Frontend Web Developer Contract Jobs in Birmingham, AL

Pay Grade/Pay Range:  Minimum: $62,300 - Midpoint: $81,000 (Salaried E10)

Department/Organization: 301202 - Communications-Strategic Communications

Normal Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm

Note to Applicants: Position is eligible for remote work subject to University policy.

Job Summary: The Web Developer IV writes and maintains front-end and/or back-end code that supports complex enterprise-level University websites and web applications. Applies expert-level knowledge of web code standards and frameworks to produce complex, dynamic websites and applications that meet standards required by University and governmental policy. Provides guidance, leadership, and training to other developers. Works under minimal supervision.

Additional Department Summary: Reports to the Associate Director of University Web Strategy and works with developers, strategists, and designers, serving as the platform and deployment lead for the Division of Strategic Communications and its campus partners. Authors and maintains the continuous integration and deployment infrastructure, including GitHub Actions workflows, self-hosted runners, and build tooling that deliver WordPress, React and Next.js, and static site applications to on-premises and managed hosting targets. Writes and maintains production PHP and JavaScript across the division’s web properties, including custom WordPress plugins, components for the University’s digital system of design, theme templates, and internal web applications. Maintains the WordPress portfolio across on-premises multisite and managed single-site environments. Administers hosting platform accounts and environments. Instruments and monitors site performance, uptime, and load, diagnosing and resolving issues that span code, platform, and network layers. Owns the deployment path and hosting platform layer, deciding patch and update scheduling, rollback and hotfix response, pipeline and build configuration, release readiness, and approval of administrative access requests. Attends the once-per-month in-person divisional staff meeting.

Required Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree and six (6) years of web development experience; OR master's degree and four (4) years of web development experience.

Skills and Knowledge: Proficiency writing and maintaining production PHP in a WordPress context, including custom plugins, blocks, and theme templates. Proficiency with modern JavaScript, including React and Next.js, sufficient to independently author, review, and maintain application code. Proficiency with HTML and CSS to production standards. Strong command line proficiency and fluency with Git-based version control workflows, including branching strategy, merge conflict resolution, and code review. Working knowledge of npm and Node.js build tooling. High proficiency with WordPress administration, including core, plugin, and theme maintenance across multisite and single-site environments. Understanding of DNS fundamentals and record management. Working knowledge of web accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA) and the ability to implement accessible markup and interaction patterns in code. Ability to diagnose and resolve issues that span application code, hosting platform, and network layers. Ability to instrument and monitor site performance, uptime, and load using platform-native tools and web analytics. Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills for coordinating with central IT partners and other campus web teams on the platforms this position supports.

Preferred Qualifications: Six (6) years of professional web development experience, with additional experience in platform engineering or systems administration. Demonstrated experience authoring WordPress plugins, blocks, or custom themes in PHP. Experience developing and deploying React or Next.js applications. Experience configuring and operating self-hosted GitHub Actions runners or comparable CI/CD runner infrastructure. Direct experience with Pantheon or comparable managed WordPress hosting platforms. Experience with WordPress multisite administration. Experience with static site generators such as Astro, Hugo, or Eleventy. Experience with component documentation tooling such as Storybook. Experience contributing to a shared design system or component library. Knowledge of Redis, Varnish, or similar caching layers used with WordPress. Experience administering hosted web platforms and managing multiple deployment environments.

Background Investigation Statement: Prior to hiring, the final candidate(s) must successfully pass a pre-employment background investigation and information obtained from social media and other internet sources. A prior conviction reported as a result of the background investigation DOES NOT automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration for this position. A candidate with a prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags will receive an individualized review of the prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags before a hiring decision is made.