Lead Fullstack Developer

Job Summary:

The Lead Full Stack Developer (Web / Drupal) is the senior-most technical role responsible for the design stability and long-term sustainability of Ithaca Colleges web ecosystem. This position serves as the technical steward of the Colleges web platform sharing platform ownership jointly with Marketing and Communications.

This role provides hands-on technical leadership while serving as a trusted technical advisor to Marketing and Communications IT leadership and campus partners. The Lead Developer plays a critical role in balancing institutional priorities with platform discipline data-informed decision-making and long-term architectural health.

The Lead Developer plays an active role in early design and solution discussions partnering with Marketing and Communications to translate creative concepts into technically efficient scalable implementations. This includes identifying opportunities where modest design or structural adjustments can significantly reduce development effort cost or long-term maintenance while preserving the intended user experience and strategic goals.

This role blends deep technical expertise with strategic thinking stakeholder partnership and roadmap leadership to ensure the Colleges digital presence evolves intentionally responsibly and in alignment with institutional goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Platform Leadership & Development

• Serve as the technical owner and steward of the Colleges web platform with primary responsibility for architectural integrity sustainability and long-term maintainability
• Lead the development and maintenance of Drupal-based websites web applications and integrations
• Design build test and maintain clean secure accessible and well-documented code
• Establish and enforce platform standards development patterns and governance practices that promote consistency and reduce technical debt
• Evaluate and recommend improvements to the web platform based on performance metrics accessibility requirements security posture and institutional needs

Strategy Governance & Decision Support

• Partner with Marketing and Communications where Marketing defines digital strategy and content priorities and IT leadership and this role jointly establish platform standards technical priorities and architectural direction
• Provide data-informed analysis and recommendations when proposed initiatives introduce significant cost risk or long-term maintenance implications
• Support institutional decision-making by explaining technical tradeoffs constraints and impacts in clear accessible language
• Contribute to ongoing evaluation of CMS evolution including Drupal sustainability and future platform considerations

Accessibility Security & Compliance

• Support and apply digital accessibility best practices in web development including awareness of WCAG standards and partner with institutional accessibility leadership to promote sustainable implementation.
• Partner with IT Security to follow secure development practices and support compliance with applicable security standards.
• Monitor platform performance reliability and risk indicators and proactively recommend improvements to enhance stability and sustainability.

Operations Support & Incident Response

• Support structured intake prioritization and roadmap planning for web initiatives in collaboration with IT leadership and Marketing
• Participate in after-hours incident response for critical web issues impacting institutional operations including homepage availability admissions launches and enrollment campaigns. Such incidents are rare given our Pantheon-hosted platform.
• Ensure appropriate documentation continuity planning and knowledge sharing to reduce institutional risk

Collaboration Vendors & Mentorship

• Manage and coordinate third-party vendors including defining scopes of work reviewing deliverables and ensuring alignment with institutional standards
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to developers student employees and external partners as applicable
• Foster strong working relationships across campus through clear communication partnership and shared accountability

Institutional Values

• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity equity inclusion and accessibility as core institutional values

• Promote a respectful collaborative and inclusive environment when working with faculty staff students and external partners

Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in web development in Drupal/WordPress or similar.
• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining custom Drupal modules themes and integrations
• Strong full-stack development experience (HTML CSS JavaScript PHP)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tools (e.g. CircleCI or equivalent)
• Strong understanding of web performance optimization security best practices and accessibility standards
• Proven ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences using data and impact analysis
• Excellent problem-solving documentation and systems-thinking skills
• Bachelors degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent professional experience

This position is 37.5 hours per week 52 weeks per year.

Application Instructions:

Interested applicants must apply online and attach a resume cover letter and list of three professional references. Questions about online applications should be directed to the Office of Human Resources at or

Ithaca College is committed to building a diverse academic community and encourages members of underrepresented groups to apply. Experience that contributes to the diversity of the college is appreciated.

Visa sponsorship is not provided for this position.

Hiring Range:

$83000-$87000 commensurate with qualifications and experience.

We pride ourselves on providing our benefit-eligible employees with comprehensive benefits including:

Healthcare including vision and dental

Generous Paid Time Off Policies

403B Retirement Savings Plan with Matching Employer Contribution

EAP

Flexible Work Plans

Educational Benefits

Career-Enhancing Trainings

For an overview of our benefit offerings please visit an effort to promote campus safety and the security of College resources Ithaca College will consistent with the requirements of the law and prudent practices conduct criminal background investigations per College policy. This position is subject to a criminal background check. All offers of employment are contingent upon review of the criminal background check.