Web Developer IV - Remote Work
About the Company
The University of Alabama’s Division of Strategic Communications supports the university’s web presence through digital platforms, web applications, and shared design systems. The team works with developers, strategists, designers, central IT partners, and campus web teams to maintain and improve the university’s digital properties.
About the Role
The University of Alabama is seeking a Web Developer IV to develop and maintain complex enterprise websites and web applications. Reporting to the Associate Director of University Web Strategy, this position serves as the platform and deployment lead for the Division of Strategic Communications and its campus partners. The role combines hands-on web development with CI/CD infrastructure, WordPress administration, deployment management, and hosting platform operations. You will maintain production PHP and JavaScript code, support React and Next.js applications, manage deployment pipelines, and monitor website performance and availability. Working with minimal supervision, you will also make decisions about releases, updates, hotfixes, rollbacks, and administrative access while providing technical guidance and training to other developers.
Key Responsibilities
Develop and maintain complex enterprise-level university websites and web applications in accordance with web standards and applicable university and governmental policies. Write and maintain production PHP and JavaScript across university web properties, including custom WordPress plugins, design system components, theme templates, and internal web applications. Author and maintain CI/CD infrastructure, including GitHub Actions workflows, self-hosted runners, and build tooling. Manage deployments for WordPress, React, Next.js, and static site applications across on-premises and managed hosting environments. Maintain the WordPress portfolio across on-premises multisite and managed single-site environments. Administer hosting platform accounts and environments. Monitor website performance, uptime, and load, and diagnose issues across application code, hosting platforms, and network layers. Manage deployment pipelines, build configurations, release readiness, patch and update schedules, rollbacks, and hotfix responses. Review and approve administrative access requests for supported platforms. Apply web accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.1 AA, when developing and maintaining websites and applications. Coordinate with central IT partners and campus web teams on supported platforms and infrastructure. Provide technical guidance, leadership, and training to other developers. Attend the monthly in-person divisional staff meeting.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years of web development experience, or a master’s degree and at least 4 years of web development experience. Proficiency writing and maintaining production PHP in WordPress, including custom plugins, blocks, and theme templates. Proficiency with modern JavaScript, including React and Next.js, with the ability to independently develop, review, and maintain application code. Strong HTML and CSS skills suitable for production environments. Strong command-line skills and fluency with Git-based version control, including branching strategies, merge conflict resolution, and code reviews. Working knowledge of npm and Node.js build tooling. High proficiency in WordPress administration, including core, plugin, and theme maintenance across multisite and single-site environments. Understanding of DNS fundamentals and record management. Working knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and the ability to implement accessible markup and interaction patterns. Ability to diagnose and resolve issues across application code, hosting platforms, and network layers. Ability to monitor website performance, uptime, and load using platform-native tools and web analytics. Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills for coordinating with central IT partners and campus web teams.
Preferred Qualifications
Six years of professional web development experience, with additional experience in platform engineering or systems administration. Demonstrated experience developing 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. Experience with Pantheon or similar managed WordPress hosting platforms. Experience administering WordPress multisite environments. Experience with static site generators such as Astro, Hugo, or Eleventy. Experience with component documentation tools such as Storybook. Experience contributing to a shared design system or component library. Knowledge of Redis, Varnish, or similar WordPress caching technologies. Experience administering hosted web platforms and managing multiple deployment environments. Salary and Benefits The annual pay range is $62,800 to $81,700, with a midpoint of $81,700. The final salary is subject to the university’s applicable compensation policies. Location and Work Arrangement Location: The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Work arrangement: Remote work may be available, subject to university policy. Work schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Department: Communications – Strategic Communications. Applicants requesting to work remotely from a state where the university does not currently have other regular employees may be referred to the university’s third-party employer of record, nextSource, to serve as the official employer. Background Investigation Final candidates must successfully complete a pre-employment background investigation, including consideration of information obtained from social media and other internet sources. A prior conviction does not automatically disqualify a candidate. Any prior conviction or negative behavioral red flags will receive an individualized review before a hiring decision is made. Equal Employment Opportunity The University of Alabama is an Equal Employment/Equal Educational Opportunity Institution. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment or volunteer status without regard to any legally protected basis and will not be discriminated against because of protected status. The university affirms its longstanding commitment to institutional neutrality, free speech, and academic freedom.