Full Stack Web Developer

# REMOTE FULL STACK WEB DEVELOPER ## About the Role The California Institute Of Applied Technology (CIAT) is seeking a **Full Stack Web Developer** to design, build, maintain, and optimize modern web applications supporting the student experience, marketing funnels, and internal operations. This role works across the full technology stack—including front-end development, back-end development, databases, APIs, integrations, and web platforms—to deliver secure, scalable, responsive solutions that support CIAT’s growth and innovation goals in career-focused higher education. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with Marketing, IT stakeholders, graphic designers, QA, vendors, and internal and third-party development teams. This position requires strong full-stack engineering expertise, ownership of application scalability and reliability, effective communication, independent problem-solving, and the ability to translate business requirements and design specifications into reliable web solutions. ## Key Responsibilities - Develop, maintain, and optimize web applications using **PHP/Laravel, WordPress, and Node.js**. - Collaborate with business stakeholders, graphic designers, QA, developers, and other team members to define requirements, design solutions, and deliver new features. - Troubleshoot, profile, and optimize code for performance, stability, scalability, and security. - Write clean, well-structured, well-documented code and actively participate in code reviews. - Monitor application health, identify bottlenecks and bugs, and implement timely fixes. - Serve as the first point of contact for change requests and enhancements across **ciat.edu and CIAT web properties**, including content updates, images, menus, digital assets, page layouts, features, and accessibility enhancements. - Create responsive, interactive web pages aligned with CIAT brand guidelines. - Ensure ciat.edu website pages and content remain editable through version control tools for collaborative team maintenance. - Collaborate with in-house and third-party development teams to triage, delegate, implement, and test web changes. - Gather project requirements from department stakeholders and provide accurate time estimates for web projects. - Implement design specifications accurately and work with Marketing to optimize user experience within time, budget, and business constraints. - Monitor web analytics and real-time visitor monitoring tools and recommend improvements to accessibility, functionality, performance, and feature deployment. - Communicate effectively and professionally with internal teams and vendors. - Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to develop programmatic solutions for critical business challenges. - Stay current with emerging web development tools, libraries, frameworks, and industry trends and proactively suggest improvements. - Adhere to CIAT compliance requirements, including applicable Federal, State, accreditation, and institutional policies and procedures. - Contribute to team objectives and organizational results as needed. - Embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values. - Maintain a safe, secure, and ethical work environment. ## Required Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in software development, web development, computer science, or related field **or related industry experience**. - **7+ years of professional web programming experience** in business environments. - **7+ years of experience using version control tools such as Git** to collaborate with a multi-person development team. - Advanced expertise in **PHP/Laravel**, including complex Eloquent relationships, service container usage, event-driven design, and queue orchestration. - Strong proficiency in **WordPress**, including scalable solutions such as multisite or headless implementations, REST API customization, and caching strategies. - Strong proficiency in **Node.js**, including service-oriented architecture, real-time features such as WebSockets, and production performance profiling. - Strong front-end development proficiency, including deep knowledge of **JavaScript (ES6+) and CSS**, including preprocessors such as SASS or LESS. - Production experience with at least one major front-end framework: **React or Vue.js**. - Demonstrable experience designing and optimizing relational database schemas using **MySQL or PostgreSQL**. - Demonstrable experience with containerization and delivery pipelines, including **Docker and CI/CD workflows**. - Strong proficiency with API design, including **RESTful and GraphQL APIs**, authentication and authorization flows such as **OAuth2 and JWT**, and real-time communication patterns. - Experience with automated testing, including unit, integration, or end-to-end testing using tools such as **PHPUnit, Jest/Mocha, or Cypress**. - Familiarity with security best practices, including **OWASP guidelines, content security policies, and secure development practices** across the technology stack. - Ability to take ownership of code scalability and reliability and proactively identify and resolve issues. - Confident use of Git as an engineering tool, with attention to clear history, ownership, and long-term maintainability. - Familiarity with responsive web design, mobile compatibility, and UI/UX best practices. - Familiarity with SEO requirements and the effects of website performance, URL structures, compliance, and search-engine-friendly code. - Ability to work independently, estimate effort accurately, and deliver reliably within structured development cycles. - Willingness to participate in regular team check-ins and provide clear, proactive progress updates. - Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize effectively. - Ability to problem-solve while maintaining compliance with applicable policies, procedures, and regulations. - Must embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values. - Strong commitment to professionalism, ethical conduct, teamwork, and results. ## Preferred Qualifications - Experience with backend languages such as **Rust**. - Exposure to systems-oriented development in **Go or Python**. - Familiarity with **Microsoft Power Pages**. - Working knowledge of **NoSQL systems such as Redis or MongoDB** for caching and high-throughput workloads. - Familiarity with orchestration platforms such as **Kubernetes**. ## Skills & Competencies - **Full-stack web development:** PHP/Laravel, WordPress, Node.js, JavaScript, CSS. - **Front-end development:** JavaScript ES6+, React or Vue.js, SASS or LESS, responsive web design, mobile compatibility, and UI/UX. - **Back-end development:** Laravel, Node.js, service-oriented architecture, event-driven design, queues, and real-time features. - **Database development:** MySQL or PostgreSQL, relational schema design and optimization; Redis or MongoDB knowledge. - **API development:** RESTful APIs, GraphQL, OAuth2, JWT, and real-time communication. - **DevOps and delivery:** Git, Docker, CI/CD, and familiarity with Kubernetes. - **Quality and security:** Automated testing, OWASP guidelines, content security policies, secure development, troubleshooting, profiling, and performance optimization. - **Web optimization:** SEO, accessibility, website performance, URL structures, analytics, and user experience. - **Communication:** Clear and professional communication with stakeholders, internal teams, development teams, and vendors. - **Problem-solving:** Critical thinking, programmatic solution development, troubleshooting, and proactive issue resolution. - **Organization:** Project estimation, prioritization, independent work, structured development cycles, and reliable delivery. - **Adaptability:** Eagerness to learn and adapt to new web programming tools, methodologies, libraries, frameworks, and industry trends. - **Teamwork and professionalism:** Collaboration, integrity, accountability, customer-centricity, ethical conduct, and a positive, can-do attitude. ## Education & Experience **Education** - Bachelor’s degree in software development, web development, computer science, or a related field **or related industry experience**. **Experience** - 7+ years of professional web programming experience in business environments. - 7+ years of experience with version control tools such as Git in a multi-person development environment. - Experience across full-stack web development, including PHP/Laravel, WordPress, Node.js, front-end development, relational databases, APIs, testing, containerization, CI/CD, and web security as outlined above. ## Work Arrangement & Schedule - **Work arrangement:** Remote / Work from Home (WFH). - **Remote work location requirement:** Remote work must be performed while residing in **New Mexico, Florida, or Massachusetts**. - **Listed job location:** Dallas, TX, US (Remote). - **CIAT locations:** San Diego, CA and Albuquerque, NM. - **Employment type:** Full-time. - **Status:** Exempt. - **Schedule:** Monday through Friday. - **Schedule flexibility:** Occasional weekend and evening hours may be required. - **Supervisory responsibility:** None. - **Work environment:** Home office environment using standard office equipment, computers, phones, and virtual communication tools. - Employees must maintain data security and confidentiality, use secure connections for work-related activities, and comply with communicated expectations regarding work hours, availability, and time tracking. **Location note:** The posting lists **Dallas, TX, US (Remote)** as the job location while the job description states that remote work must be performed while residing in **New Mexico, Florida, or Massachusetts**. The stated remote-residency requirement is preserved as provided. ## Compensation & Benefits - **Compensation:** Not specified in the provided job description. - **Benefits:** Not specified in the provided job description. - **Currency:** USD.