Web Development Manager

Salary: £33,966 to £44,263 per annum depending on experience.

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 June 2024

The Role

Do you want to work in a team driving and leading on customer-led web design and development and have a passion for leading on innovation in web development? Join the web team at Newcastle University, the driving force behind delivering user-centric design supported by our core design principles:

Through your expert guidance and oversight you will:

• Lead the maintenance of the University's web presence and other digital products in marketing, with particular attention to accessibility, SEO requirements and browser/device compatibility

• Be responsible for developing templates, components, and other digital products within the Terminal Four CMS using JS, TS, SCSS and other front-end frameworks

• Be responsible for the development operations around internal and external version control system

• Be responsible for the maintenance and ongoing refinement of the development teams CI/CD practices, enabling an efficient, safe, and optimised delivery of finished software products to the customer

• Provide technical insights and documentation allowing management to make informed technical-based decisions

For more information and for informal enquiries speak to: Jason Yip (Head of Marketing Web, CRM and Analytics) at

As the Web Development Manager, you are responsible for leading the Web Development Team in the technical creation and development of marketing web projects.

You are responsible for managing and mentoring team members, training plans, and workflow planning to ensure the smooth running and technical competency is maintained within the Web Development team. This is fundamental to our effective engagement across student recruitment, business, research and partnerships areas.

You will be working with a wide range of technology, with significant proven experience as a JavaScript/Front-End Developer. You will apply your knowledge and experience of accessibility optimisation, SEO, usability and UX best practice to ensure all website outputs are user focused.

The Web Development Team is part of the Marketing Web Teams in the Marketing Department, and you will work closely with the Web Design and the Web Delivery teams to deliver web projects.

Key Accountabilities

• Responsible for developing templates, components, and other digital products within the Terminal Four CMS using JS, TS, PHP, SCSS and other front-end frameworks. Critical for the University's external website technical maintenance and development
• Responsible for managing team members, training plans, project management and workflow planning to ensure the smooth running of the Web Development team
• To lead the maintenance of the University's web presence and other digital products in respect to marketing, with particular attention to accessibility, SEO requirements and browser/device compatibility
• Responsible for the development operations around internal and external version control systems
• Maintenance and ongoing refinement of the development team's CI/CD practices, enabling an efficient, safe, and optimised delivery of finished software products to the customer
• As the authority on technical development in the External Relations Directorate, you will provide technical insights, create and present technical documentation to make informed technical-based decisions
• To conduct horizon scanning for your area of expertise, ensuring that the team can respond in an agile way to opportunities and threats of web delivery
• To work alongside colleagues in the Marketing team to design, develop, and maintain online services in response to strategic, technological and user demand
• Through working with the other teams in Web Services and the Digital Platforms team, you will lead on the development of the design system and web template
• Working with the Head of Marketing, Web, CRM, Analytics, you will contribute to the strategic technical roadmap for web projects and developments
• Build and maintain close working relationships with key teams across the University, such as the Digital Platforms team within the University's IT Services, ensuring effective front and back-end web developments
• Other duties as required to support online and digital requirements as required by the Director of Marketing and the Head of Marketing Web, CRM and Analytics

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Substantial practical industry experience (4+ Years) in a similar role
• Detailed knowledge and experience of the technical development of websites and/or applications
• Outstanding project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects at same time
• Strong motivation for delivering excellent customer service
• Extensive practiced industry knowledge and experience of developing with modern responsive web technologies:
  • HTML 5 (including Accessibility and SEO concerns)
  • JavaScript and related JS frameworks and run-time Environments. (React / NODE / Next.JS)
  • SCSS and other CSS based frameworks
  • User Centred Design principles and knowledge
  • Software engineering practices, methodologies, and design patterns (SOLID, DRY, OOP)
  • Git / Github, CI/CD, DevOps
  • Database design with MySQL and MongoDB
• Experience in web software deployment with a focus on improving resilience. This includes automated deployment, version control and testing in place
• Excellent knowledge of best practice and trends in UX and Web Design:
  • Human-centred/user-centred design
  • User testing and QA processes
  • Working to an iterative design process
• Experience of managing a team, preferably within a marketing web development environment
• Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven success in building relationships across all levels, internally and externally

Attributes and Behaviour

• Generates a range of viable options and decides on an appropriate course of action that best fits organisational and area goals
• Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships across the project where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued. A real team player with great interpersonal and communication skills
• Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two way communication process
• Gathers a broad range of relevant information from internal and external sources making this information widely available. Uses information to gain competitive advantage

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in a relevant discipline or equivalent industry experience

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 27282

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