Front-End Technical Lead – Wagtail CMS

NIH-NCBI•Bethesda, MD

About The Position

Black Canyon Consulting (BCC) is searching for a Front-End Technical Lead with strong experience in React, Next.js, Django-integrated front-end development, Headless CMS integration, and Web Design System implementation. This role will lead front-end architecture, delivery, and adoption of a Web Design System for modern, accessible, and scalable public-facing web platforms. You will join NCBI’s team of web developers and software engineers to build robust, flexible web applications, APIs, and services. This role calls for an expert web developer – with knowledge and experience in modern web development, testing, UI design and usability principles, and ability to work effectively with user researchers, designers, product managers, scientists, security and DevOps engineers.

Requirements

BS in Computer Science
5+ years of Full stack Web applications development, using Django, React, and Next.js.
Strong experience with Django, React, Next.js, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and CSS.
Proven front-end technical leadership experience on web platform projects.
Experience implementing, extending, or supporting adoption of a Web Design System across teams or products.
Experience integrating with Headless CMS platforms and consuming GraphQL or REST APIs.
Strong understanding of accessibility, including Section 508 and WCAG.
Experience with Git, CI/CD, testing, performance optimization, responsive design, and modern front-end workflows.
Strong communication, mentoring, documentation, and stakeholder collaboration skills

Nice To Haves

Experience with public-facing government, scientific, biomedical, or research websites.
Familiarity with U.S. Web Design System or similar enterprise design systems.
Experience with Wagtail CMS in a headless or hybrid architecture.
Experience with accessibility testing tools, SEO, analytics, Core Web Vitals, Docker, cloud hosting, CDN configuration, and Agile teams.

Responsibilities

Lead front-end architecture and implementation using Django, React, Next.js, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and CSS.
Drive the adoption of the NCBI Web Design System, including component strategy, implementation standards, documentation, reusable patterns, and best practices.
Guide integration with Headless CMS platforms using Wagtail CMS.
Consume CMS-driven content through GraphQL APIs, REST APIs, or other structured content services.
Support front-end development within Django, React, and Next.js based applications, including templates and static asset workflows.
Lead implementation of reusable UI components using the Web Design System.
Establish front-end coding standards, component patterns, documentation, and review processes.
Mentor front-end developers and provide technical guidance across projects.
Collaborate with UX, design, content, backend, CMS, DevOps, product, and stakeholder teams.
Ensure solutions meet accessibility, performance, SEO, scalability, and maintainability goals.
Support troubleshooting, testing, deployment, release planning, and production support.