Full-Stack Developer/ 2 days ago
Deep South Today
Attractive
Application ends: 2026-03-05
Quick Summary
Seeking a Full-Stack Developer with 5+ years of experience to build and maintain high-traffic WordPress websites and digital products for a nonprofit journalism network. The role requires expert proficiency in PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript, along with strong experience managing the LAMP/LEMP stack, cloud services (AWS, GCP), and CI/CD workflows. Key responsibilities include custom WordPress theme/plugin development, optimizing performance and security, building interactive data visualizations (D3.js, Leaflet) for editorial teams, and managing API integrations. This is a remote position, preferably located in the Deep South region.
Full-Stack Developer, Nonprofit Journalism Network
Deep South Today is seeking a Full-Stack Developer to join our network-level product and technology team. Reporting to the Director of Technology, this role is crucial for building and supporting websites and digital products for our growing network of newsrooms across the Deep South.
Key Responsibilities:
Core Web Development & CMS Management
- WordPress Engineering: Lead the development, maintenance, and optimization of high-traffic WordPress websites, ensuring peak performance, security, and scalability for member newsrooms.
- Custom Plugin & Theme Development: Build and maintain custom WordPress themes and plugins tailored to news publishing workflows.
- Full Stack Maintenance: Manage and optimize the hosting environment to ensure high availability and fast load times for reader-facing sites.
Data & Editorial Projects
- Data Visualization: Collaborate with editorial teams to build interactive maps, charts, and immersive storytelling features using modern JavaScript libraries (e.g., D3.js, Leaflet).
- Metrics & Insights: Maintain and expand the internal data pipeline and metrics dashboards, utilizing data ingestion and visualization tools to help newsrooms understand audience growth and impact.
- UI/UX Design: Translate complex editorial needs into intuitive, accessible, and mobile-first user interfaces. Perform user testing and prototyping to improve the reader experience.
Network Support
- Technical Troubleshooting: Respond to inbound support requests from member newsrooms, resolving bugs and providing technical support and documentation.
- Integrations: Manage third-party API integrations, including CRM systems, donation platforms, and social media tools.
Required Qualifications:
- 5+ years of progressive full stack development experience, with a strong portfolio of previous WordPress-based projects.
- Strong LAMP/LEMP stack proficiency, including expert level knowledge of PHP, MySQL, and common server and web hosting technologies.
- Experience working with cloud service providers (AWS, GCP, Cloudflare, Kinsta, and similar).
- Expert-level knowledge of HTML, CSS (including preprocessors), and Javascript.
- Strong grasp of design principles, wireframing, and prototyping tools.
- Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with designers and implementing designs independently based on product requirements and brand guidelines.
- Proficiency with version control, deployment, and CI/CD workflows and tools.
- Self-starter with the ability to debug complex issues across different layers of the web stack.
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrated commitment to open source software development principles and a collaborative mindset.
- Proven ability to work independently and manage multiple simultaneous projects in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working in a newsroom or digital publishing environment, understanding the challenges associated with the 24/7 news cycle and high scale, content-heavy websites.
- Experience with data visualization tools and frameworks for interactive storytelling.
- Experience with frontend frameworks (React, Vue or similar).
- Knowledge of analytics tools, APIs, and integrations.
- Experience working with the WordPress API.
- Experience working with various APIs (REST, GraphQL).
- Previous experience working on a remote team in a fully-distributed environment.
Location & Compensation
Location: Remote (preference for candidates based in the Deep South region).
Compensation: Competitive salary commensurate with experience, plus comprehensive benefits package.
About Deep South Today
Deep South Today is a nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to serving communities across the Deep South through four publications: Mississippi Today, Verite News, The Current, and The Garrison Project. With over 80 employees and $10+ million in annual revenue, we are committed to producing high-quality, impactful journalism that serves the public interest.
We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply for this position.