Ithaca College is hiring a Lead Full Stack Developer (Web / Drupal) to be the senior-most technical owner and steward of the College's web ecosystem. You will provide hands-on leadership, ensure architectural integrity, and guide the platform's sustainability as a trusted advisor to Marketing and Communications and IT leadership.
What You'll Do
- Serve as the technical owner and steward of the College’s 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.
- Partner with Marketing and Communications to define digital strategy and content priorities, and jointly establish platform standards, technical priorities, and architectural direction with IT leadership.
- 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.
- Support and apply digital accessibility best practices in web development, including awareness of WCAG standards.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
What We're Looking For
- 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.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Technical Stack
- Drupal
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- PHP
- CircleCI
Team & Environment
Shares platform ownership jointly with Marketing and Communications.
Benefits & Compensation
- 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
- Compensation: $83,000-$87,000
Work Mode
This position is onsite.
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.
