Program Manager (Structured Data)

Overview

The Wikimedia Foundation has recently been awarded a generous grant by the Sloan Foundation to populate structured data in Wikimedia Commons and we need a talented program manager to make it happen. This position will be responsible for facilitating progress towards the program’s goals across multiple teams and organizations in the Wikimedia movement.

As the program manager,  you will be responsible for creating program goals in collaboration with stakeholders and ensuring that progress is made towards those goals. You will work closely with members from the Wikimedia Foundation product and technology team, community engagement as well as product and technology teams from our sister organization, Wikimedia Deutschland on these objectives. You will also be responsible for ensuring that communications about the project status is sent to the Funder and the community in a timely manner.

This is an amazing opportunity involving co-ordinating cutting edge technology and collaborative communities around the globe and will require both hard and soft skills to pull off. It will be very challenging, demanding and rewarding!

To be clear, while the grant extends over three years, this position is full time and will extend to other programs after the grant is successfully completed.

We’d like you to do these things:   

• Strategic:
  • Work with key stakeholders across the Foundation, Wikimedia movement partners, and other external partners to create and execute strategies for the Structured Data on Commons project
  • Blend nonprofit, design, and software management frameworks to drive effective decision making and planning
• Execution:
  • Create and track progress towards milestones across teams and organizations.
  • Communicate goals, status, and learnings throughout program development process to internal and community stakeholders and funders.
  • Identify blockers and other issues to senior management and participate in remediation strategies.

We’d like you to have these skills:

• 3+ years nonprofit experience
• Strong collaboration, leadership and project management skills
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills
• Ability  to solicit ideas and discuss methodology and conclusions beyond direct contacts
• Ability  to operate effectively with a variety of stakeholders in multiple cultural and technical contexts
• Ability to work independently where needed, and work as part of a globally distributed team
• Adaptive problem solving skills and appetite for continued learning

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

• Understanding and/or experience with free culture/open source movements
• Experience with online communities, especially the Wikimedia Commons community or other Wikimedia communities
• Familiarity with the use and applications of linked structured, open data
• Nonprofit management experience