The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a detail-oriented, hands-on Movement Communications Specialist to support events and conferences that connect Wikimedians across the globe.
This role will provide crucial support to the applicants for our Conference Fund Program, Wikimania and other Foundation events. It will rely heavily on internal and external relationships, processes and inter-dependencies. The ideal candidate will bring experience managing large events globally and this role is ideal for candidates with a background in strategic communications and community building.
The Movement Communications Specialist (Events and Conferences) will report to the Manager, Movement Communications Team.
The Movement Communications team is uniquely skilled at bringing people together—whether through moments to connect or conferences to collaborate, and while working with other departments as strategic partners and problem solvers. We work to build bridges and understanding in the movement; to help people understand our mission and celebrate their role in its success.
Note: We are a global team that works closely with Wikimedia volunteers. We are looking for candidates based remotely in a timezone between UTC -5 to UTC +2 to be able to collaborate with colleagues and volunteers across time zones. This role will require timezone flexibility and will often include working weekends given our volunteer friendly approach. See countries the Wikimedia Foundation can hire in below.
Key Responsibilities
Event Support and Development
- Build connections and establish robust relationships with our global community of volunteers who organise events.
- Support and amplify movement connections and communications through Wikimedia Events and Conferences, ensuring strategic alignment with shared-value themes and cultural context.
- Work closely with the team to execute a strategic vision and priorities linked with the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Goals and Priorities.
- Ensure all documentation and reporting requirements, including budgets, metrics, and post-event reports.
- Contribute strategically to continuously improve our work to support events.
Movement Pulse
- Monitor relevant community channels for news, incidents, and requests. Proactively respond to community questions around Foundation supported events.
- Regularly liaise with regional event organizers, supporting them in aligning event messaging and processes with Wikimedia's strategic priorities.
- Foster relationships with regional community leaders and collaborators to co-create inclusive, communications-rich event concepts that center belonging, regional impact, and shared movement values.
- Lead regular planning meetings and progress updates with key stakeholders (internal and external).
- Work closely with core organizing teams, who will be spread across the globe, and provide strategic, technical and programmatic support.
Building best practice on events
- Build, create and update existing documentation, FAQs, templates and ensure they are up to date and easily accessible.
- Build a repository of commonly used designs/templates like speaker invitations, session formats, community engagement plans, and thematic content etc
- Ensure awareness and adherence to Foundation's Brand, UCoC and other movement policies, as applicable.
Logistics and Operations
- Coordinate across internal teams and regional organizers to ensure that logistical decisions are well informed and reflect accessibility, risk assessments, cultural context, and the narrative goals of each event—while meeting operational standards.
- Oversee event timeline, registrations, vendor management, and contingency planning to ensure they are in line with best standards.
- Manage contracts, service providers, and payments in accordance with requirements, as needed.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Support in establishing success metrics and feedback mechanisms in coordination with Conference and Event Fund expectations.
- Support the collection of data pre-, during, and post-conference to evaluate impact.
- Contribute to post-event analysis and reporting by synthesizing learnings and community insights to inform data driven decisions.
Skills and Experience:
- Proven experience in organizing global conferences or large-scale events (experience with volunteer-led conferences is a plus).
- Strong event management, communication and writing skills for internal reports and external blogs, presentations etc.
- Demonstrated experience in working with external partners, stakeholders and enabling shared valued partnerships in events.
- Experience with stakeholder engagement and cross-cultural collaboration.
- Experience managing budgets and tracking expenses meticulously.
- Comfortable with virtual collaboration tools and document sharing platforms.
- Capacity to work independently and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
- Demonstrate excellent organizational and time management skills, a strong work ethic, and possess a high level of attention to detail
Note: We are a global team that works closely with Wikimedia volunteers. We are looking for candidates based remotely in a timezone between UTC -5 to UTC +2 to be able to collaborate with colleagues and volunteers across time zones. This role will require timezone flexibility and will often include working weekends given our volunteer friendly approach.
Additionally, we'd love it if you have:
- Experience working in or with nonprofit organizations or community-driven movements.
- Understanding of open knowledge, digital rights, or Wikimedia community values.
- Fluency in at least one other language, apart from English
- Experience contributing to Wikimedia projects or editing wikis.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that 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 freely. We host Wikipedia and 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 donations 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.
As an equal opportunity employer, the Wikimedia Foundation values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any person based upon their race, traits historically associated with race, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy or related medical conditions, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristics.
The Wikimedia Foundation is a remote-first organization with staff members including contractors based 40+ countries*. Salaries at the Wikimedia Foundation are set in a way that is competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated annual pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is US$92,532 - US$113,266 multiple individualized factors, including cost of living in the location, being the determinants of the offered pay. For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire. We neither ask for nor take into consideration the salary history of applicants. The compensation for a successful applicant will be based on their skills, experience and location.
- Please note that we are currently able to hire in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay. Our non-US employees are hired through a local third party Employer of Record (EOR).
We periodically review this list to streamline to ensure alignment with our hiring requirements.
All applicants can reach out to their recruiter to understand more about the specific pay range for their location during the interview process.
If you are a qualified applicant requiring assistance or an accommodation to complete any step of the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at [email protected] or +1 (415) 839-6885.
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