Lead Strategist, Movement Strategy - Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking a Lead Strategist to guide the Foundation and the Wikimedia movement at large in the implementation of the Movement Strategy 2030 (MS). This person will ensure that the MS is set to succeed, true to its intentions, responsive to changing needs and realities and powered by the wisdom and experience of the Wikimedia volunteers, affiliates, and Foundation staff.

As the Lead Strategist, you will report to the Senior Manager of the Movement Strategy & Governance team, and you will work closely with the rest of the team, other teams at the Foundation, and the Wikimedia communities of volunteers and affiliates. You also will be a regular advisor of the Vice-President of Community Resilience and Sustainability. Join us and help the Wikimedia movement implement its strategy.

You are responsible for:

Understand Movement Strategy and keep it focused on its goals.

• Develop a deep understanding of the strategic direction and recommendations, including the context and the conversations that led to their approval.
• Keep an eye on emerging technologies, laws, and other factors that may influence our strategic choices, through communications with experts internal and external.
• Identify emerging needs or evolving interpretations related to the strategic direction and recommendations, and advise on how to resolve any mismatch with the original strategic intent.

Design and maintain an implementation framework for Movement Strategy.

• Design a framework of collective impact and change management to organize and connect all MS implementation initiatives towards the strategic goals.
• In consultation with specialist staff, identify metrics to measure the success of individual implementation projects and the collective progress.
• Adjust this framework as needed, based on specialist advice, stakeholders’ feedback, and the implementation data gathered.

Advice on the implementation of specific recommendations.

• Follow the implementation of MS recommendations, especially looking at what is working, problems, and missed opportunities.
• In close collaboration with stakeholders, advise on the best approaches to implement each recommendation, keeping a holistic view of the overall MS implementation process.

Strategic support to stakeholders involved in Movement Strategy.

• In collaboration with the rest of the team, identify MS support needs from volunteers and affiliates that require a strategic approach, and advise on solutions.
• Prioritize the support to groups underrepresented in the Wikimedia movement, reaching out to them directly to better understand their needs, defining best practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and keeping track of their participation metrics.
• Consult with Foundation staff to learn more about challenges and opportunities of their work in Movement Strategy areas, and advise on improvements.
• Provide change management best practices to all MS stakeholders.

Skills and Experience:

• Change management experience. You have been involved in international change management, including articulating and application of theories of change.
• Experience in Wikimedia or a similar social movement. You have been involved in an international social movement as a volunteer or staff and have insight into the circumstances that inform Wikimedia’s work.
• Facilitation experience. You have strong collaboration skills in an empowerment approach to engaging stakeholders.
• Public communication experience. You have professional experience explaining concepts and maintaining conversations in written and spoken form, online and in face-to-face activities.

Qualities that are important to us:

• Strategic thinking. You can remain focused on goals and can link qualitative and quantitative input to make actionable recommendations to the Wikimedia Foundation and the movement at large.
• Active listening. You can hear and understand people and help them better articulate their own thoughts empathetically.
• Clear communication. You can effectively speak and write in simple English to stakeholders at different levels of involvement and language fluency.
• Values and mission fit with the Wikimedia movement and Foundation and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Additionally, we’d love it if you have:

• Experience participating in the Wikimedia Movement Strategy.
• Experience living and working in different countries or cultures.
• Fluency in multiple languages.

The Wikimedia Foundation is…

the nonprofit organization that hosts and 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, free of interference. We host 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 financial support 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.