The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a Community Facilitator for Japan, with written and spoken fluency in Japanese, to support multiple programs from the Movement Strategy and Governance team. The Community Facilitator will promote volunteers’ and affiliates’ participation in the Movement Strategy, Board elections, and programs like the Universal Code of Conduct to ensure equitable participation. Wikimedia experience is welcomed, but not required. Join this team, and help the Wikimedia movement implement their strategy and collaboratively improve their governance!

This is a 6 month contract with our Foundation working 20-40 hours a week. Scheduling flexible based on candidate's availability.

You are responsible for:

• Engaging with Wikimedia communities and affiliates in Japan, directly in their language or working with local ambassadors.
• Motivating volunteers and affiliates to participate in movement processes, especially those from underrepresented regions and groups.
• Organizing community conversations, gathering feedback, and addressing community questions or requests, escalating feedback to the team as needed.
• Building up and documenting a network of volunteers, increasing the number of projects we can engage with.
• Collaborating with other facilitators, volunteers, and Foundation staff to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in the activities the team supports.
• Drafting and distributing information.
• Translating announcements and documentation as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills and Experience:

• Professional proficiency in written and spoken English.
• Professional proficiency in written and spoken Japanese.
• Good knowledge of the social, economic and political context of Japan.
• Strong communicator, able to contextualize information for and receive feedback from participants with different backgrounds and levels of involvement.
• Able to focus on the larger picture and able to express which concerns and views are widespread and which are marginal or individual.
• Strongly empathetic - you will excel at understanding the perspectives of others and bridging the gap between different opinions.
• Approachable, and able to build trust with volunteers and staff.
• Self-motivated - you will frequently need to organize your own tasks with little supervision, but in direct coordination with other facilitators.
• Able to discern community priorities and engage with them accordingly.
• Collaborative - you will connect with other facilitators to give and receive feedback, exchange ideas, and ensure best practices in order to support the best outcomes for community engagement.
• Experienced user of online communication and social media tools.

Additionally, we’d love it if you have:

• Familiarity with multiple Wikimedia projects beyond Wikipedia is a major plus;
• Familiarity with Wikimedia global conversations (e.g. Movement Strategy);
• Familiarity with multiple communication and social media channels used by the language or regional communities assigned;
• Familiarity with producing presentations or infographics;
• Familiarity with organizing video conference meetings and basic video publishing (e.g. on Commons or YouTube, Instagram);
• Experience with governance processes in Wikimedia or other volunteer / non-profit / open knowledge / open source communities;
• Fluency in multiple languages.

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.

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.