Privacy Fellow

Location: Remote Duration: 12 months

Summary

Wikimedia envisions a world where the sum total of human knowledge is available to everyone. The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit home of Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and other free educational projects, serves as the hub of a global movement of hundreds of thousands of contributors collaborating to collect and share the sum of all human knowledge with the world. As Wikimedia pursues a new global strategic direction, our Legal department is tasked with solving many legal questions, including some that no one has fully considered before. We are looking for a privacy-focused lawyer to join our in-house legal department as Privacy Fellow. The Privacy Fellow will provide research and drafting on a variety of topics, as well as gain experience in product counseling, data governance, and privacy-related public policy work. The Privacy Fellow will monitor current developments around the world to help the legal department adapt to changing regulations and promote people’s ability to participate in knowledge online. This position provides an immersive in-house experience with specific education and mentorship in the areas of internet regulation, data governance, and privacy law. This position will report to the Wikimedia Foundation’s Senior Legal Counsel.

Who Should Apply:

At Wikimedia, we serve the world. We believe that there is no way to meaningfully achieve our goal of reaching every single human unless our organization reflects the full breadth of the human experience. To that end, the Wikimedia Foundation recruits candidates from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, including those from historically marginalized groups — women, people with disabilities, people of color, formerly incarcerated people, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or gender nonconforming, first and second generation immigrants, and people from low-income families. A diversity of lived experiences is reflective of those who create and use Wikimedia every day.

Essential Functions of Role:

Work individually and in teams under the supervision of attorneys on Wikimedia Foundation’s privacy team, on new and developing issues related to privacy.
Research and offer guidance to the Foundation on existing and developing data protection regimes around the world.
Assist the privacy team in its efforts to monitor global developments in privacy that may affect free knowledge.
Manage and administer several ongoing projects under the supervision of the Foundation legal team.
Work cross-departmentally with colleagues at the Wikimedia Foundation to resolve legal questions and provide counsel.
Availability for meetings during at least some Pacific Time business hours.
Occasional other legal projects as assigned.

Skills and Experience:

Graduate degree in law, public policy, or related fields and excellent academic credentials. (Equivalent experience will be considered.)
Ability to work in English.
Experience working across borders, on matters in non-U.S. jurisdictions, or for clients outside the U.S.
Deep understanding of privacy and other internet law issues.
Experience with large and comprehensive research projects, especially on legal topics.
Ability to adhere to deadlines, and complete work independently.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail.
Experience working with a remote team.

Please note: this role may call for travel, including internationally, and for travel or work on weekends if and when needed due to conferences or legal needs. This is not a requirement; alternate arrangements may be made where appropriate.

Qualities that are important to us:

Appreciation for and alignment with Wikimedia’s mission.
Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills and ability to work well on a team.
A desire to learn, stretch, and grow.

Additionally, we’d love it if you have:

Fluency in a language other than English.
Licensed to practice law in the United States or another jurisdiction globally.
Training, knowledge, or experience with global data privacy law.
Experience working internationally, for international clients or on international law.
Experience with public policy or government relations.
Experience with open source free culture free software or online communities.
Experience with wikis or Wikimedia projects.
Experience working in technology or nonprofit sector.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and 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 potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge; everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia & Wikimedia projects; build software experiences for reading contributing & sharing; support volunteer communities & partners; advocate policies enabling Wikimedia & free knowledge thrive. The Wikimedia Foundation is charitable not-for-profit relying on donations from millions worldwide averaging about $15 each plus institutional grants & gifts; it is US 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization based San Francisco CA offices. As equal opportunity employer: values diverse workforce strives inclusive equitable workplace encourages diverse backgrounds apply does not discriminate based race traits religion color national origin sex pregnancy parental status sexual orientation gender identity expression age protected veteran disability genetic info legally protected characteristics. Remote-first organization staff members contractors based 40+ countries salaries set competitively based skills experience location adjusted accordingly currently hiring countries include Australia Austria ... full list available page if accommodation needed contact recruiting@wikimedia.org +1 (415) 839-6885.