Frontend Developer for Universities, Arts & Nonprofits

Cast Iron Coding•Portland, OR

11h•$75,000 - $110,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Cast Iron Coding is a web development agency in Portland, Oregon, focused on creating web applications and websites for clients that spread knowledge and contribute to the common good, primarily serving universities, state governments, arts institutions, foundations, and non-profits. They occasionally work with values-aligned for-profit companies. The agency prides itself on elevating design and build quality for impactful projects. With a team of eleven and strong retention, Cast Iron Coding offers autonomy and a humanist management style, expecting high standards in integrity, collaboration, craft, and personal accountability. They value quality work, user-centric design, accessibility, and user experience, pushing clients to bring their best effort. The agency prioritizes work-life balance, employee well-being, growth, professional development, advancement opportunities, mentoring, and a deliberate project management approach that avoids treating employees as mere cogs. For twenty years, they have strived to balance the needs of owners, clients, and employees. Their approach to AI is one of curiosity and skepticism, using AI coding assistants to enhance productivity and deliver more value within client budgets, while emphasizing that AI augments, rather than replaces, the fundamentally human aspects of understanding problems and designing solutions. Every team member is responsible for the code they produce, regardless of AI assistance.

Requirements

1+ year working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Experience building an application with a JavaScript framework
Strong written communication skills
Curiosity about how an application is put together (where its data comes from, what happens on the server, why a page is structured the way it is)

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with the current JavaScript landscape including tooling, libraries, frameworks, and design patterns
Experience with TypeScript, or interest in learning it
Experience with server-side JavaScript and the server-rendering capabilities of frameworks like Astro, TanStack Start, or Next.js
Comfort working in an application's data layer: queries, caching, loading and error states
Familiarity with React
Familiarity with GraphQL
Some exposure to backend code, in any language, to have productive discussions with our backend team
Familiarity with accessibility (considerations when writing HTML, CSS, and JS; WCAG guidelines; testing methods)
Understanding of techniques for building robust, inclusive applications, such as progressive enhancement
Experience working collaboratively with Git, including branching, rebasing, and resolving conflicts
Experience with one or more content management systems, especially Craft, October, and WordPress
Confidence working closely with client stakeholders

Responsibilities

Implement data fetching and state management in frontend applications, and make considered decisions about what renders on the server and what renders in the browser.
Work with the server-side capabilities of frameworks like Astro and TanStack Start (routing, server functions, and caching, and deployment).
Maintain and extend existing client projects, including sites built on older technologies.
Work closely with designers to implement responsive interfaces from static designs and prototypes. Review designs in tools like Figma and provide implementation feedback to designers as needed.
Produce user interfaces in semantic HTML, modern CSS, and JavaScript that meet WCAG accessibility guidelines.
Work with data from GraphQL APIs. Communicate questions about API design and change requests to the backend team as needed.
Conduct QA and accessibility testing during the development process and before launch.
Review teammates' code and respond thoughtfully to review of your own.
Communicate with clients in writing and in meetings to demonstrate progress and resolve implementation questions.
Attend regular frontend team meetings to discuss team processes, practices, and tools.
Estimate your own work and track it against the budget as a project progresses.
Raise concerns early when a project's scope, budget, or timeline no longer fit the work.
Manage tasks carefully in ClickUp and provide thoughtful, accurate updates and feedback to PMs and team lead.
Be accountable to your teammates and treat them with kindness, respect, and empathy.

Benefits

15 days of paid vacation
8 days of PTO
8 paid holidays
Office closed for the week of Christmas
Office closed for a day around Thanksgiving
50% contribution toward health and dental coverage for employee, spouse, and children
4% contribution to a 401k retirement plan
4 weeks of paid family leave for new parents
Professional development
Advancement opportunities
Regular goal setting
Mentoring