About the Company

The University of Alabama is a higher education institution committed to academic excellence, institutional neutrality, free speech, and academic freedom. Its Division of Strategic Communications supports university communications and digital initiatives through web strategy, development, design, and technology platforms.

About the Role

The University of Alabama is seeking a Web Developer IV to develop and maintain complex enterprise-level university websites and web applications. Reporting to the Associate Director of University Web Strategy, you will work with developers, strategists, designers, and campus partners to support the Division of Strategic Communications' web platforms and deployment infrastructure.

This role combines hands-on web development with platform engineering and deployment leadership. You will maintain production PHP and JavaScript code, manage WordPress environments, build and maintain continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) infrastructure, and monitor website performance and availability. Working with minimal supervision, you will also provide technical guidance and training to other developers.

Key Responsibilities

• Write and maintain front-end and back-end code for complex university websites and web applications.
• Develop 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 of WordPress, React, Next.js, and static site applications to on-premises and managed hosting environments.
• Maintain WordPress installations across on-premises multisite and managed single-site environments.
• Administer hosting platform accounts, environments, and related configurations.
• Monitor website performance, uptime, and load, diagnosing and resolving issues across application code, hosting platforms, and network layers.
• Manage deployment processes, including patch and update schedules, rollback procedures, hotfix responses, pipeline configuration, build settings, and release readiness.
• Review and approve administrative access requests for supported platforms.
• Apply web development standards and ensure applications meet applicable university and governmental policy requirements.
• Use platform-native tools and web analytics to monitor site performance and identify potential issues.
• Coordinate with central IT partners and campus web teams to maintain supported platforms.
• 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 in 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 review.
• Working knowledge of npm and Node.js build tooling.
• Advanced WordPress administration skills, 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 other campus web teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 6 years of professional web development experience, with additional experience in platform engineering or systems administration.
• Demonstrated experience developing WordPress plugins, blocks, or custom themes using 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 salary range for this position is $62,800 to $81,700 annually, with a midpoint of $81,700 under salaried pay grade E10.

Location and Work Arrangement

This position is based in the Division of Strategic Communications at the University of Alabama. The normal work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Remote work is permitted subject to university policy. Applicants requesting to work from a state where the university does not currently employ other regular employees may be referred to nextSource, the university's third-party Employer of Record. The role also requires attendance at one in-person divisional staff meeting each month.

Background Investigation

The final candidate must successfully complete a pre-employment background investigation, which includes consideration of information obtained from social media and other internet sources. A prior conviction or negative behavioral information does not automatically disqualify a candidate. Such information will be reviewed individually before a hiring decision is made.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of Alabama is an Equal Employment and Equal Educational Opportunity Institution. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment or volunteer status without discrimination based on any legally protected characteristic.

Applicants and employees are protected under federal law against discrimination on several bases. The university also affirms its longstanding commitment to institutional neutrality, free speech, and academic freedom.