Job openings/Community Department Research Fellow

YOU ARE ...

...a passionate, brilliant, deep thinker who wants to make the world a better place. You are aware and excited by the social potential Wikimedia's projects represent and the nearly limitless possibilities for research. You are comfortable context-switching between an online conversation with volunteers, a research deep dive, a presentation to colleagues and roll-up your sleeves data work.

You are looking to work with cross-functional teams to tackle really complex questions and help translate them into insights that support the Wikimedia movement. You are collaborative, but action-oriented; you are mission-driven and pragmatic; you're open, honest, and you are driven by the relentless pursuit of the social impact that your work contributes to.

JOB TITLE

Community Department Research Fellow

JOB PURPOSE

Community Department Research Fellows support the Wikimedia community to generate research insights that support the growth and health of Wikimedia projects. The candidate will be expected to engage and support a community of Wikimedia volunteers and academic researchers.

REPORTS TO

Head of Community Department Research

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Undertake a research project or projects intended to help strengthen and grow the Wikimedia community
• Contribute to efforts at the Foundation and elsewhere to build research, data management and data presentation tools that help volunteers, staff and external researchers conduct their own analysis, represent and share data
• Participate effectively in a broader ecosystem of volunteers and external researchers interested working to support the Wikimedia movement
• Work as a productive team member of an inter-disciplinary team of researchers at the Foundation
• Be an advocate for open and free sharing (consistent with Wikimedia's free culture principles) of data and research across the research ecosystem

CANDIDATE SKILLS/CHARACTERISTICS

• High energy for, drive and commitment to the mission. Believes in the value of Wikimedia exudes enthusiasm for the mission and can powerfully embody and communicate the mission.
• Intellectual curiosity and flexibility. Enjoys tackling difficult, ambiguous problems and able to incorporate new knowledge into how one approaches situations and generates solutions; loves learning from others and expanding intellectual horizons
• Open and transparent: Comfortable working in a highly transparent fashion, open to input and feedback, proactive candid communicator who wants people to know what she/he is doing and isn't afraid to bring others in when things are off-track or when you need help
• Community oriented: Sees themselves as a part of the Wikimedia community and as a facilitator of a vibrant global research community around Wikimedia
• Action-oriented: Focuses on generating research results that are high quality and support real-world decision-making and action in a timely fashion; able to problem solve around imperfect data and make appropriate methodological judgment
• Strong cultural competency: Ability to bridge cultures and geographic differences; able to navigate in a truly global movement, and understands the values in diverse communities and worldviews
• Willing to travel: Periodic travel to attend global Wikimedia events and engage with research community (3-5 international trips per year)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Masters or PhD a plus; many fields from History to Computer Science are relevant
• Research experience conducting data analysis and evaluation that informs programmatic decision-making; or experience wrestling with historical, sociological or anthropological questions pertaining to the success, growth and survival of communities, social movements and large scale collaborative work.
• Experience designing and managing analysis with large data sets and/or sample size with multi-national, multi-lingual components, or experience wading through dense and complex historical archives
• Demonstrated experience working in a global, multi-cultural team; experience working outside of your home country environment preferred
• Experience as a leader or organizer in a collaborative community setting, ideally within the Wikimedia community
• Wikimedians are strongly encouraged to apply

LOCATION

San Francisco — or possibly remotely based

About research at the Wikimedia Foundation and the Community Department

The Wikimedia Foundation consists of three operating departments advancing the organization's mission: to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop free educational content, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.

• The Global Development department expands Wikimedia's presence and programmatic activities world-wide, with special focus on disadvantaged and underrepresented communities. This includes support for Wikimedia's chapter organizations such as grantmaking, on-the-ground programs in key regions, and development of partnerships to expand mobile and offline access.
• The Technology department operates the Wikimedia Foundation websites, including Wikipedia, and it maintains and improves the underlying open source software (for example, by improving usability for entry-level volunteers or simplifying media uploading).
• The Community Department collaborates with and serves the broad Wikimedia community — including readers, donors and editors/contributors — to encourage the health and growth of Wikimedia communities and the projects they create and manage.

The work in all three departments is data-driven. In order to ensure that research is conducted effectively to support the specific programmatic work in each department, relevant research resources are hired into the department they are likely to interface with most. For example, analytics, usability and product research sits inside the technology department; community experiments and qualitative community research are organized in the community department; market research data is managed within the Global Development department.

All Community Department positions involve collaborating and communicating with community stakeholders intensively and publicly, grappling with problems that no one has ever solved before, navigating technological and social challenges and opportunities, and dealing with a high level of complexity and uncertainty. Candidates should have extremely high levels of skill and comfort in communication (especially writing), qualitative and quantitative analysis, management and self-management. Candidates who are not already deeply immersed in online collaborative communities will have to show an aptitude for quickly gaining deep understanding of our communities' technologies, practices, traditions and culture — and to become trusted and productive members of the Wikimedia community and movement.

Apply

Please send a CV and cover letter to jobswikimedia.org. Please put the position title (Community Department Research Fellow) in your subject line.

Applications that do not include a cover letter will not be considered.

Please copy and paste the text of your CV into the e-mail, in addition to attaching the file.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we regret that only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Local San Francisco, CA candidates are preferred though remote candidates may be considered.