Platform Product Manager at Wikimedia Foundation

Summary

• The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for Product Managers to join our newly formed Platform Product management team, reporting to the Director of Platform Product Management. As a Platform Product Manager, you will be responsible for working closely with our engineering teams across the foundation to build and deliver technical capabilities that create value, support our mission, and positions our technical stack to sustainably grow and scale to empower the free-knowledge community. Platform Product Managers possess deep expertise in various areas of technology, serving as Subject Matter Experts to development and non-development audiences alike.   
• Wikipedia is one of the largest internet properties in the world, visited by 1 billion people a month across 280 different languages. Our foundational technology supports all of our properties, products, and offerings that empower the global free-knowledge community to produce and consume knowledge. 
• Due to our scale, commitment to opensource, and our desire to support the infrastructure of free knowledge, it is no easy task to build and maintain foundational technology. To deliver key capabilities that are needed, Platform Product Managers must develop strong understandings of internal and external clients, leverage their product management skills to distill capabilities from user needs, and partner closely with partners in engineering to identify, design, and build technical capabilities that support products and services that unlock value. 
• As we build a high-performing Platform Product Management team, we are seeking individuals with varying areas of technical expertise such as working with AI platforms, cloud technology, caching, big data, etc. Platform Product Managers will be working closely with one or more engineering teams on a daily basis and will have to collaborate closely within the team in order to deliver solutions at scale.

You are Responsible for:

• Developing a deep understanding of critical areas of our foundational technology stack, identifying opportunities to improve, extend, and/or leverage existing and new technologies to deliver against our mission and strategy.
• Translating product/technical strategy into a roadmap containing well-defined and prioritized user stories and features 
• Managing incoming requests to engineering, including triaging, clarifying, generating estimates, prioritizing, and managing stakeholder expectations
• Uncovering and understanding client needs and translate them into requirements and user stories
• Ensuring that requirements are fully understood and implementation plans match expectations
• Assessing and addressing technical risks
• Working closely with engineering teams to communicate the product vision, clarify use cases and requirements, and resolve questions and issues that arise during development.
• Clearly defining success criteria for testing and product acceptance
• Use both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the impact of your work
• Serve as a product evangelist and subject matter expert to the technical community

Skills and Experience:

• 2+ years of experience designing and building technical products as a technical product manager, software engineer, or equivalent role, in one or more of the following areas:
  • ML/AI
  • Cloud Services
  • Caching Infrastructure
  • Parsing
  • Authentication & Security
  • DevOps
  • Data Platforms
• Proven project, communication, and time management skills
• Agility and flexibility to work with multiple different teams, projects, and technologies while delivering value and impact
• Ability to partner and work closely with internal teams, including developers, engineers, architects, security, and product teams. 
• Strong understanding of development concepts
• Demonstrated experience prioritizing work
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical requirements to non-technical audiences, as well as turn non-technical requirements into specs that engineering teams can execute against.
• Ability to solve complex business problems to maximize value while balancing technical constraints
• Able to draft documentation and visualizations that clarify technical concepts to non-technical audiences and vice-versa
• Direct experience in companies or initiatives that have pulled together disparate products or services into a common experience for customers.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in relevant work experience

Qualities that are Important to us:

• Problem-solver with a passion and willingness to learn and dive-deep into technical details
• Possess a growth mindset with ability to identify additional skills, knowledge, and/or expertise required and the drive to develop themselves where needed

Additionally, we’d Love it if you Have:

• Familiarity with PHP, JSON, Python, and/or Javascript (Vue.js)
• Experience working with microservice architectures
• Experience with open-source technology 
• Experience interacting with free and open-source software projects and communities
• Experience editing Wikipedia or contributing to other wiki projects

U.S. Benefits & Perks

• Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage for employees and their eligible families (yes, fully paid premiums!)
• The Wellness Program provides reimbursement for mind, body and soul activities such as fitness memberships, baby sitting, continuing education and much more
• The 401(k) retirement plan offers matched contributions at 4% of annual salary
• Flexible and generous time off - vacation, sick and volunteer days, plus 22 paid holidays - including the last week of the year.
• Family friendly! 100% paid new parent leave for seven weeks plus an additional five weeks for pregnancy, flexible options to phase back in after leave, fully equipped lactation room.
• For those emergency moments - long and short term disability, life insurance (2x salary) and an employee assistance program
• Pre-tax savings plans for health care, child care, elder care, public transportation and parking expenses
• Telecommuting and flexible work schedules available
• Appropriate fuel for thinking and coding (aka, a pantry full of treats) and monthly massages to help staff relax
• Paid travel to Wikimedia Foundation events all around the world!
• Equipment including a laptop, monitor, plus a one-time stipend to cover any additional needs to make sure you have the best work experience
• Great colleagues - diverse staff and contractors speaking dozens of languages from around the world, fantastic intellectual discourse, mission-driven and intensely passionate people