Community Central:Hiring

Wikia is a fast growing, consumer-publishing platform where millions of passionate fans come to discover, create and share a shocking abundance of information on thousands of topics. Community created wikis cover everything from the latest games, anime, lyrics and TV to eco-friendly living and the world's best chocolate chip recipes. With over 40,000 enthusiast communities attracting more than 30 million visitors each month, Wikia is well positioned as the largest user-generated media company and recently became a top 100 web property.

If you like a small, fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with lots of growth and reasons to celebrate, come join us today!

Founded by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, Wikia is headquartered in a brightly colored SOMA office in San Francisco, CA. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Marc Andreesen and Amazon.



= San Francisco, CA =

Wikia Community Manager
Do you love managing and helping online communities? Could you be the advocate and voice for thousands of active communities? Would you like to join a fantastic community team? If the answer is an enthusiastic "yes" to these questions and you eat, sleep and breath online communities, then we hope to hear from you.

Responsibilities

 * Identifying community needs and spearheading projects to resolve those issues.
 * Supporting wiki communities and helping them grow by providing help, advice, and practical assistance.
 * Assisting users and responding to their questions via email, wiki talk pages, and real-time chat.
 * Testing new features and creating corresponding help pages and tutorials.
 * Serving as the initial point of contact for users and tenaciously following through on all issues until they are resolved.
 * Representing Wikia and working to improve user satisfaction and community/staff relationships.

About You
You should find nothing more satisfying than identifying the needs of communities and finding creative ways to solve their problems. You thrive in chaos and aren't afraid to make rapid but smart decisions to meet tight deadlines.

The ideal candidate should have experience managing online communities, a knack for remaining calm in the midst of drama, and be self-motivated, organized, reliable, proactive, innovative, and all-round downright amazing. A basic understanding of HTML is a must and we'd love to find someone who understands CSS and Javascript too.

Applying
This is a full time position based in our SOMA office in San Francisco. Working remotely may be possible for exceptionally qualified candidates (but you will miss out on the office trampoline).

Send your resume and cover letter in plain text to [mailto:hiring@wikia.com hiring@wikia.com] and include 'Wikia Community Manager' in the subject line.

Marketing Manager
Wikia is searching for a Marketing whiz with a passion for social media, marketing, and consumer pop-culture (videogames, TV, film, anime, etc). While we don't expect your thumbs to have blisters or you to be a walking TV guide, you should have a solid understanding of social media, what's popular, future trends and why everyone seems to love vampires.

What you'll be doing

 * Develop and execute targeted internal and external online marketing campaigns to increase traffic and user conversion:
 * Curate and optimize internal “spotlight” ad inventory of over 1 billion impressions a month.
 * Develop and execute external online campaigns to drive traffic and create buzz around key film, TV, and video game releases.
 * Create unique interactive social media campaigns to engage users and turn them into marketers.
 * Work closely with Ad Sales to develop and execute engaging brand experiences across Wikia’s communities.
 * Provide the Ad Sales team with customer research and user insights
 * Participate in creative brainstorming and help create sales pitches.
 * Work with communities to execute sponsored campaigns and ensure a good user experience.
 * Develop and manage relationships with game publishers, film studios, television networks to support key marketing and ad sales campaigns.
 * Perform and present regular traffic and user data analysis to determine effectiveness of campaigns and measure growth across verticals

About You

 * 3-5 years experience working in a fast-paced environment at a consumer start-up or online media company. BA/BS in marketing or business related field.
 * Active (borderline obsessive) online social media habits.
 * Experience working with online ad sales teams and developing external relationships.
 * Thrives in chaos with ability to make rapid decisions and quickly execute under tight deadlines.
 * Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to work seamlessly across functional teams.

Applying
Please send a cover letter and resume to [mailto:hiring@wikia.com hiring@wikia.com]

Web Developer
Wikia needs a web developer to help build the next generation of Wikia products. If you are a Javascript/web standards guru with a good design sense, we want you! If you're a design visionary with HTML/CSS expertise, we want you! The ideal candidate is well-rounded in all things front-end, from design conception to implementation.

The position will work as part of Wikia's small San Francisco technical team and will play a key role for the product and sales teams.

Responsibilities

 * Create designs from the ground up for the product and sales teams
 * Lend technical guidance to product and sales teams for upcoming features (web application products and premium sales experiences)
 * Bring ideas to life by writing production-ready HTML and CSS
 * Write Javascript interactions, ranging from basic experience elements to complex (and fun) API queries.

Qualifications
Wikia is powered by LAMP + MediaWiki and uses the jQuery Javascript library. We are a top-200 web property and we have a strong focus on efficiency and scalability.
 * Photoshop/Illustrator skills
 * HTML/CSS/Javascript abilities
 * Proficient with CSS and Javascript
 * MediaWiki experience preferable

Applying
Please send an introduction letter, resume, and a link to your online portfolio to [mailto:hiring@wikia.com hiring@wikia.com]

Intern for Wikia Gaming
Wikia Gaming is seeking an intern to help the gaming team get ready for all the big game releases. Duties will include content seeding, writing walkthroughs, recruiting and mentoring new admins and noobs, and reaching out to game related fansites and forums to promote new wikis.

Benefits include getting a backstage pass to the inner-workings of Wikia, and the ability to help shape our seeding and promotional efforts. The internship will span the breadth of the gaming community, with a focus on console games (360, PS3, Wii, DS and PSP) and Fall 2008 releases.

The ideal candidate possesses thumb calluses from playing too many games, has an edit count of over 10,000 (but pretends not to know that), and is excited about the idea of seeing new wikis succeed! We're looking for someone who can commit 15-20 hours/week. Hours are flexible. Work from home or, if you're nearby, work from our offices in San Francisco.

This is an unpaid position, though it could lead to a more permanent role on the team.

Responsibilities
The position will involve working with the Marketing Manager to identify and build out target content areas. This will span the entire life-cycle of wikis ranging from seeding and content creation to improving mature communities. For new wikis: For existing wikis:
 * Create content and structure
 * Stay on top of current news as it relates to the gaming industry
 * Reach out to external communities and fansites to achieve maximum reach for gaming communities
 * Identify what's missing on the wiki, and figure out how to help
 * Clean up content, organize main page, keep things consistent
 * Restructure content
 * Establish a good relationships with the existing admins, and help create a thriving community on their wiki

Qualifications
Candidates should have a strong history of contributions on Wikia -- especially creating pages and copy-editing. Admin experience preferred, but not required.

Applying
Please send a resume, introduction letter and your Wikia username to [mailto:hiring@wikia.com hiring@wikia.com]

= Poznań, Poland =

Web Developer
For our office in Poznań we are looking to fill the position of Web Developer.

We need a rock-star PHP/JavaScript programmer to help us on our mission to make content free to everyone.

You will be a part of the team designing, developing, testing and deploying new features and improvements of the MediaWiki software for Wikia.

Responsibilities

 * Propose software design solutions and obtain consensus from senior and peer tech teams
 * Create implementation prototypes based on design concepts
 * Develop, test, and deploy new features and improvements to the MediaWiki core and to MediaWiki extensions
 * Collaborate in designing and implementing QA processes including multi-lingual and performance tests
 * Work closely with operations staff to ensure proper integration with testing and production systems
 * Take responsibility for tasks to aid developing and working practices of Wikia.
 * Be an active part of the overall Wikia team and help it achieve its overall objectives.

Qualifications

 * 2+ years experience
 * Excellent JavaScript skills, jQuery is preferred
 * Excellent object-oriented PHP skills
 * Experience with AJAX/HTML/CSS is required
 * Experience with security implications of JavaScript/PHP software is required
 * Experience with scaling issues of JavaScript/PHP software is required
 * Experience with MediaWiki engine is a plus
 * Self starter, able to demonstrate a pro-active approach. A desire to grow, learn and be challenged in a start-up environment.
 * User knowledge of MediaWiki, Skype and RT is an advantage. (If you are an active Wikipedia or Wikia editor, please enclose your user name in the application).

About You

 * Excellent interpersonal skills, effective listening skills
 * Confidence, verbal fluency
 * Well organized and disciplined
 * Able to balance technical solutions with time, cost and human factors
 * Able to identify problems and to make decisions
 * Must know how to build trust, promote team spirit
 * Punctual, reliable and able/willing to work a flexible schedule
 * A good sense of humor, an even temperament, and a flexible/adaptable nature
 * Readiness to occasionally travel to the USA.

Applying
Please send a cover letter and CV, both in English, to [mailto:hr-pl@wikia-inc.com hr-pl@wikia-inc.com]

Project Manager
For our office in Poznań, we are looking to fill the position of Project Manager.

We are looking for an experienced and positive person to handle company projects and facilitate interaction between our international team members. The ideal candidate should have experience handling both engineering and other types of projects. The Project Manager is at the center of the team and establishes standards and procedures for project reporting and documentation. You will manage day-to-day project activities and ensure projects are on schedule. You will help to identify and manage project goals, staffing, scheduling, risks, contingency plans and allocation of available resources. The Project Manager works closely with the Community and Engineering teams to understand project scope, design requirements and functional/technical documentation. The Project Manager will hold project status meetings and author production status reports.

Responsibilities

 * Coordinate, schedule and support Software Development Projects for virtual teams (geographically dispersed)
 * Combine the best of Agile and Traditional Project Management
 * Work closely with and aid communication between Product Managers and Engineers
 * Lead or actively participate in international conference calls
 * Administrate project wikis (MediaWiki), reporting on Projects and ticketing system (RT)
 * Support development of processes and the Wikia organization
 * Take responsibility for tasks to aid developing and working practices of Wikia
 * Be an active part of the overall Wikia team and help it achieve its overall objectives

Qualifications

 * 2 years minimum experience of project management/project coordination, ideally in an IT or online community environment
 * General technical understanding of software programming, software releases, testing, QA from relevant University degree or equivalent experience
 * Excellent problem-solving skills, along with the ability to multi-task and prioritize within a fast-paced environment
 * Highly organized, ability to combine good attention to detail with a strong results orientation
 * 1 year minimum in an international business environment, able to deal with different cultures and nationalities
 * Self starter, able to demonstrate a pro-active approach. A desire to grow, learn and be challenged in a start-up environment
 * Candidate must be an excellent communicator
 * Native or near native English language skills (verbally as well as in writing) are essential
 * A team player with ability to build and motivate teams
 * User knowledge of MediaWiki, Skype and RT is an advantage

About You

 * Excellent interpersonal skills, effective listening skills and strong customer service skills
 * Strong organizational, communication and leadership skills
 * Confidence, persuasiveness, verbal fluency
 * Well-organized and disciplined
 * Able to balance technical solutions with time, cost and human factors
 * Able to devote most of his or her time to planning and controlling
 * Able to identify problems and to make decisions
 * Must know how to build trust, promote team spirit
 * Punctual, reliable and able/willing to work a flexible schedule
 * A good sense of humor, an even temperament, and a flexible/adaptable nature
 * Ability to occasionally travel to the USA

Applying
Please send a cover letter and CV, both in English, to [mailto:hr-pl@wikia-inc.com hr-pl@wikia-inc.com]

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