Job Description
Job DescriptionSalary: $85,000 - 115,000
You model strategic thinking when solving technical issues and understand the importance of asking why in order to make informed decisions. You enjoy producing resilient, well-structured code that adheres to industry-wide standards and best practices. Attention to detail, usability, accessibility, and performance are of the utmost importance to you. You value learning as a lifelong practice and desire to continually evolve your skill set. You are self-motivated, proactive, and excited to learn and help grow our studio processes through exposure to different teams, clients, and projects.
Primary Responsibilities
- Translate bespoke, static design mockups into systems of discrete, reusable components that can adapt to a variety of viewports and devices
- Collaborate with the design team to ideate and refine interactive components, ensuring accessibility and performance
- Advocate for usability and accessibility throughout the development process
- Collaborate with Project Managers and other teammates to provide estimates for development tasks
- Assist in the definition of technical requirements through research and collaboration with project Stakeholders
- Extend core CMS functionality, when needed to accommodate a clients unique needs (e.g. plugin development)
- Lead client-facing demos and meetings, bridging the gap between technical and non-technical teams
- Provide peer code reviews, offering non-dogmatic feedback in an effort to produce resilient, well-structured, and maintainable code
- Attend development team meetings, offering opinions and feedback when possible
- Facilitate pair programming sessions with team members as a way to learn through hands-on training
- Assist in the creation and maintenance of internal tools and standards
- Collaborate with the Account team and others in the studio to offer technical recommendations
- Perform quarterly maintenance and updates on legacy projects
Key Qualities
- 3-5 years experience working in an agency or similar setting
- Cares deeply about design and branding and understands the developers role in bringing that to lifewith a portfolio of work reflective of this and your attention to craft and detail
- Detail-oriented, able to translate static design mock-ups into maintainable, performant websites and web applications that effectively communicate the spirit of the design
- Experience working with a CMS, preferably Craft CMS, or similar PHP-based platforms; Wordpress experience a plus
- Interest in highly interactive and design-led experiences on the web
- Highly proficient front-end developer familiar with modern build systems (e.g. Vite, Webpack)
- Familiar with modern libraries and frameworks (e.g. Twig, Javascript, Vue.js, Tailwind CSS), and an understanding of their benefits and limitations when it comes to producing efficient, maintainable code
- Mobile-first development expertise and knowledge of common cross-browser issues
- Familiar with front-end performance and creating sites that make efficient use of resources
- Experience & expertise using GSAP and animation libraries like Lottie.js or Rive
- Familiar with PHP or similar backend language
- Experience using Git and Git Workflows
- Experience with or interest in learning best practices around website deployment and server setup (DevOps and CI/CD workflows)
- Familiar with AI coding tools such as Cursor and GitHub Copilot
- Experience building accessible web applications that work across browsers/devices for a variety of user needs.
- Basic understanding of WCAG guidelines (we strive for AA compliance on most of our websites)
- Experience designing an efficient and intuitive content authoring experience
- Gives and receives feedback with empathy to ensure work is always aligned to the core idea and meets quality standards. Sets the pace of velocity and efficiency through every step of the process, course correcting based on feedback and improving how we work together
- Respect and strive for diversity, inclusion, and equity both at work and in your work
- Non-traditional development backgrounds are welcomed and encouraged. We find that developers with diverse skill sets and experiences make for a more well-rounded team
Relationships
- Manager: Executive Director, Operations
- Mentors: Principal Developers
- Peers: Developers, Senior Developers
- Collaborates with: Associate Creative Directors, Creative Directors, Project Managers, Account Directors, SEO/Analytics Experts
Expectations
This application will be open until October 20, 2025 for you to apply and for us to review your application. All interviews will be via video chat, with our team including the Executive Director of Operations. We generally do 2-3 rounds of interviews including a code review, but when we reach out, well let you know what to expect along the way. Our goal is to make an offer in November with a start date in November.
This position is ideally filled by a candidate in the Chicago area or open to relocating, though we operate as a hybrid team. Despite the preference for a local candidate, we welcome and encourage applicants outside of Chicago to apply. We also ask that only applicants located in and legally able to work in the United States apply.
Pay & Benefits
We ask a lot of our peoplebut we give a lot, too. We offer a competitive salary in the range of $85,000 - $115,000 for this role and full health benefits, matching 401k, unlimited time off and other paid leaves to support individual or family needs, flexibility in work schedule and location, and an inclusive and inspiring work environment.