Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Software Engineer (New Readers)

Location: Remote

Summary

Wikimedia projects are built to be collaborative, multilingual and usable by people from around the world. The New Readers Engineering team works on products that deliver compelling experiences to Wikipedia readers in emerging markets, driving increased adoption and retention of Wikipedia. 

We are currently working on product intervention explorations that will be gradually rolled out for users later in the year. As a Software Engineer on the team you will be working with Software Engineers, Product Managers, Designers and QA Engineers to develop user interface features, fix bugs, review code and participate in engineering discussions that influence our project decisions. You will be mostly working on PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5.

Our team is fully remote and team members work from various places around the world.

As a Software Engineer, we would like you to do:

• Follow open source software development discipline when working with the rest of the team such as using bug trackers, version control, review systems, asynchronous communication methods (chat/email) etc.

We value:

• Clear and concise communication of complex ideas about software and software development


• A desire to create features for everyone, everywhere and to optimize at the intersection of performance and user perception


• Comfortable working in a multi-cultural, remote, distributed team across various time zones


• An interest in working with legacy software and modernizing code


• Instrumenting new and core features and maintaining a set of key performance indicators

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or STEM field; or equivalent professional experience


• 3-5+ years related professional experience


• knowledge in PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, and modern web standards is a must. 


• Knowledge of developing and debugging in Linux/Unix (LAMP) environments.


• Interest in focused software engineering: you enjoy writing unit tests, reviewing code and responding to code reviews, and discussing architectural approach


• Passionate about free knowledge and open source


• Willing to travel occasionally - sometimes internationally - for team and organizational meetings

Plus

• Familiarity with JS libraries like jQuery


• Familiarity with open source software development processes


• Experience of working in open source project communities


• Knowledge about internationalization


• Experience of presenting your work at conferences or tech talks.


• Working knowledge of a language other than English would be valuable

We'd like to see your work!  Here are a few things you'll need:

• If you have any existing open source software that you've developed (these could be your own software or patches to other packages), please share the URLs for the source. Links to your projects on GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, etc. are exceptionally useful.

The Wikimedia Foundation is... 

...the nonprofit organization that hosts and 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, free of interference. We host 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 financial support 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.

The Wikimedia Foundation is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.

U.S. Benefits & Perks*

• Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage for employees and their eligible families (yes, fully paid premiums!)


• The Wellness Program provides reimbursement for mind, body and soul activities such as fitness memberships, baby sitting, continuing education and much more


• The 401(k) retirement plan offers matched contributions at 4% of annual salary


• Flexible and generous time off - vacation, sick and volunteer days, plus 19 paid holidays - including the last week of the year.


• Family friendly! 100% paid new parent leave for seven weeks plus an additional five weeks for pregnancy, flexible options to phase back in after leave, fully equipped lactation room.


• For those emergency moments - long and short term disability, life insurance (2x salary) and an employee assistance program


• Pre-tax savings plans for health care, child care, elder care, public transportation and parking expenses


• Telecommuting and flexible work schedules available


• Appropriate fuel for thinking and coding (aka, a pantry full of treats) and monthly massages to help staff relax


• Great colleagues - diverse staff and contractors speaking dozens of languages from around the world, fantastic intellectual discourse, mission-driven and intensely passionate people

*Eligible international workers' benefits are specific to their location and dependent on their employer of record

More information

WMF
Blog
Wikimedia 2030
Wikimedia Medium Term Plan
Diversity and inclusion information for Wikimedia workers, by the numbers
Wikimania 2019
Annual Report - 2017