WordPress Developer

About you:

You are an experienced front-end web developer with decent knowledge of PHP to also be able to set up WordPress back-ends (some might call this ‘full stack’ but we really dislike the term). You want to put your skills to good use – helping progressive organisations to communicate their knowledge and ideas online.

You are happy to work independently on the front-end but aren’t afraid to ask for help when you encounter tricky issues, and you’re always willing to help colleagues to find solutions. You are happy to work closely with a back-end developer to develop the full site.

You stay on top of new trends and innovations in web development and find ways to apply them to your own work.

You must have fluent written and spoken English.

Please note: this is not a front-end JavaScript developer role – the focus of the role is not frameworks such as React/Vue/etc.

Required experience:

• Experience writing semantic, accessible HTML to adhere to WCAG AA standards
• CSS (SCSS)
• JavaScript
• Comfortable with CSS features like flexbox, grid, and variables
• Git / version control
• General PHP knowledge
• General WordPress knowledge

Desirable experience:

• Experience writing WordPress themes
• ACF / Advanced Custom Fields experience
• SCSS following BEM principles and structured following ITCSS architecture
• Modern ES6 syntax JavaScript
• Comfortable using the command line
• Drupal 8+ experience is a bonus

Our tech stack:

We develop websites in WordPress and Drupal. Our IDE of choice is PhpStorm and we use ddev + Docker to manage our containerised local development environments.

Our build process runs using Gulp, compiling, sourcemapping and minifying our BEM + ITCSS (BEMIT) structured CSS and our ES6 JavaScript classes.

We use Gitlab, Slack, and Google Suite for collaborative working.

You don’t need to know any of these before you join, but if you do it’s a bonus!

About the job:

The WordPress developer will be part of our in-house team of developers, reporting to the WordPress technical lead. You will also collaborate closely with other colleagues, including project managers, digital designers and content strategists.

The main focus of the job is to develop new WordPress websites and other digital products. Most of our digital projects involve the delivery of an organisation’s main website, but we also build smaller sites and other products. You can see many examples of our past work on our website (https://www.designbysoapbox.com/work/).

The role may be based in either of our two UK studios – in Whitechapel, London or in Bath, Somerset with the option of hybrid working (splitting time between home and the studio) and we are willing to consider candidates for this role who want to work fully remotely.

We will also be happy to  consider requests for other forms  of flexible working, such as reduced or compressed hours. (Our normal working week is 37.5 hours split equally over five days.)

What we offer:

We offer a competitive salary and a good benefits package with some great perks, including:

• A competitive salary (dependent on location and experience)
• 25 days paid annual holiday, plus a three-day Christmas closure and public holidays. You’ll get your birthday off too.
• Cycle-to-work scheme, tech loans and season ticket loans.
• Flexible working options – dependent on the role and the arrangements already in place for other team members.
• Generous parental leave and other family-friendly policies.
• A calendar of regular social events.
• Matched pension contributions.
• Barista quality coffee, snacks and fresh fruit.

About us:

Soapbox is a creative studio for ideas that matter. We partner with forward-thinking organisations to turn knowledge and evidence into social progress. We are designers, web developers, writers, thinkers, storytellers and problem-solvers. We are passionate about the power of ideas and evidence to build a better world.

We have studios in London, Bath, Washington DC and will shortly open a studio in Berlin.

We are a flexible and fair employer and our values run through everything we do, from the clients we work with to the way we treat our staff. This has helped us to build a close-knit, hard-working and ambitious team. Many of our colleagues have worked with us for a large part of their career, advancing professionally over their years with us. And our growing roster of clients include many of the world’s leading charities, NGOs and research organisations.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and know that including employees with a diverse range of perspectives and experiences will improve the quality and creativity of the services we provide. We particularly welcome applications from candidates who are members of groups that are currently under-represented at Soapbox, including LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people from minority ethnic and religious communities.