[Remote] Senior Software Engineer at Wikimedia Foundation

Remote

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Not SpecifiedCompensation

Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Technology, Non-Profit, MediaIndustries

Requirements

Comfortable working in a semi-ambiguous environment, similar to that of a startup
Experience in supporting complex web applications running on Amazon Web Services or other comparable cloud platforms
Experience working with Kafka or similar distributed event processing systems
Experience working with Nodejs and Go applications
Comfortable with configuration management and orchestration tools (ECS, Kubernetes), and modern observability infrastructure (monitoring, metrics and logging)
Aptitude for automation and streamlining of tasks
Comfortable with shell and scripting languages used in an SRE/Operations engineering context (e.g. Python, Go, Bash, Ruby, etc.)
Good understanding of Linux/Unix fundamentals and debugging skills
Strong English language skills and ability to work independently, as an effective part of a globally distributed team
B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or equivalent in related work experience
Track record of open source contributions is highly appreciated
Experience with non-cloud hosted infrastructure
Startup experience is a plus
Remote work experience with a highly distributed team
Fluency in languages other than English (preferred)

Responsibilities

Developing and executing on the long-term engineering strategy in collaboration with the product team
Contributing to high impact challenges behind innovating, building, and maintaining Wikipedia’s data feeds for high volume reusers
Fostering cross team collaboration where necessary to address business goals
Designing and implementing necessary tools and services to keep the team moving quickly
Guiding the team on best practices for software engineering and infrastructure reliability
Bringing creativity to improve current infrastructure
Being a key part of planning the future technical roadmap
Maintaining and improving the reliability of highly used commercial data feeds
Supporting new code/feature deployments
Troubleshooting, debugging and following-up on emerging issues in the application stack and its surroundings
Assisting in the architectural design of new services and making them operate at scale
Incident response, diagnosis and follow-up on system outages or alerts across Wikimedia Enterprise’s production infrastructure
Sharing Wikimedia values and working in accordance with them

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

Software EngineeringData FeedsInfrastructure ReliabilityDistributed SystemsMicroservicesScalabilityPythonAPIsCloud InfrastructureDevOpsCross-team Collaboration

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What skills and experience are required for this Senior Software Engineer role?

Required skills include experience supporting complex web applications on AWS or similar cloud platforms, working with Kafka or similar distributed event processing systems, Node.js and Go applications, and configuration management and orchestration. Candidates should also be comfortable in a semi-ambiguous startup-like environment.

Is this a remote position?

Yes, the team is distributed and globally diverse, indicating a remote work arrangement.

What is the company culture like for this team?

The team acts like a startup within the Wikimedia Foundation, building quickly, deploying often, with a drive to explore, experiment, and embrace technologies in a fast-paced environment focused on high-impact work.

What is the salary or compensation for this role?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What makes a strong candidate for this position?

Strong candidates bring creativity to improve infrastructure, thrive in semi-ambiguous startup-like environments, have hands-on experience with AWS, Kafka, Node.js, Go, and configuration management, and can foster cross-team collaboration while sharing Wikimedia's values.

Wikimedia Foundation

Operates Wikipedia and free knowledge projects

About Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, aiming to create a world where everyone can freely access and share knowledge. It provides a platform for users to read, contribute, and share content, while also supporting the volunteer communities that help maintain these projects. The foundation is funded by donations from individuals and institutions, emphasizing its nonprofit status. Unlike many other organizations, it focuses on making knowledge accessible to all without charge, advocating for policies that support free knowledge initiatives. Its goal is to empower individuals to contribute to and benefit from a collective pool of knowledge.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters

2003Year Founded

$145.9MTotal Funding

GRANTCompany Stage

Social Impact, EducationIndustries

501-1,000Employees

Benefits

Remote Work Options

Risks

Reliance on Nvidia's AI tech may affect Wikimedia's data processing autonomy.

DSA audit could reveal vulnerabilities requiring significant resources to address.

Decentralized platforms like Mastodon may divert users from Wikipedia.

Differentiation

Wikimedia Foundation operates the world's largest free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

It supports a diverse range of projects like Wiktionary and Wikisource.

The Foundation is a non-profit, relying on global donations for funding.

Upsides

Nvidia's NeMo Retriever tech reduced Wikipedia processing time from 30 days to 3 days.

Holistic AI's audit under the DSA enhances Wikimedia's platform safety and accountability.

Collaboration with Open Foundation West Africa combats misinformation during Ghana's elections.

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