The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a Lead Learning Experience Designer to create innovative, engaging, and accessible learning experiences that strengthen the capacity of volunteers and communities across the Wikimedia movement. You'll help contributors develop the confidence, skills, and knowledge they need to participate effectively, navigate Wikimedia’s communities and practices, and grow as contributors.
In this role, you'll partner with Foundation teams, affiliates, researchers, subject matter experts, and volunteers to understand learner needs, identify barriers to participation, and develop learning experiences that support contributors at different stages of their journey.
This role goes beyond traditional instructional design. You’ll think like a learning product designer, finding the right approach for each challenge, whether that means creating an online course on Wikimedia’s learning management system (LMS), WikiLearn, producing multimedia content, experimenting with emerging technologies, or embedding learning into existing experiences and workflows. You will do all this while ensuring the experiences you create are culturally responsive, accessible, and relevant to a global audience. This role is intended for an experienced individual who is comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy and making decisions in complex, evolving environments.
Success in this role means being a curious, resourceful problem solver who understands how people learn, grow, and participate. You can think big about how learning can strengthen the Wikimedia movement, while also rolling up your sleeves to build, experiment, and iterate on solutions that make a meaningful difference.
Responsibilities
- Design and develop innovative digital learning experiences, capacity-strengthening resources, and performance support solutions for contributors across the Wikimedia movement.
- Partner with product teams, community groups, researchers, and subject matter experts to identify learning needs, contributor challenges, and opportunities to strengthen participation.
- Determine the right learning approach for each opportunity, whether that be a self-paced course, video, interactive experience, AI-enabled support, workshop, or embedded guidance.
- Develop learning experiences that support contributors in understanding new tools, workflows, policies, governance processes, and community practices across Wikimedia projects.
- Rapidly prototype, test and iterate on learning experiences, using modern authoring tools, multimedia, and AI tools.
- Apply learning science, user-centered design, and learning experience design methodologies to create engaging, effective, and inclusive solutions.
- Evaluate learning effectiveness using learner feedback, participation data, and other qualitative and quantitative insights, continuously improving content based on evidence and community feedback.
- Contribute to the ongoing evolution of the Foundation's learning strategy by staying current with learning technology, online learning, AI, and digital engagement, identifying opportunities to expand and strengthen learning offerings across the movement.
- Ensure learning resources reflect Wikimedia's values of openness, collaboration, equity, and knowledge sharing.
Qualifications
Required
- Experience designing and developing digital learning experiences for diverse, global audiences.
- Demonstrated experience creating engaging e-learning, instructor-led, virtual, or blended learning solutions.
- Experience using a learning management system (LMS) to develop, organize, and publish learning content.
- Demonstrated ability to diagnose capability gaps, identify the right interventions, and rapidly design, build and improve learning experiences.
- Excellent written communication and content development skills, with the ability to simplify complex concepts for diverse audiences.
- Experience collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders and subject matter experts.
- Commitment to accessibility, inclusive design, and culturally responsive learning practices.
Preferred
- Experience working with volunteer communities, open knowledge initiatives, nonprofits, or international organizations.
- Experience designing learning for multilingual audiences and collaborating across cultures and time zones.
- Experience creating learning in modern digital environments using tools such as Rise, Storyline, Camtasia, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, video editing tools, AI content generation platforms, or similar technologies.
- Experience partnering with product teams or using product design approaches, such as user research, experimentation, prototyping and iteration.
- Knowledge of experimentation methods, A/B testing, learning analytics, product analytics, and continuous improvement practices.
- Familiarity with Wikimedia projects, the Wikimedia movement, or open-source communities.
You'll Thrive in This Role If You...
- Think like a designer and builder, comfortable moving from identifying challenges to creating, testing and improving solutions.
- Are curious about how people learn, what motivates participation, and how to leverage modern methods and technology to create memorable learning experiences.
- Are energized by ambiguity and enjoy figuring out what needs to be built rather than waiting for a predefined assignment.
- Excel at collaborating with people from different backgrounds, languages, and areas of expertise.
- Balance creativity with evidence and structure, using data, research, and feedback to guide decisions.
- Care deeply about accessibility, inclusion, and creating learning that supports equitable participation.
- Are inspired by Wikimedia's mission to make knowledge freely available to everyone.
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$117,437 to US$177,624 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:
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 and Wyoming (*US Territory or Federal District)
Countries: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya*, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore*, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Our 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)
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.
More information
What does the Wikimedia Foundation do?
What makes Wikipedia different from social media platforms?
