Waze is constantly adapting to the growing success of the application. Over time, both Waze and the community have developed different roles to help coordinate and organize the community to keep everything running as smoothly as possible.
Overview
Many of the Rank and Roles discussed below are accompanied with unique Forum usergroups and badges.
- For more details on Forum badges, see Forum badges.
Roles
Map Editors
The Waze maps are crowd-sourced user edited and open to anyone who wants to contribute. Any Waze user can become a Map editor by creating a forum account, and logging into the Waze Map Editor. All Map Editors start as Rank 1, and can then progress through the ladder of ranks and roles as they gain experience, learn the intricacies of WME and map editing, and become involved in the community.
All new Map Editors you should visit the Waze Map Editor Welcome page to get a quick head start on the proper method to edit the Waze map.
Managers
Area Manager
An Area Manager (AM) is a Waze community member (Map Editor) who wishes to take an active and proactive role in maintaining specific areas of the Waze map. AM is an editing role, not a community role, some self-managed countries may require small community involvement before an AM is granted. Those specific areas of the map are added to their Editable area permanently, regardless of if they have driven there recently, as long as they are active as an AM. To be granted AM status most editors don't have all the necessary experience until they reach rank 3, but depending upon the situation and conditions, it may be possible to grant access one rank lower.
- For more details on Area Managers, see Area Manager.
State Manager
A State Manager (SM) is a senior map editor, at least Rank 4, who is active in their local community and chosen by their Regional Coordinator (RC) for the position. They act as an assistant to the RC, and manage certain aspects of their state's community.
- For more details on State Managers, and a list of current SMs, see State Manager.
Country Manager
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The Country Manager (CM) definition and promotion process for the USA was updated from a review and approval by the US Champs on July 16, 2022. |
The Country Manager (CM) is not like a higher level State Manager. The role and qualifications are as follows:
The CM role is:
- a Map Editor who has the privilege to edit in the entire USA.
- primarily an editing role.
- a support role.
- NOT a manager of editors or a "people" manager, unlike the State Manager.
- NOT a “community management” role.
- NOT an “area manager” of the whole country.
Qualifications for an editor to be considered for promotion to a CM are as follows:
- Must be an experienced rank 5 editor.
- Must work well with others and maintain professionalism with editors of all ranks and Waze staff (as appropriate).
- Must be current on the latest features and guidance.
- Must be well versed in local editing knowledge and aware of regional differences.
- It is desirable (but not required) to have all of the following:
- Currently participating in the Waze USA Discord server with valuable inputs.
- Currently participating in one or more of the beta programs.
- Currently participating in the mentorship program and mentoring editors.
- Experience in VEOC, emergency response, and incident response.
- AM experience in multiple regions.
- SM experience.
- Working with Waze for Cities partners is a plus.
- There are no set edit count goals. High-quality editing is more important than high-quantity editing.
The promotion of an editor to a CM will follow these steps:
- After being active for at least one year with an editor rank of 5, a CM candidate may be identified by various means, including expressing an interest, nomination by a peer editor, or suggestion by community leaders.
- As a preliminary step, Regional Coordinators (RCs) should reach out in advance to other US RCs in an informal way to allow for the early identification of any objections.
- At the nomination, RCs must post their CM candidate(s) in the US Champs forum for official feedback from Champs for one week.
- After one week, the nominating RC shall review the Champ feedback and continue with the CM promotion, if appropriate.
- RCs are expected to ensure all CM candidates are aware of differences in regional, state, and local guidance.
Once an editor is promoted to the CM role, the following expectations will be in place for the editor:
- Must get in touch with the local leadership in other regions when making any significant changes to those regions’ maps.
- Must work in harmony with other editors.
- Must not overstep other regions' local guidelines.
- Perform as a backup to local editors, not primary.
- Allow local editors to perform their forum unlocks. Do not perform every single unlock request.
- May offer to assist with nationwide projects, but let regions decide if they want outside assistance.
- Leaders from other regions will call upon CMs to support their regions as needed, such as assisting with closures when VEOC is activated. CMs are expected to assist when available and if possible.
- Must follow the above guidelines. Failure to do so may result in losing their CM role and possible demotion to lower ranks.
Coordinators
Coordinators (occasionally called "Country Coordinators") are experts who coordinate between the local community and Waze Team, as community ambassadors. Usually Champs.
A Coordinator’s main responsibilities:
- Participating in both the global and local Champs’ groups, and being in a direct contact with the relevant Waze community managers
- Advise about the urgency and the severity of any reported issue
- Be aware of the company news, product announcements, new versions etc.
- Assist with social media activities in the country
- Take part in the setup of local and regional editors meetups
Regional Coordinators (RC) are Champs who take charge of several states/counties in large countries.
Champs
Champs are editors, selected by Waze management, that show long-standing contributions to the Waze community. They are the most experienced users, who also contribute to discussions on the forum. Their role isn't just about editing skills but about actively participating in the community.
Waze Champs are fellow Wazers like everyone else, but they are generally very experienced using Waze and active in the forums with moderator privileges. Most forum questions are answered by these users as they give their time freely to the Waze community. They are generally in closer direct communication with the Waze development team. This group also includes the Wazers who attended the Meet Ups with Waze staff. The Waze Champ status only appears in the forums as part of the user's profile history, or when they post a message. If for any reason you have a question you don't feel comfortable asking in the main forums, you can send a Private Message (PM) to a Waze Champ who will be happy to answer your question.
Local Champs
Local champs (LC) are part of a specific country's community leadership. Typically an editor must first be a Country Manager for some time before being eligible to become a Local Champ. Waze will select the most senior and skilled editors in any active editing region to become Local Champs. The number of Local Champs is proportionate to the number of active local editors, initially it will be approximately on a 1:100 scale. Once Local Champs are selected for a region, they will have the authority to nominate and approve more Local Champs for their region.
Global Champs
Global Champs (GC) are part of the world community leadership of Waze. Typically an editor must first be a Local Champ for some time before being eligible to become a Global Champ.
Mentors
Mentors are dedicated to helping others learn and advance through Formal Mentoring. They are experienced editors and Champs who have reviewed training on formal mentoring. Mentors are sponsored and approved by CMs or Waze Staff.
Mentors are authorized to engage in formal mentoring. They also coordinate with Waze staff and RCs to promote the rank and editing roles of their mentees.
- For more details on the Mentoring program, and how to apply, see Mentoring.
Experts
Experts are users with expertise in certain areas. You can apply to be an Expert in the forum. There are several categories of "Experts"; for example "Editing Experts", "Android Experts", "iPhone Experts", "Navigation Experts", "Beta Editor Experts", "Points Experts", "Social Media Experts". Experts have moderator permissions over the relevant forums and their coordinators will have direct contact to relevant team members at Waze. We're open to expanding the range of "Experts" to include any new expertise that you may have in mind.
Experts are subject to the same entry level requirements as local champs.
Waze created the Experts role to enhance the flow of communication through the channels to the user-base, and to compartmentalize the information.
- For more information on the various Expert groups, please visit the Experts forum, and browse the available Experts usergroups in the forum User Control Panel.
Beta Testers
There are currently several beta test programs from Waze, the Waze Map Editor - Beta, and the Beta Clients. Membership requires approval by Waze management, and in some cases is by invitation only. Information on applying to be a client app beta tester can be found at the Waze beta site called CenterCode
Localizers
Localizers are users who also dedicate their time to translate and personalize Waze to fit their local communities.
- To learn more about the localization project, and how to get involved, please visit the Localization forum.
Self management system
The USA (along with many other countries) is a self managed country meaning most of the rank and role approvals are approved by the local community leadership. As necessary, some rules can be bent under certain situations. Formal Mentoring is a good example, whereby editors can achieve a rank or role upgrade before meeting the above requirements if they successfully complete their mentoring program.