Full Stack Web Developer

Description

This is a Work from Home (WFH) position. Remote work must be performed while residing in New Mexico, Florida, or Massachusetts. CIAT has locations in San Diego, CA, and Albuquerque, NM.

Reports to: VP of Information Technology
Status: Exempt
Employment Type: Full-time

Summary

The Full Stack Web Developer at CIAT is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining modern web applications. These applications support student experience, marketing funnels, and internal operations. The role involves working across the entire stack (front end, back end, databases, and integrations) to deliver secure, scalable, and responsive solutions. These solutions are crucial for CIAT’s growth and innovation in career-focused higher education. This developer will collaborate closely with the CIAT Marketing department and IT stakeholders. The goal is to translate business requirements into reliable web-based solutions, continuously iterating based on data and user feedback to improve performance, usability, and conversion outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and optimize web applications using PHP/Laravel, WordPress, and NodeJS.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders, graphic designers, QA, and other team members to define requirements, design solutions, and deliver new features.
• Troubleshoot, profile, and optimize code for high performance, stability, and security.
• Write clean, well-structured, and well-documented code; actively participate in code reviews.
• Monitor application health, identify bottlenecks or bugs, and implement timely fixes.
• Serve as the primary contact for change requests and enhancements on ciat.edu and other CIAT web properties. This includes content updates, images, menu changes, digital assets, new page layouts, new features, and accessibility features.
• Create responsive and interactive web pages that align with CIAT brand guidelines.
• Ensure all ciat.edu website pages and content remain editable in version control tools for collaborative team maintenance.
• Collaborate closely with in-house and third-party development team members to triage, delegate, and test new web changes.
• Gather project requirements from department stakeholders and provide time estimates to scope web projects for implementation.
• Accurately implement design specifications and work collaboratively with the marketing team to optimize the user experience within time, budget, and business constraints.
• Monitor web analytics and real-time visitor monitoring tools to recommend improvements in web accessibility, functionality, or new feature deployment.
• Communicate effectively and professionally with internal teams and vendors.
• Utilize critical thinking and problem-solving skills to outline programmatic solutions for critical business challenges.
• Stay up to date with emerging tools, libraries, frameworks, and industry trends; proactively suggest improvements.
• Adhere to CIAT’s compliance requirements, ensuring all Federal, State, accreditation, and institutional policies and procedures are met.
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing results as needed.
• Embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values.
• Ensure a safe, secure, and ethical work environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in software development, web development, computer science, or related industry experience.
• 7+ years of web programming experience in professional business environments.
• 7+ years of experience with version control tools such as Git for multi-person development team collaboration.
• Advanced expertise in PHP/Laravel, including complex Eloquent relationships, service container usage, event-driven design, and queue orchestration.
• Experience with backend languages like Rust, or exposure to systems-oriented development in Go or Python preferred.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Power Pages preferred.
• Strong proficiency in WordPress, including building and maintaining scalable solutions (multisite or headless implementations), deep REST API customization, and effective caching strategies.
• Strong proficiency in Node.js, including service-oriented architecture, real-time features (WebSockets), and performance profiling in production environments.
• Strong proficiency with front-end development, deep knowledge of JavaScript (ES6+) and CSS (including preprocessors such as SASS or LESS), and production experience with at least one major framework (React or Vue.js).
• Demonstrable experience designing and optimizing relational database schemas (MySQL or PostgreSQL), with working knowledge of NoSQL systems (Redis or MongoDB) for caching and high-throughput workloads.
• Demonstrable experience with containerization and delivery pipelines, including Docker and CI/CD workflows, and familiarity with orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes.
• Strong proficiency with API design, including RESTful and GraphQL systems, authentication and authorization flows (OAuth2, 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 stack.
• Ownership mindset regarding code scalability and reliability, with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving 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, UI/UX best practices.
• Familiarity with SEO requirements and the impact of website performance, URL structures, and compliance on search engine friendly code.
• Eagerness to learn and adapt to new web programming tools and methodologies.
• 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.
• Self-motivated, goal-oriented, assertive, results-driven, high energy, and highly ethical.
• Team player with a positive, can-do attitude.
• Strong organizational skills with the proven ability to prioritize.
• Possess high ethical standards, being an example of professionalism to others.
• Ability to problem-solve while maintaining compliance with all policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Must be able to embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be required.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Values

CIAT values include integrity, excellence, customer service, teamwork, and mutual respect. These values are demonstrated daily and set expectations for employee and manager interactions.

• Passion for education and student success.
• Integrity and excellence in employees and students.
• Dignity and respect for ourselves and our students.
• Belief in and encouragement of innovation to help students succeed.
• Customer-centric focus and commitment to achieving goals, where success equals student success.
• Accountability for actions and focus on continuous improvement.
• Growth mindset with a sincere belief that every student can improve and achieve their goals.
• Expectation for every employee to be an example of conduct and professionalism.
• Commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment that respects diversity.
• Fostering lifelong learning and professional development.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described are representative of those necessary to perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation can be made for individuals with disabilities.

• Essential functions require sitting for extended periods.
• Ability to type, use a computer for information search and input, and speak on the phone is required.
• Frequent use of computer, mouse, and telephone.
• Ability to perform simple mathematical calculations.

Work Environment

This remote position operates from a home office environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities. The role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, and virtual communication tools. Employees must ensure their home office is a safe and ergonomic working environment. Data security and confidentiality must be maintained according to company policies, using secure connections for all work-related activities. Work hours, availability, and time tracking expectations will be clearly communicated and must be adhered to. The company is not responsible for maintaining home office environments beyond reasonable accommodations and necessary work-related equipment. Workers' compensation and liability for home office injuries are covered per company policy and applicable laws. This remote work policy complies with all relevant local, state, and federal laws.

AAP/EEO Statement

California Institute of Applied Technology provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. CIAT complies with federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws in all locations. This policy applies to all employment terms, including recruiting, hiring, promotion, and training. CIAT prohibits workplace harassment based on protected characteristics. Improper interference with job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.

Other Duties

This job description is not exhaustive; duties, responsibilities, and activities may change with or without notice.

Salary Range

The starting salary range for the Full Stack Web Developer is $85,000-$95,000 yearly/DOE. Salary offers are based on education, experience, equity, and other business and organizational needs.