Senior Software Engineer Privacy

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$113,082 to US$175,725 with 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 recruiting@wikimedia.org or +1 (415) 839-6885.

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Senior Software Engineer Privacy at Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a Senior Software Engineer Privacy to join the Product Safety and Integrity team. In this pivotal role, you will be instrumental in developing new security features to safeguard Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. This is a highly hands-on engineering position, collaborating closely with a team of engineers and product managers to design and implement innovative features that protect and reassure our global user base, ensuring the platform's resilience against evolving threats.

We are looking for a seasoned software engineer with a strong background in building security features within large-scale systems. You should possess a deep understanding of the critical importance of robust testing and thorough documentation, as well as awareness of common pitfalls in developing secure web applications. A passion for the Wikimedia Foundation's mission is essential. Our operations are highly transparent, and your work will directly impact thousands of editors every single day.

You will primarily focus on our MediaWiki platform, the robust engine powering Wikipedia. As a top 10 website globally, we are committed to meeting stringent performance standards while tackling complex security challenges. These include supporting modern authentication technologies, implementing advanced detection and prevention mechanisms against platform abuse from bots, and strategically planning and rolling out enhancements to our security architecture to defend against emerging threats effectively.

Responsibilities

• Help design, develop, and deliver security features, with safety and security as paramount considerations.
• Work collaboratively with other engineering teams to ensure they adopt safe and compliant architectural and implementation choices.
• Lead by example in code review, decision-making processes, and team culture, fostering an environment of transparency, empathy, and collaboration.
• Develop, review, and deploy security features originating from both the Foundation and community members.
• Conduct internal and external security and privacy reviews to maintain high standards.
• Perform ongoing maintenance and strategically address technical debt within security and privacy-critical components.
• Provide essential support for application security and privacy incidents and operations.

Skills and Experience

The Wikimedia Foundation values the right mindset and potential over a rigid checklist of specific experiences. The following traits and experiences have consistently proven to be valuable additions to our team:

• 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, with a strong focus on security or privacy being highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively within a modern web application environment; our primary stack includes PHP and JavaScript.
• While deep PHP experience is not strictly required, you should possess sufficient general engineering and back-end web development experience to quickly learn and become proficient in it.
• A commitment to driving technical quality and operational excellence by defining and consistently reinforcing standards in testing, observability, and system reliability.
• The capability to comfortably and autonomously create proofs of concept, author comprehensive design documents, and meticulously break down complex projects into actionable tasks to mentor and support less experienced team members.
• Direct experience in developing secure software or building security and privacy-related product features.
• A strong interest in collaborating with a talented security team and a desire to acquire more specialist security skills, such as exploiting and mitigating application-level vulnerabilities.
• The ability to clearly explain complex security issues and their implications on privacy and risk to non-technical audiences.
• Sensitivity to the unique security and privacy challenges faced by participants in a large, international, and globally distributed project.
• Experience working effectively within a remote, distributed team environment.

Highly Desired Qualifications

• Experience working on anti-abuse mechanisms, including the detection of bots or coordinated malicious activity.
• Previous experience in building security countermeasures against various attacks at the web, backend, and database levels.
• A proven track record of finding and fixing security bugs and conducting thorough code reviews for potential security gaps.
• A working knowledge of threat modeling, secure design patterns, and the principles of privacy by design.
• Prior experience with MediaWiki or direct involvement in Wikimedia projects.
• Contributions to open-source software projects.

Key skills/competency

• Software Engineering
• Security Features Development
• Privacy Engineering
• Large-Scale Systems
• Web Application Security
• PHP
• JavaScript
• MediaWiki Platform
• Threat Modeling
• Application Security