Please note: While this is a fully remote role, candidates must be located within the UTC+3 to UTC−8 time zones due to team collaboration requirements.
We’re hiring a Research Scientist strongly committed to the principles of free knowledge, open source, privacy, and collaboration to join the Research team. As a Research Scientist, you will conduct applied research on the integrity of Wikipedia knowledge, its communities and their work, and the Wikipedia model. We’re accepting applications through 15 January 2026, with a start date by or before April 2026.
You will join an interdisciplinary team of Research Scientists, Research Engineers, UX Researchers, Survey Specialists and Research Operations Officers. You’ll work remotely with team members spread between Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Examples of recent research questions you may contribute to include::
You can learn more about what the team has done in the past six months by reading our biannual report.
Note: This role reports to the Applied Science Manager and requires working in different timezones with availability for critical meetings and synchronous work between 15:00 to 19:00 UTC. The role may require occasional participation in incident response activities outside of the candidates' standard working hours, including evenings or weekends. The role also includes the expectation of travel up to four times per year.
You will be responsible for:
Skills and experience:
Additionally, we’d love it if you have:
Qualities that are important to us:
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 $113,174 to $171,720 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 countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay. Our non-US employees are hired through a local third party Employer of Record (EOR).
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 [email protected] or +1 (415) 839-6885.
More information
What does the Wikimedia Foundation do?
What makes Wikipedia different from social media platforms?
News from across the Wikimedia movement
The official account of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates @Wikipedia.
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Understand the required skills and qualifications, anticipate the questions you may be asked, and study well-prepared answers using our sample responses.
Research Scientist Q&A's