (415) 839-6885.

More information

U.S. Benefits & Perks
Wikimedia Foundation
Applicant Privacy Policy
News from across the Wikimedia movement
Blog
Wikimedia 2030
Our Commitment to Equity
This is Wikimedia Foundation
Facts Matter
Our Projects
Our Tech Stack