Senior Software Engineer (Security)

TL;DR

Senior Software Engineer (Security): Building and delivering security features for the MediaWiki platform to protect Wikipedia and related projects with an accent on secure web application development, modern authentication, and bot abuse prevention. Focus on designing, implementing, and maintaining security-critical components and collaborating across teams to ensure platform resilience against emerging threats.

Location: Remote with timezone preference GMT-5 through GMT+1; hiring limited to specific countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and many others

Salary: $113,082–$175,725 (US-based applicants; adjusted for other countries)

Company

The hirify.global is a nonprofit organization operating Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, focused on enabling free access and contribution to knowledge worldwide.

What you will do

• Design, develop, and deliver security features with safety and security in mind
• Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure safe architectural and implementation choices
• Lead by example in code review, decision-making, and fostering a transparent, empathetic team culture
• Develop, review, and deploy security features from the Foundation and community
• Perform security maintenance and address technical debt in security-critical components
• Support application security incidents and operations

Requirements

• Must be located in or eligible to work in one of the specified countries
• 5+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on security
• Experience with PHP and JavaScript codebases
• Strong skills in testing, observability, and system reliability
• Ability to create proofs of concept, design documents, and break down complex projects
• Experience developing secure software or security-related product features
• Ability to explain complex security issues to non-technical audiences
• Experience working in remote, distributed teams

Nice to have

• Experience with anti-abuse mechanisms like CAPTCHA and bot detection
• Experience building security countermeasures at web, backend, and database levels
• Experience finding and fixing security bugs and reviewing code for security gaps
• Knowledge of threat modeling and secure design patterns
• Prior experience with MediaWiki or Wikimedia projects
• Contributions to open-source software

Culture & Benefits

• Remote-first organization with staff in 40+ countries
• Competitive and equitable salary adjusted by location
• Inclusive and diverse workplace valuing equity and transparency
• Support for applicants requiring accommodations during hiring