Lead Web Engineer

URBAN LAND INSTITUTE•Washington, DC

21h•$120,281 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

ULI's Data & Digital Products Team is seeking a Lead Web Engineer to spearhead the rebuilding of its web presence. This role is central to consolidating over 100 existing WordPress sites, hosted in Azure, into a single, modern platform. The Lead Web Engineer will be a hands-on coder, responsible for technical decision-making, architecture design, prototyping, and implementation. Beyond the rebuild, this position involves owning ULI's Azure web hosting and security, managing the web services ticket queue with support from a direct report, and acting as the primary developer for digital products. The ideal candidate enjoys dissecting complex systems and improving them. This role requires a strong understanding of WordPress, Azure, REST APIs, and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, with the ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to non-technical colleagues. The position is based in ULI's offices, emphasizing in-person collaboration.

Requirements

Progressive, hands-on experience in web development and web platform ownership.
A portfolio, GitHub, or other examples of production web work you personally built.
Deep WordPress expertise, including the block editor, custom post types, taxonomies, and multisite.
Experience building and running websites and web applications on Microsoft Azure.
Experience designing and consuming REST APIs and building integrations between systems.
Experience building accessible websites to WCAG 2.2 AA.
The ability to explain technical options, trade-offs, and risks clearly to non-technical colleagues.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, information systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading or working on a CMS migration from one platform to another, not just an upgrade.
Experience with Umbraco or another .NET CMS (solid experience with any major CMS is a good start).
Experience consolidating many websites into a single platform.
Experience mentoring or supervising technical staff.
Experience working with external development agencies or contractors.
Familiarity with association management or CRM systems such as netFORUM or iMIS.
Experience with headless or decoupled CMS implementations.
Association, membership organization, or nonprofit experience.

Responsibilities

Lead the technical work to consolidate uli.org and its connected sites into a single platform.
Translate business objectives into technical solutions, including approach, scope, timelines, and architecture.
Build prototypes and present them to stakeholders for early testing.
Implement information architecture, content models, and templates.
Plan and execute content migration, redirects, and search continuity.
Set up measurement for the new site, including GA4, Google Tag Manager, and Core Web Vitals.
Assist in evaluating and selecting a new Content Management System (CMS).
Write, review, and maintain production code for custom themes, templates, plugins, and integrations.
Build and maintain WordPress implementations.
Design and build REST APIs and integrations with ULI's databases and systems.
Build websites to WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards.
Implement version control, testing, code review, and documentation practices.
Own ULI's Azure web hosting environment, including App Services, storage, and networking.
Manage the edge and security layer: CDN, WAF rules, bot and DDoS mitigation, DNS, and TLS certificates.
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, staging environments, and deployment workflows.
Monitor site health, set performance targets, and respond to incidents.
Act as the primary developer for digital products for members and staff.
Support the launch and hosting of new platforms and ensure integration with existing web properties.
Maintain consistency in look, feel, and flow across ULI's digital products.
Oversee the web services ticket queue, handling complex requests and larger properties.
Bring ongoing site maintenance and updates in-house.
Manage and mentor one direct report, the Senior Administrator, Web Services.
Review work delivered by outside agencies and developers.
Collaborate with software, data, and project management colleagues on shared standards and delivery.