The Wikimedia Foundation Is Hiring a Community Relations Specialist

Admit it: You’ve referenced a Wikipedia page to backup your views in a debate.

If you’re a fan of the wiki projects, now is your opportunity to work for them. The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that hosts and operates sites like Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, is hiring a community relations specialist.

The community relations team develops tools and documentation to help the foundation understand the communities using its products and develop the best communication practices. In this remote gig, you’ll support and improve communications with Wikimedia volunteers, communities and readers.

Experience in a communications field and fluency in writing English and a second language are requirements for this job. When applying, you should submit a resume, cover letter and a writing sample. In your cover letter, be sure to answer the following question: “Why do you enjoy collaborative writing?”

If this job doesn’t sound like a good fit for you, check out our Work-From-Home Jobs Portal. We post new opportunities there all the time — and we vet them, too.

Community Relations Specialist at Wikimedia Foundation

Pay: Not Specified

Responsibilities include:

• Leading or assisting with correspondence management, such as answering questions from users and the public in a timely, respectful manner
• Crafting and reviewing replies and announcements from Wikimedia Foundation teams, based on defied goals and targets
• Monitoring designated community channels for news, incidents and requests
• Joining difficult discussions and situations when necessary to provide input to promote conflict resolution
• Creating and maintaining procedures for communications requests based on priority
• Maintaining FAQs, templates and other systems to answer common questions
• Coaching colleagues within community relations on best practices
• Contributing strategies, best practices and background info for documenting community engagement

Applicants for this position must:

• Have professional experience in the communications field, such as journalism or community management
• Be fluent writing in English and at least one other language
• Be comfortable using online collaboration tools, such as text editor, email client, ticket tracking, and video conferencing
• Have experience working with or participating in multilingual and multicultural online communities
• Be comfortable working in teams that are partially or totally remote, sometimes at inconvenient times
• Have experience contributing to Wikimedia projects (a plus)
• Have experience working with MediaWiki, or other wiki tools (a plus)
• Have experience with a customer relationship management tool (a plus)
• Have experience working with volunteers (a plus)
• Have participated in free knowledge projects (a plus)

Benefits include:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage premiums fully paid for employees and their families
• Wellness program for reimbursing gym memberships, baby sitting and continuing education
• 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% match
• Flexible PTO, including vacation, volunteer and sick days
• Nineteen paid holidays off, including the last week of the year
• Long- and short-term disability insurance, life insurance (worth double yearly salary) and employee assistance program
• Pre-tax savings plans for a variety of expenses, including health care, child care, elder care, public transportation and more

Matt Reinstetle is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.