Software Engineering Internship Program (2025)

Software Engineering Internship Program

Location: Remote (US)

Duration: 4 months (start in late February 2025)

Hours: 40 hrs/week paid experience

Application Deadline: All interested applicants must apply by December 6, 2024.

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia – one of the most popular websites in the world, accessed by over 1.8 billion unique devices every month. It is the only non-profit in the top 50 websites, supported by a community of millions of individual donors around the world.

We are looking for graduates, non-graduates, or those seeking a career change who are interested in developing software engineering skills through an immersive “learn on the job” internship program. As an intern, you will be embedded into an engineering team within our Product and Technology departments and assigned a primary project with clear deliverables. Alongside your manager and dedicated mentor, you will learn the inner workings of our open source code that helps to create “a world in which everyone can freely share in the sum of all knowledge”.  You will work with software that serves over half a billion page views per day through Wikipedia (and other Wikimedia projects). The outcome of your work will impact how all people everywhere discover, share, and contribute to free knowledge.

Additionally, you will have the opportunity to learn about various departments at the Foundation and connect with the wider volunteer movement and community.

Applicants who identify from a group that is underrepresented in the global conversation of technology advancement are encouraged to apply. We’re also welcoming applicants from communities where access to free knowledge and Wikimedia projects are just emerging.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Successful candidates must be able to commit to a four month, 40hr/week internship which will fall between late February to late June 2025. This role is 100% remote, and in some cases there may be potential opportunities to participate in in-person events to meet other fellow interns and teams.

POTENTIAL TEAM OPPORTUNITIES

Site Reliability Engineering Infrastructure Foundations Team

The SRE Infrastructure Foundations team (SRE I/F) builds and maintains the foundational components of our bare-metal infrastructure and global network, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of our systems.

Web Team

The Web team is in charge of the reading experiences for all the web users of the Wikimedia projects. We work on both mobile web and desktop. 

Wikimedia Cloud Services Team

The Wikimedia Cloud Services team (WMCS) is responsible for maintaining and extending the existing Wikimedia Cloud Services computing infrastructure (virtual private server (VPS)), the Toolforge hosting environment (platform as a service (PaaS)), and many additional supporting technologies used in the Cloud Services environment.

Language and Product Localization Team

The mission of the Language and Product Localization team is to ensure standards based tooling to support multilingualism within the Wikimedia movement, and advance localized technical initiatives to reduce knowledge gaps and promote language equity.

Mobile Apps Engineering Team

The Mobile Apps team's primary objective lies in constructing native Android and iOS applications for the Wikimedia Foundation. 

As we form our internship cohort, we are looking for candidates who possess:

• Basic experience with at least one back end or front end programming language (e.g PHP, Javascript) OR an interest in cybersecurity and/or privacy.
• Basic experience with databases.
• Basic experience with at least one scripting language.
• Ability to work independently and be resourceful in solving problems.
• Ability to stay accountable to deliverable requirements deadlines.
• Effective and inclusive communication skills with diverse cultural and language communities.
• Willingness to learn, a positive attitude, and empathy.
• A sense of curiosity and hunger to learn.
• The ability to flourish in a highly transparent and collaborative environment.
• A desire to make meaningful contributions to knowledge equity, free culture, and open access to global education.

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 in more than 50 countries. Salaries at the Wikimedia Foundation are set in a way that is competitive, equitable, and consistent with our values and culture. The anticipated hourly pay range of this position for applicants based within the United States is US$32 per hour to US$39 per hour 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. 

All applicants can reach out to their recruiter to understand more about the specific pay range for their location during the interview process.

More information

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