The Technical Writer will be responsible for leading the creation and maintenance of educational material for a large community of free software developers. The Wikimedia Foundation supports a large development community (both volunteer and professional) to maintain and enhance MediaWiki and related Wikimedia site software. This documentation provides system administrator assistance for the installation and maintenance of MediaWiki and other Wikimedia-created software, developer assistance for the enhancement of MediaWiki, and API documentation for Wikimedia sites. The Technical Writer will work with the Core Platform Team and the community at large to prioritize areas of improvement, and then follow through on those priorities. This person is required to become a generous and organized contributor on mediawiki.org and other wikis, and will be responsible for fostering the community of volunteer technical writers to follow their lead.

SUMMARY

Duties include, but are not limited to the following:

Ensure mediawiki.org, documentation portal, and other developer documentation is clear, accurate, up-to-date, and fulfills goal of expanding the developer community
Absorb knowledge from seasoned developers, and ensure most important information is readily available to newcomers in a comprehensive and concise format
Expand the community of writers contributing to public documentation
Create diagrams and illustrations as appropriate to improve readability and clarity
Broad oversight of editing activity on public technical documentation, ensuring vandalism and misinformation is corrected quickly and completely
Work with project managers and developers to document new features and other improvements in a timely fashion
Communicate widely and frequently to wide audience of staff, community members and volunteers via mailing list, irc, and wikis

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience in technical writing for software projects
Has written technical documentation for developers
Experience developing documentation strategy
Demonstrated ability to create clear and compelling visual diagrams
Creative and highly motivated to serve the community
Experience working with and writing for diverse, multilingual and international communities
Comfort in a highly collaborative, consensus-oriented environment
Strong research skills (as there will not be developer support for some of the issues that need to be documented)
Strong interpersonal skills
Comfort using a wide variety of communications/collaboration tools including wikis, mailing lists and IRC
Strong affinity for the Wikimedia mission

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience writing on public wikis
Experience contributing to and participating in Free Software/Open Source projects
Experience managing volunteer-based teams is a major plus
Experience living or working outside of your home country is a major plus
Experience developing web applications with the LAMP stack and related technologies (CSS, HTML, Javascript, XML, etc.) a major plus
The ability to speak multiple languages is a major plus
Experience working with a remote and distributed organization.

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

Wikimedia Foundation website

Wikimedia Foundation blog

Annual Report - 2017

Wikimedia 2030

Apply for this Job

* Required

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *

Location (City) *

Resume/CV *

Attach Dropbox Google Drive Paste

Cover Letter *

Attach Dropbox Google Drive Paste

Are you legally authorized to work in the country with which you reside? *

Will you require sponsorship to work in the country with which you reside now or in the future? *

Please provide your full mailing address (note this info is for internal processing and is kept private) *

LinkedIn Profile

Website

How did you hear about this job? *

Have you seen Wikimedia on social media platforms? *

If yes, what social media platforms do you recall seeing Wikimedia on? (Please select all that apply)

  Facebook
  Twitter
  LinkedIn
  Other

I certify that the information in this application is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that providing false information is grounds for denial of employment, or termination of employment should I be hired. Please type your name to electronically sign this document. *

Are you currently an active member or contributor to any of our communities? *

U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Information (Completion is voluntary)

Individuals seeking employment at Wikimedia Foundation are considered without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. You are being given the opportunity to provide the following information in order to help us comply with federal and state Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action record keeping, reporting, and other legal requirements.

Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

Gender

Are you Hispanic/Latino?

Please identify your race

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran Status

Form CC-305

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 1/31/2020

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

Because we do business with the government, we must reach out to, hire, and provide equal opportunity to qualified people with disabilities¹. To help us measure how well we are doing, we are asking you to tell us if you have a disability or if you ever had a disability. Completing this form is voluntary, but we hope that you will choose to fill it out. If you are applying for a job, any answer you give will be kept private and will not be used against you in any way.

If you already work for us, your answer will not be used against you in any way. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we are required to ask all of our employees to update their information every five years. You may voluntarily self-identify as having a disability on this form without fear of any punishment because you did not identify as having a disability earlier.

How do I know if I have a disability?

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Blindness
Deafness
Cancer
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Autism
Cerebral palsy
HIV/AIDS
Schizophrenia
Muscular dystrophy
Bipolar disorder
Major depression
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair
Intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation)

Disability Status

Reasonable Accommodation Notice

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.

¹Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. For more information about this form or the equal employment obligations of Federal contractors, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.