Front-end Web Developer

$60,000 - $60,000/Yr

University of Wisconsin System - Madison, WI

Full-time - Entry Level

Madison, WI

Educational Services

About the position

The Office of External Relations in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is seeking a Front-end Web Developer to join our team. This role is pivotal in developing, supporting, and optimizing the college's web service offerings, which include web hosting, web development, user support, and project management. The successful candidate will work under the direction of the Web Services Manager and will be responsible for both independent and collaborative work to implement and maintain web services that enhance the college's mission of delivering high-quality, accessible, and engaging web experiences. In this position, the Front-end Web Developer will engage in a variety of tasks that include the design, development, and maintenance of WordPress themes, plugins, and web components. The role also involves managing the CALS WordPress web hosting platform in collaboration with WiscWeb. The developer will be expected to maintain and troubleshoot applications, systems, or websites, ensuring they meet accessibility standards and comply with security and privacy regulations. The work will benefit faculty, researchers, staff, and students within the college, making it essential to have strong communication and organizational skills. The day-to-day responsibilities will include building and curating a UI web pattern library, providing technical web support, consulting with site owners, and assisting with code maintenance and security updates using GitLab CI/CD. The developer will also participate in continuous improvement initiatives for team workflows and web platform support processes. Opportunities to facilitate a web content creators community and support digital accessibility initiatives may also be available. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, recognizing that these values are essential for excellence and a positive working atmosphere.

Responsibilities

• Assists in design, development, testing, debugging, operating, and troubleshooting of software and applications to support information technology business operations.
• Reviews application design specifications, codes new applications, and makes enhancements to existing applications.
• Tests and debugs programs, and prepares systems test data.
• Prepares program documentation and training requirements.
• Maintains and troubleshoots applications, systems, or websites.
• Implements data structure and systems performance strategies.
• Serves as a subject matter expert for web clients to design and/or recommend technical solutions that meet business needs and maintain brand standards.
• Stays current with innovations in areas of interest around web design, development, WordPress, and accessibility to strategize for continuous improvement of user experiences and web service workflows and processes.
• Ensures web services quality, performance, and compliance with accessibility (WCAG compliance), security, privacy, brand and other university requirements and laws.

Requirements

• Minimum 2 years of web development/design experience.
• Demonstrated front-end development with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.
• Experience developing WordPress themes and plugins.
• User-centered design principles and website development processes, particularly those that enhance user experience and website.
• Experience debugging and troubleshooting complex technical problems to find effective solutions.
• Customer service or technical consulting experience.
• Developing and improving web solutions that meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility) guidelines.
• Demonstrated experience optimizing websites and web applications for performance and responsiveness, and security.
• Modern front-end web tooling and developer workflows such as git version control, GitHub/GitLab, CI/CD, npm, Webpack, Parcel, Babel, gulp, or similar tooling.
• Experience designing sites that adhere to brand standards.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with building and maintaining WordPress Gutenberg blocks and block-based themes.
• Experience administering WordPress sites and/or multisite installations.
• Experience with RESTful APIs.
• Managing and prioritizing projects from start to finish.
• Accurately turning design concepts into working, responsive interfaces and web components with essential web technologies.
• Experience with web hosting, server management, and cloud services.
• Working experience with digital marketing tools for the web.
• Experience using Git version control as part of a team to manage a codebase and collaborate with other developers.

Benefits

• Generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off
• Competitive insurances and savings accounts
• Retirement benefits