Lead Web Architect Jobs (NOW HIRING)

MISSION: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.
Core Values: 
 We are Determined: We are committed and intentional in the pursuit of our main purpose, to improve outcomes for students. 
 We are People-Centered: We strive to attract, develop, and retain the most committed talent, representing the diversity of Texas, each contributing to our common vision for students.
 We are Learners: We seek evidence, reflect on success and failure, and try new approaches in the pursuit of excellence for our students.
 We are Servant Leaders: Above all else, we are public servants working to improve opportunities for students and provide support to those who serve them.

New hires, re-hires, and internal hires will typically receive a starting salary between the posted minimum and the average pay of employees in their same classification. Offers will be commensurate with the candidate's experience and qualifications and will thoughtfully consider internal pay equity for agency staff who perform similar duties and have similar qualifications. The top half of the posted salary range is generally reserved for candidates who exceed the requirements and qualifications for the role. The maximum salary range is reserved for candidates that far exceed the required and preferred qualifications for the role.

Position Overview: TEA's Performance Reporting division seeks to ensure continuous improvement in the academic achievement of all Texas public school students by developing and implementing transparent, rigorous, and fair academic accountability systems; providing accurate and comprehensive academic performance reporting systems, tools, and trackers; and monitoring and validating data to ensure the integrity of these systems.

The Lead Web Architect and Administrator in the Data & Reporting Infrastructure team in the Performance Reporting Division is a senior role with end-to-end ownership over stakeholder advocacy, design, development, testing, and maintenance of TXschools.gov, TEA's primary interface to share accountability ratings and other school data with parents and the general public, and other estimators and tools TEA makes available to district administrators and other stakeholders. Working with users and stakeholders, this role understands their core needs and expectations, manages complex web architectures, develops full-stack frameworks, utilizes modern UX design, has a mobile-first mindset, and establishes robust CI/CD practices.

This is a senior level position that works under limited supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

Flexible work location within the state of Texas may be considered for qualified candidates.  

Please note that a resume, tailored cover letter, and short answer responses are required attachments for applying to this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who are strongly being considered for employment must submit to a national criminal history background check.  

Essential Functions
Job duties are not limited to the essential functions mentioned below. You may perform other functions as assigned.

1. User and Stakeholder Advocacy for TXschools.gov and Other Tools: Be the primary advocate of end users and stakeholders of TXschools.gov, develop deep understanding of their explicit needs as well as implicit expectations. Serve as the expert on user experience, modern mobile and web interface needs, as well as expectations on performance, responsiveness, and data accuracy and currency. Evaluate latest web framework and technologies in the industry and champion for adoption as appropriate for relevant use cases. On functional side, have core understanding of Texas Accountability Rating standards and systems as well as other related systems that underpin the data and report available for end users on TXschools.gov. Lead and collaborate with TEA divisions and teams of experts as required to drive enhancements and capabilities to meet stakeholder requirements and expectations. 
2. TXschools.gov Technical Ownership: Own, develop, and deliver on the vision and strategy for TXschools.gov Web infrastructure including framework recommendation and choice, tech stack upgrades, CI/CD adoption, and system architecture. This includes, but is not limited to, determining the right upgrade path for foundational stack (React framework, Node.js, NPM, ARCGIS, etc.), determining system architecture underpinnings like containerization, backend dataset design and choices, formulating and driving end-to-end CI/CD pipeline build-out, rapid iterative development and delivery processes, optimal QA strategies, documentation, etc.
3. State Performance Reporting and Applications: Own the design, development, and delivery of TEAL and Public apps as needed for key PR deliverables including, but not limited to, A-F Estimator, TPRS reports, and others by serving as the primary user advocate, architect, and programmer in JavaScript and other relevant technologies, and by leading the implementation of updates to TEAL and public reports as needed. Key other responsibilities under this essential function also include documentation and QA to ensure quality and maintainability.
4. Enhancements and Efficiency Gains: Own and drive the effort to modernize TXschools.gov experience bottoms-up to incorporate modern paradigms like Mobile-first and meet stakeholders' needs and expectations, stated and unstated. Partner with management in defining and driving CI/CD adoption strategies to broader PR Dev processes and deliverables harnessing the experiences gained with TXschools.gov. Drive effort to modernize and revamp the A-F Estimator (TEAL and public channels) architecture and experience to meet & exceed stakeholder expectations and best practices for modern, responsive user-facing apps. Demonstrate initiative and ownership in researching and adopting modern approaches in GenAI and tools like GitHub Copilot, M365 Copilot, and Power Automate to enhance speed, quality, documentation, and maintainability of TXschools.gov and other code base.

Minimum Qualifications
Education: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university
Experience: At least six (6) years of experience in modern web application design, development experience, and administration including systems analysis, design, programming, and unit & functional testing, SQL programming basics, coding and reviewing complex programs, data validations, working with large databases, and statistical data analysis. 
Substitutions: Each additional year of related experience above the required minimum may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis.

Other Qualifications
Share the belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career, or the military.
Experience with designing, developing, and maintaining modern web pages involving React.js framework, Node.js, JavaScript, jQuery, JSON, HTML5, CSS, etc. with IDEs like VS Code, Visual Studio Enterprise, etc. 
Familiarity with modern Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) concepts, processes, and DevOps tooling like Jira, Bitbucket, Jenkins, etc.
Experience with SAS programming language, constructs, IDEs (e.g. SAS Studio and SAS Enterprise Guide) and standards for writing and reviewing complex programming, data validation techniques, and working with large databases. 
Experience in accurately performing program peer reviews, unit tests, and web checks in collaboration with other internal teams.
Ability to clearly document processes, programs, testcases, and test results with attention to detail.
Demonstrated ability to prioritize multiple projects and ensure accurate and high-quality work.
Demonstrated desire to acquire expert knowledge and build skills necessary to effectively fulfill position's essential job functions and responsibilities.
Ability to analyze and interpret a wide variety of education data, prepare summary reports, and perform statistical analyses to inform decision-making. 
Demonstrated willingness to accept direction, feedback, and suggestions for improvement in a positive and proactive manner.
Demonstrated high degree of initiative taking, technical learnability and insights, and a keen user focus with a sense of urgency.

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or veteran status, unless an applicant is entitled to the military employment preference.

To review the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to each job classification series in the State's Position Classification Plan (provided by the State Auditor's Office), please access the Military Crosswalk (occupational specialty code) Guide and click on the military "occupational category" that corresponds with the state classification in this job posting title.

This position requires the applicant to meet Agency standards and criteria which may include passing a pre-employment criminal background check, prior to being offered employment by the Agency.

To learn more about working at TEA, including hiring timelines, process details, and candidate resources, please visit the Employment at TEA page.

No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted. Please add "capps.recruiting@cpa.texas.gov" and "@tea.texas.gov" to your safe senders list to ensure you receive email notifications from our talent acquisition team and/or hiring division regarding your candidacy.