WordPress Backend Developer

Job Description

Posted 22 days ago

Who Are We?

The Arc is the nation’s leading nonprofit advocating on behalf of and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), their families and the people who support them. The Arc’s mission is to promote and protect the human rights of people with IDD and actively support their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.

Position Summary:

The WordPress Backend Developer is responsible for building websites or web apps from the ground up. The Arc seeks a self-directed problem solver, capable of identifying and suggesting paths forward, and proactively recommending solutions to non-technical teammates, without requiring explicit direction. This role will create whole new websites, develop new features for existing sites and maintain existing sites. The sites are built on WordPress and hosted on WPEngine (for example, The Arc’s main national website, The Arc’s National Convention). The Backend Developer is the sole technical engineer with responsibility for the back end. This role will partner and collaborate with a front-end developer, in-house designers, program managers, product owners, and subject matter experts representing business needs from various teams within the organization. The successful candidate will display initiative and a proven ability to work well independently and across several teams.

This role will be mentored by the Senior Web Developer and the preferred candidate will be located in the DC-metro area.

Job Responsibilities

• Participate in all steps of the development life cycle including design, planning, development and support.
• Work collaboratively with Marketing team colleagues, including the Director to understand the strategy behind what is requested to build, Associate Director on strategy and design iterations, project manager on informing how the project will unfold, advising on timeline and potential risks, and staying in communication with these colleagues as the work unfolds.
• Propose technical options for meeting requirements, including estimates for effort, time, quality, and other factors relevant to selecting technical options to implement.
• Translate wireframes and written requirements into server-side logic, databases, and other components that maintain high performance and responsiveness from the front end.
• Identify development-related risks, raise concerns with team members, and suggest options for addressing risks.
• Write code and use libraries that are highly readable, testable, reusable, efficient, well-documented, secure, and optimized across a variety of web-capable browsers and devices.
• Responsible for routine maintenance for all websites, including updates to WordPress, WP plugins, database upgrades, security and other patches, etc.
• Implement systems for logging site performance, to identify potential performance problems early and investigate the causes of bugs.
• Troubleshoot bugs to resolution, in collaboration with our in-house front-end developer and our external server administrators.

Required Skills

• Advanced skills in PHP and WordPress.
• Advanced skills with MySQL.
• Proficiency with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and AJAX.
• Understanding of how to optimize across multiple devices (e.g. mobile and desktop).
• Comfortable articulating database schemas to support business processes.
• Comfortable implementing automated testing tools in the development life cycle.
• Good communication skills.
• Proficiency with version control tools, such as Git.
• Experience with RESTful APIs.
• Basic understanding of web accessibility.
• Basic understanding of security compliance.
• Not required to manage the network level, but able to communicate and coordinate with external developers who manage the network level (servers, DNS, etc.)
• Able to work remotely.

Required Experience

• Backend WordPress development including plugins and themes.
• Experience customizing variety of WordPress plugins and themes.
• Experience in all aspects of web application development: architecture, separation of layers, configuration, performance, integration, deployment and analytics.
• Experience creating and maintaining WordPress Multi-sites.
• Experience with DevOps processes and implementation, generally.
• Experience with or knowledge of Agile/Scrum and test-driven development best practices.
• Experience working in high performing development teams, using best practices and tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or related field.
• Familiarity with JavaScript libraries.
• Proficiency or basic understanding of Ruby, strongly preferred.
• Experience building and maintaining websites that rely on WPEngine, Heroku or similar platforms.
• Experience deploying on Heroku or similar platforms.
• Experience creating and maintaining sites developed with Ruby on Rails.
• Experience with Salesforce.
• Experience with Amazon SageMaker.

Benefits:

Competitive salary based on education and experience, range is $60,000 - $80,000. Excellent benefits package that includes Health, Dental, Life and ADD, and LTD insurance; accrued vacation and sick leave; hybrid workplace with flexibility; and 403(b) retirement with generous employer contribution.

How to Apply:

Applications are accepted online only. To apply to this position, visit https://thearc.recruiterbox.com/.

The Arc is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. We value a diverse workforce and strive to be a fully inclusive and equitable workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, age, record of arrest or conviction, or other legally protected characteristics. Black people, Indigenous people, people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex people, people of marginalized genders; people with disabilities; protected veterans; and formerly incarcerated individuals are all strongly encouraged to apply.

When an applicant with a disability needs an accommodation to have an equal opportunity to compete for a job, they may request it orally or in writing (please visit the contact us page on the web; www.thearc.org).

About The Arc:

The Arc is the largest national community-based organization working with and for people with IDD and their families. The Arc supports people with IDD of all ages and varying support needs, including individuals with autism, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and various other developmental disabilities.

Many of The Arc’s state and local chapters are engaged in both public policy advocacy and individual advocacy to assist people with IDD to get the services and supports they need. Other chapters provide a wide array of services and supports for people with IDD and their families. This varies by chapter and includes but is not limited to: education, employment, residential services, day programs, personal care, peer support, self-advocacy training, person-centered and future planning, recreational activities, and other supports that meet the unique needs of people with IDD in each community.