About volunteering for the OTW
The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) runs on the talent and energy of volunteers from all over the world. Together, we manage projects to support fans and fandom. If you’d like to join us, you’re in the right place! You can find open roles below. Browse the listings and apply for roles that match your skills and interests.
If you do not see positions listed that match your skills and interests, watch OTW News outlets for future openings. You can also receive news about volunteer opportunities directly in your email inbox through our OTW News by Email service. We typically accept applications for open positions for one week. To ensure you are notified in a timely manner about volunteer opportunities, make sure to subscribe to either All Individual News Posts or Recruitment Posts. If you chose Monthly Digest, you may be emailed after recruitment closes.
If you’d like to contribute to the AO3’s code you are able to do this through our GitHub without formally volunteering. Please see GitHub for more details.You may also consider sharing your experiences on Fanlore, the OTW’s fandom preservation wiki.
The OTW’s Terms of Service (including the Privacy Policy) and OTW’s Code of Conduct apply to all volunteers. Volunteers must also consent to be bound by the Terms of Service for the OTW projects they are volunteering for (e.g. AO3 Terms of Service, Fanlore Terms of Service). Volunteers will need to choose a unique name to volunteer under in accordance with the OTW Name Policy.
Please note that the OTW can only accept volunteering applications from people aged 18 years and over.
For further questions, see our Volunteering FAQ or contact the Volunteers & Recruiting Committee.
We’re currently recruiting for the following roles:
Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution Volunteer
Do you have experience with mediation, arbitration, or conflict resolution? Are you passionate about fostering a safer and more supportive volunteering environment within the OTW?
As an Internal Complaint and Conflict Resolution (“ICCR”) volunteer, you will play a key role in maintaining fair and respectful interactions across the Organization. Your work will include reviewing, investigating, and adjudicating complaints, and mediating conflicts. Our team is also in the process of refining the OTW’s policies to create a more effective and inclusive volunteer experience. Our goal is to serve as an objective, neutral party for personnel-related issues to help resolve situations with compassion and equity.
Please note that due to the nature of the work, current OTW volunteers who apply for the role will have to resign from all other roles within the OTW to serve on this subcommittee.
We kindly ask candidates who have unsuccessfully applied to the August 2026 recruitment round to refrain from applying for this round.
Applications will close on 09 September, 23:59 UTC
Click here to learn more about the position and apply!
Communications Event Coordinator
Are you excited about bringing fandom communities together, both online and in person? Do you enjoy planning events and making them run smoothly from start to finish?
The Communications committee is recruiting for Event Coordinators to help us plan and execute a wide range of OTW events, both in-person and online. Event Coordinators organize smaller celebrations like writing a celebration post about AO3 reaching a new fanwork milestone as well as larger events like our celebrations for International Fanworks Day or OTW convention attendance. As an Event Coordinator, you would work as a team to devise event programming, collaborate with volunteers and guests, and ensure everything runs seamlessly.
We’re looking for people who are organized, communicative, and comfortable working as part of a team. Experience with event planning, project coordination, or community outreach is especially helpful, but not required. We expect you to have an interest in fandom at large and a willingness to learn about the OTW’s work.
You must be 18+ in order to apply for this position. If you enjoy organizing projects, collaborating with others, and helping create engaging experiences for fandom communities, we’d love to hear from you!
Applications will close on 09 September, 23:59 UTC or after 60 applications are received.
Click here to learn more about the position and apply!
Communications Posting Volunteer
Do you enjoy writing and editing? Do you like communicating with fans about the OTW and fandom in general?
The Communications committee is recruiting for Posting Volunteers to help write and publish news posts and reports. Posting Volunteers also help Communications correspond with the public and the media to ensure that accurate information is distributed about the OTW.
We are interested in hearing from those with writing, editing, or similar communications-related experiences. People with experience in customer service or public relations are also encouraged to apply! We expect applicants to have an interest in fandom at large and an understanding of the concerns and activities of the OTW (although we will, of course, provide you with training once you start).
You must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. If you want to help others learn about the OTW, enjoy working with others, and are a good communicator, we’d love to hear from you!
Applications will close on 09 September, 23:59 UTC or after 60 applications are received.
Click here to learn more about the position and apply!
Open Doors Import Assistant
Do you enjoy spreadsheets, self-paced projects, and helping protect fanworks from getting lost over time? Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? Do you still guiltily–or not so guiltily–love the first fanwork that opened your eyes to fandom?
Open Doors is a committee dedicated to preserving fanworks in their many formats, and we’re looking for volunteers to support this goal. The work we do preserves fan history, love, and dedication to fandom: we keep fanworks from offline and at-risk archives from being lost, divert fanzines from the trash, and more.
Our import assistants contribute to our goal by:
- Importing works to AO3 from rescued digital archives and fanzines
- Searching AO3 for existing copies of works that creators have already uploaded themselves (to prevent us from importing duplicate versions when we import an archive)
- Compiling and correcting spreadsheets of works from an archive to be imported and/or tags to use on those works
- Copyediting/proofreading works from fanzines that have been scanned from PDFs (to ensure that the scanned works were transcribed properly by the software we used)
The training is self-directed, and so is the work for the most part, though we also have weekly working meetings/parties for people to all chip in and work on tasks together! Import assistants can generally alternate the types of tasks they work on. At any one time, we usually have several tasks of different types available.
To apply for this role, you must be at least 18 years old and legally of age to open explicit fanworks in your local jurisdiction.
If you’re interested, click on through for a longer description of what we’re looking for and the time commitment. For your application to be considered, you will be required to complete a short task within 3 days of submitting your application. We do not permit the use of AI tools during the selection process for this position.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering. We’ve received the maximum number of applications and are no longer accepting applications for this role at this time.