Software Engineer, Wikidata Platform - Wikimedia Foundation

Software Engineer, Wikidata Platform

Company: Wikimedia Foundation

Location: Remote

About the Role

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a Software Engineer to join the team supporting the Wikidata Platform. This role focuses on scaling and sustaining the Wikidata Query Service (WDQS) and related platform services, which are crucial for Wikimedia projects and the global open knowledge ecosystem.

This position combines backend engineering and operations ownership. You will be responsible for implementing high-scale, production-grade services, ensuring their performance, reliability, and maintainability. You will also contribute to shaping the future of how structured, linked data is queried and interacted with.

Important: This is a fully remote role. Working hours must overlap with UTC+1 to UTC-5 time zones, with 14:00 UTC to 17:00 UTC being the core team overlap.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain backend systems and APIs for Wikidata's query infrastructure.
• Enhance the reliability, observability, and automation of the Wikidata Query Service and data pipelines.
• Integrate Wikidata Platform services with other Wikimedia systems and data sources.
• Develop features to ensure stability and scalability under increasing usage.
• Monitor production systems, respond to operational incidents, and resolve bottlenecks.
• Support platform migrations and system upgrades (e.g., triple stores, streaming ingestion).
• Contribute to deployment automation, CI/CD workflows, and service instrumentation.
• Participate in code reviews and design discussions.
• Document systems and share knowledge with team members and the broader Wikimedia technical community.

Skills and Experience

• 2+ years of experience as a backend or platform engineer working on distributed systems or data platforms.
• Solid understanding of database and/or knowledge graph representation technologies.
• Proficiency in Java, C++, or other systems languages. Ability to set up, scale, and investigate systems is prioritized over specific language expertise.
• Experience building and operating production-grade services with SLOs, with a strong appreciation for scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Familiarity with modern observability tools (metrics, logging, tracing).
• Familiarity with data processing technologies such as graph databases, search indexes, or data processing pipelines.
• Ability to work collaboratively across disciplines and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences.
• A commitment to learning, resilience, and contributing to a mission-driven engineering culture.

Nice to Have

• Experience with knowledge graphs or RDF/SPARQL.
• Familiarity with streaming data systems (e.g., Kafka, Flink).
• Comfort with CI/CD pipelines and containerization tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience in open source or open knowledge communities.
• Familiarity with Wikimedia technologies, Wikidata, or MediaWiki.

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 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 are 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 in 40+ countries. Salaries are competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated annual pay range for this position within the United States is US$ 95,164 to US$ 148,729. For applicants located outside of the US, the pay range will be adjusted to the country of hire. Compensation will be based on skills, experience, and location.

Hiring Locations:

• US States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
• Countries: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

*Note: Non-US employees are hired through a local third-party Employer of Record (EOR) and must have current work authorization in their location. Citizens/permanent residents only for Kenya and Singapore.

If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability, please contact recruiting@wikimedia.org or +1 (415) 839-6885.