Recently, I visited the Royal Academy of Art in London to speak with students in the Master’s in Service Design Program. It was inspiring. Their final projects tackled issues like improving the diabetes care pathway and expanding support for victims of sexual assault. About 3 in 4 projects focused on deeply impactful problems.

It’s bittersweet, though — few of these new designers will find jobs as meaningful as their student projects. What happens to all that ambition?

I was reminded of this while talking to engineer Nikki Nikkhoui, who’s now solving tough problems in New York City on a team funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. When she was younger, Nikki wrote herself an email through FutureMe, to be delivered years later.

By the time it arrived, she’d spent nearly four years at a major clothing retailer — solid pay, solid experience building. Then the message from her younger self landed in her inbox. Nikki quit her job and found work first at Wikimedia, makers of Wikipedia (check out the Wikimedia jobs listed below!) and later at Schmidt Futures — both roles that aligned with her passion to make the world better.

If only more of us could receive a note like that — a reminder of what once we hoped to do.

Daniel Burka, Co-founder, Hard Problems

Director of Data, Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia), Remote

Wikipedia reaches over a billion people every month, and its data systems power everything from search to machine learning to public datasets used by researchers worldwide. Wikimedia is hiring a Director of Data to lead these efforts — someone who can steer data engineering and experimentation, while protecting privacy and keeping the platform open and reliable.

Salary: $179K to $279K
Other tech roles: Senior UX Prototyper (Contract), Senior Software Engineer, and many more!

Head of Design & Impact, WWF, Delhi (India)

WWF India works across forests, rivers, wildlife and communities, and its programmes depend on good design, honest measurement and the ability to learn and adapt. They’re hiring a Head of Design and Impact to lead this & shape how projects are designed, tested and improved, work across field teams and leadership, and build a culture that understands what works, what doesn’t and why.

AI/ML Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, MA (US)

MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s team works on some of the toughest problems in national security, from protecting weapon systems and critical infrastructure to helping cyber operators work faster and smarter. They’re hiring people who can turn research into real tools and systems, combining computer science, data, and AI to build technology with practical impact.

Salary: $145K to $220K

Full-Stack Developer, Alt Carbon, Bangalore (India)

Alt Carbon is building technology and agricultural infrastructure to turn underutilised land into carbon sinks across South Asia. Their projects combine climate action with ecological and community restoration. They’re hiring a Full-Stack Developer to design, build, and scale applications, working closely with frontend teams to create robust, maintainable systems that support their mission to remove 5 million metric tons of CO₂ by 2030.

Staff Product Design, Stepful, New York (US)

Stepful is reimagining healthcare training with affordable, online, AI-supported programs that help learners — especially from underserved communities — launch high-demand healthcare careers. They’re hiring a Staff Product Designer to create intuitive, engaging experiences for students, instructors, and coaches. This is an exciting opportunity to define the problem and collaborate with product & engineering to shape effective solutions.

Salary: $190K to $225K