Lead Developer

about 3 years ago
Full time role
Remote · Kenya · Europe · South America... more
Remote · Kenya · Europe · South America... more

Job Description

350.org is looking for a Lead Developer to manage our technology stack, a small team of developers, and a UX/UI Designer. It will be a key position in 350.org’s Product Team - a team dedicated to providing the right tools at the right time, and to empowering 350 staff to use them for maximum possible impact in the world.

About 350.org 

350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries. 350.org works hard to organize in a new way—everywhere at once, using online tools to facilitate strategic offline action. We want to be a laboratory for the best ways to strengthen the climate movement and catalyze transformation around the world. The values that guide and drive our work are listed here.

About the Lead Developer

The role of the Lead Developer will be to oversee and optimize our web architecture and to make sure that it serves the evolving needs of our campaigners and organizers as well as the movement, and is doing so in a cost-and space-efficient way. Most importantly, we’re looking for a visionary technologist who knows how to inspire and innovate while dealing with healthy constraints. 

As a global grassroots organization, our sites and platforms are usually multilingual and the content is often maintained by campaigners outside the Product Team. The relevant web domain includes our main website as well as numerous distributed websites and microsite networks, custom web tools, and web-based elements of other digital products that support our organizing (e.g. donation, signup, event pages, etc). The role involves managing significant complexity and offers the opportunity to lead innovative and high-profile projects that support and build the effectiveness of the climate movement.


This role will sit within 350’s Product Team and will report directly to the Product Director.

Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Lead the team in creating a common technical vision.
  • Manage a small team of developers and a UX/UI Designer.
  • Own our web infrastructure and oversee its continuous improvement.
  • Manage our web infrastructure in the most space- and cost-effective way.
  • Understand the landscape of options, opportunities, and costs.
  • Lead the web development aspect of high-profile organizational projects. This includes managing the team’s work on innovative web tools to support global and regional teams on campaigns, mobilizations, and fundraising; providing feedback on the feasibility of concepts; negotiating timelines where necessary and ensuring the integrity of the codebase.
  • Lead on a review and a possible re-architecture of our WordPress multisite network.
  • Oversee digital security (product team is managing tools that hold a lot of private data).
  • Create an effective QA automation strategy.
  • Lead the team to reduce our technical debt and put strategies in place to reach a healthy balance between quality and speed.
  • Hands-on coding, code reviews, and taking care of the crucial parts of work.
  • Foster an innovative, collaborative, and productive working environment.
  • Manage and develop the team’s ability to set realistic goals and achieve the product team’s vision.
  • Work with Product Managers to translate product strategy into priorities for the web team and plan the team’s day-to-day work.
  • Support collaborative ways of working in the wider product team.
  • Take part in regular sprints when all (or almost all) members of the product team are working on a specific project, eg optimizing online donations. 
  • Engage and manage external expertise where needed.

Our tech stack includes:

Website EcoSystem:

  • WordPress multi-sites
  • Baseline (in-house theme and design system)
  • Other in-house plugins
  • Dreamhost (domain registration)
  • Cloudflare (CDN)

Website/ Web App/ Asset Hosting Platforms:

  • WP Engine
  • Heroku
  • AWS
  • Netlify

Donation Platforms:

  • ActionKit (Django)
  • ActBlue
  • ControlShift Labs

Climate Justice Action Map (CJAM) (hosted on Netlify)

  • React (Frontend)
  • CJAM ETL (Backend, built-in Python)

Other:

  • Gitlab
  • Github
  • Buddy (pipeline system)
  • Google Analytics

Required Qualifications

  • At least 6-8 years of experience in web or application development
  • Experience with WordPress or other web content management systems
  • Experience with Git
  • Experience collaborating on codebases with remote teams
  • HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Django, Python, and React. 
  • Possession of a user-centric approach to solving technical challenges plus a good understanding of UI/UX best practices
  • Ability to set professional boundaries. Resilient and able to manage self and keep composure in times of stress.
  • Ability to ignite the interests and proclivities of the team to get top-quality work, while protecting their prioritized workloads. Able to advocate both for the needs and mission of the organization as well as the challenges facing the team. Relentless to remove roadblocks to the team’s success.
  • Ability to communicate effectively to build a shared understanding of strategic priorities, goals, and constraints
  • Must embrace the principles of workplace justice, diversity, and inclusion and apply them to day-to-day work.

Desired (but not required) skills and experiences 

  • Experience working for a progressive organization
  • Experience with web accessibility best practices
  • Additional languages is a plus

We are looking for someone who is comfortable working both independently and in teams, highly responsive, and able to lead initiatives as well as take direction from others.  

To apply: Please include in your cover letter why you want to work at 350.

Position Type: Full time

Application Deadline: This position is open until filled

Salary Grade: SG11 .The salary will be localized according to the area of residence of the chosen candidate

Location:  Remote. Preferred time zones: North, Central, and South America, Europe, and Africa

TravelFrom time to time, travel may be required, both internationally and domestically

350.org is an equal opportunity employer. 350.org strives to be an inclusive and collaborative group of people who bring a variety of approaches to the work we do. We’re committed to the principles of justice, and we try to build a safe workplace where everyone is treated fairly and enjoys working together. We value new perspectives, ideas of all sorts, and different ways of working. Diverse perspectives and experiences improve the way 350.org carries out our work – including what we decide to work on and how creatively/effectively we do that. We do our best to make staff positions accessible to all potential team members, regardless of race, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, assigned gender, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation or identity, religion or creed, veteran status, marital or parental status, and genetic information. We also strive to include team members in communities most impacted by climate change or impacted by other kinds of environmental, social, and economic injustice.

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