Director of Engineering (all genders) Full-time

Free knowledge leads to a fairer world. Wikipedia is the most important online knowledge collection of our time. The German Wikipedia alone records almost 1 billion page views per month for a total of 3 million articles. We – Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. – support the volunteers of Wikipedia and its sister projects, develop free software, such as Wikidata and Wikibase, and advocate for free access to knowledge, the opening of education and research, and more common good orientation in data policy.

For our Software Engineering Team, based in Berlin, we are looking for a permanent Director of Engineering (all genders), full-time (40 hours / week), ideally starting 01.03.2026 or sooner.

This position is designed as a hybrid working model with regular presence in our Berlin office.

About the position & the team:

Wikimedia Deutschland’s Software Development department includes seven different product teams working on Wikidata, Wikibase, Technical Wishes, and Fundraising Technology. Our tasks include live platform operations, backend maintenance, feature development, cloud services, testing procedures and analysis, API development, and systems maintenance to integrate various services with our Wikimedia websites (e.g., Wikidata.org, de.Wikipedia.org).

As Director of Software Engineering (all genders) you’ll be leading seven Engineering Managers (about 40 people in the teams) and report to the Executive Director of Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. (WMDE). You will be responsible for having your eye on the big picture that guides the development of our complex open-source software products and you will also be part of the Management Team.

What you’ll be doing:

• Co-lead the Software Development Department of Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. (together with the Director of Product Development) consisting of about 80 employees of different disciplines.
• Act as a department head leading with empathy to empower and support the engineering team managers through coaching, mentorship, guidance, helping them grow as leaders, make sound people decisions, and build high performing engaged teams.
• Create a high performing and positive work environment based on open communication, agile principles, accountability, and trust. Instill a spirit of continuous improvement in the team’s code, architecture, and processes.
• Connect with other departments and teams to unblock dependencies and provide visibility and transparency to team progress on product initiatives – identify, gather and resolve blockers to move forward.
• Establish best practices for cross-functional team collaboration and an agile software development process for an optimal flow of value to ensure WMDE reaches its annual and mid term goals.
• Define a recruiting strategy in close collaboration with the engineering managers, engineering teams and the recruiting team that enables hiring high potential engineers and managers from diverse backgrounds.
• Planning, budgeting & controlling for the Engineering part of the Software Department.
• Represent our WMDE Engineering department to internal and external stakeholders.
• Facilitate communication and decision-making processes between different engineering teams and stakeholders and act as a sparring partner to product leads.
• Assume accountability for the long-term technical strategy of our products and WMDE Engineering culture.
• Be an active WMDE leadership team member which includes, among other tasks, an active involvement in topics of strategic importance for the organization as well as giving feedback to peers and executive directors.

What makes you right for this role:

• You have prior, proven experience as a Director of Engineering, CTO or in a similar leadership role ideally of similar size and in a setting of cross-functional departments, diverse backgrounds and complex products.
• Coaching and mentoring people is important to you. You have learned in previous jobs the skills and experiences to help Engineering leaders navigate the daily challenges of team life and you enjoy supporting them in their personal and professional growth.
• Envisioning the knowledge infrastructure of the future together with our partners and communities is an inspiring endeavour to you and you have what it takes to get us there.
• You stay up-to-date with technological trends and know how to use them to our advantage when creating our strategies.
• You have previous experience of successful business-planning and managing budgets that is required to manage a software engineering department of our size in the setting of a non-profit organisation.
• You possess the ability to conduct technological analyses and research.
• You are able to communicate in English and German with professional proficiency.
• You are motivated by creating impact and you work best in an environment driven by collaboration, participation and a strong community.