Overview

The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for an inspiring and collaborative Lead Programs Manager to work with our Partnerships and Global Reach team to create, grow and support our programs. These international programs are some of the many initiatives through which Wikimedia’s volunteer communities seek to build free educational content and to distribute it to the world. We’re looking for a candidate who is mission driven, an organized and effective project and people manager, an advocate for open knowledge, and excited to help build our partnerships and awareness around the world.

We’d like you to do these things:

  • Lead program design and evaluation based on high potential partnerships
  • Closely coordinate program development with the regional managers for Asia, Middle East & Africa and Latin America.
  • Evaluate new and existing programs to measure and maximize their overall impact.
  • Create a clear and inspiring narrative around our programs to be shared with internal and external audiences. This narrative should include the goals and outcomes of our programs.
  • Represent our team and especially our programmatic work to multiple audiences, including our communities, partners and Foundation staff.
  • Collaborate with other teams and departments in the Foundation (i.e., Community Engagement, Communications, Product & Technology teams, etc.) to develop and support the programs that require cross-functional resources and expertise.
  • Identify untapped opportunities and potential partners to strengthen our programs and increase alignment with other international movements

We’d like you to have these skills:

  • Candidate must be fluent in English and have excellent written and oral communication skills with an ability to communicate inspirationally to international, volunteer audiences and to professional partners.
  • Demonstrated program and project design and management experience with good long-term strategic implementation skills (3 or more years).
  • Demonstrated people management experience (3 or more years).
  • Strong collaboration skills, empowerment approach to transparent management.
  • Comfort with innovative, experimental, iterative, bottom-up collaborative teams, especially around crowd-sourced projects which rely on volunteer engagement.
  • Nonprofit, NGO or INGO experience
  • Experienced with community service-focused, volunteer-based, and international initiatives
  • Strong value and mission fit with the Wikimedia movement and Foundation
  • Commitment to inclusion and diversity
  • Talented communicator; open and approachable working style
  • Collaborative, collegial, adaptable to quick change
  • Cross-cultural sensitivity and awareness

And it would be even more awesome if you have this:

  • Global perspective, with significant experience living or working internationally
  • Fluency in languages other than English.
  • Experience working with online communities, particularly as part of the free culture movement.
  • Passion for or experience contributing to Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects.

When submitting, please include a Cover Letter detailing your interest level in the Wikimedia Foundation and also this role.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports and hosts Wikipedia and several other Wikimedia free knowledge sites. Every month, the Wikimedia sites are accessed by more than a billion unique devices. Wikipedia consists of more than 40 million articles across hundreds of languages. Every month, more than 70,000 volunteer editors contribute to Wikipedia. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) non-profit that is funded primarily through donations and grants. It currently employs over 240 staff members.

At the Foundation, we build technology to help people everywhere access Wikipedia, across devices and in nearly 300 languages. We engineer privacy for our readers and editors so they can safely and securely explore Wikipedia. We create programs and initiatives to make Wikipedia freely available to more people in more parts of the world. We build new tools for the community of editors so they can continue to improve and grow Wikipedia. Roughly a quarter of our budget goes to supporting the community that make the site possible, including through grantmaking programs that enable volunteers and enrich the information on the sites.

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

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, massages, cooking classes 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

* for benefits eligible staff, benefits may vary by location

More Information

https://wikimediafoundation.org

https://blog.wikimedia.org