Senior Web Platform Engineer

Department
ADV Business Application Management

Job Summary
The Senior Web Platform Engineer is the technical lead and co-owner of Advancement's web platforms and supporting technologies. This role combines hands-on back-end web development and platform administration with responsibility for architecture, integrations, security, reliability, releases, and long-term platform health. This job leads and provides expertise to the development of programs for activities relating to software support and/or development. Analyzes, designs, develops, debugs, and modifies computer code for end user applications, beta general releases, and production support. Manages development and implementation of applications, web pages, and user-interfaces using a variety of software applications, techniques, and tools. Solves complex problems in administration, maintenance, integration, and troubleshooting of code and application ecosystem currently in production.

This position works closely with Communications, which leads business and digital experience requirements, and with other Advancement teams to translate approved needs into practical technical solutions. It serves as a technical advisor, recommending approaches, alternatives, and tradeoffs based on business needs, technical requirements, risk, and long-term supportability. The role determines the technical architecture and implementation approach, manages delivery and ongoing support, and coordinates with central IT Services, vendors, and managed service providers where work depends on enterprise infrastructure or services.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the technical lead and co-owner of Advancement's web platforms, websites, web applications, and supporting technologies, with responsibility for their development, administration, reliability, security, and long-term supportability.
• Designs, develops, configures, and maintains the back-end of Advancement websites and web applications, including Alumni Weekend, the University Magazine, campaign websites, and other external-facing digital resources for alumni and constituents, along with the features, components, templates, integrations, and technical improvements that support Advancement's fundraising, constituent engagement, and digital communications needs.
• Establishes and maintains architecture, development, platform, and technical design standards, and determines the technical architecture and implementation approach for approved work.
• Translates approved business and digital experience requirements into technical solutions, prototypes, proofs of concept, and implementation plans as appropriate.
• In partnership with business owners and partners, evaluates and selects web platforms, technical tools, and supporting technologies based on requirements, integration needs, security, maintainability, and long-term supportability.
• Manages the lifecycle of Advancement's WordPress, Drupal, and other approved web platforms, including configuration, upgrades, maintenance, technical debt, performance, monitoring, and future platform needs.
• Builds and maintains integrations with approved Advancement and University systems, including APIs, data flows, consent tools, and identity services, and assesses and manages related technical impacts involving platform configuration, data models, migrations, URLs, and data flows.
• Implements and maintains the technical capabilities required for digital measurement, including analytics, tagging, conversion tracking, and related data collection, based on approved measurement requirements.
• Ensures web platforms and code meet established accessibility, usability, user-centered design, SEO, responsive design, browser compatibility, security, performance, and technical quality standards, and lead testing, deployment, release readiness, and production implementation of web changes.
• Maintains platform reliability, recovery procedures, operational readiness, and technical incident resolution, including management of web platform security, access controls, vulnerability response, privacy controls, user provisioning, and related technical compliance requirements.
• Maintains reusable components, technical documentation, and operational procedures needed to support consistent development and ongoing platform operations, and define and maintain supported web services, service expectations, support boundaries, and technical incident classifications.
• Represents Advancement Technology in shared intake and planning, assessing feasibility, effort, dependencies, risk, sequencing, and support implications before scope or delivery commitments are made; identifies when demand, risk, or technical complexity exceeds available capacity and recommend changes to scope, sequencing, or resourcing.
• Leads the technical evaluation and management of web technology vendors and service providers, and coordinates technical dependencies with managed service providers, central IT Services, and other University technology teams.
• Evaluates emerging technologies, including AI and automation, for opportunities to improve Advancement's digital platforms, development practices, user experiences, and operational efficiency, and leads technical experimentation and implementation of approved AI-enabled and innovative solutions, ensuring appropriate architecture, integration, security, privacy, accessibility, and long-term supportability.
• Seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance, including building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions and with an eye towards broadly diversifying the advancement profession.
• Designs new systems, features, and tools. Solves complex problems and identifies opportunities for technical improvement and performance optimization. Reviews and tests code to ensure appropriate standards are met.
• Acts as a technical consultant and resource for faculty research, teaching, and/or administrative projects.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

Experience:

• Minimum of five years of professional experience developing, administering, or leading production web platforms, web applications, or CMS-based environments.
• Minimum of three years of hands-on experience with WordPress and Drupal environments, including configuration, upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Serving as the technical lead or primary technical owner for an enterprise web platform or portfolio of websites.
• Managing the technical lifecycle of production websites or web platforms, including development, testing, deployment, upgrades, monitoring, release management, incident resolution, and ongoing maintenance.
• Implementing or supporting web integrations involving APIs, data flows, identity, marketing, CRM, Salesforce Experience Cloud, or other enterprise systems.
• Familiar with source control, automated testing, deployment automation, monitoring, and the design or development of web automation.
• Establishing development standards, reusable components, documentation practices, quality assurance processes, or platform governance.
• Project management experience supporting complex websites, web applications, or platform initiatives, including independently planning, documenting, prioritizing, and delivering complex web technology work from requirements through production support.
• Evaluating technical options and communicating effort, dependencies, risks, constraints, and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Operating web platforms in environments where hosting, infrastructure, identity, or security services are provided by centralized technology teams or managed service providers, including coordinating work across vendors, service providers, infrastructure teams, and other technology partners.
• Background in higher education, advancement, fundraising, nonprofit, or another complex organization with multiple stakeholders and enterprise technology dependencies.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Demonstrated proficiency with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with working knowledge of server-side web technologies, databases, APIs, and system integrations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of web security, privacy, access management, accessibility, responsive design, browser compatibility, analytics implementation, SEO, and web performance practices.
• Working knowledge of web infrastructure fundamentals, including web hosting, DNS, SSL/TLS certificates, content delivery and caching, databases, cloud or managed hosting environments, and dependencies between application platforms and underlying infrastructure.
• Proficiency with design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Adobe Photoshop, or comparable tools in support of web development and collaboration with design teams.

Preferred Competencies

• Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write effectively. Explain complex ideas clearly and simply.
• Manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
• Act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Self-motivated and take initiative.
• Prioritize multiple projects and independently follow through with detail.

Working Conditions

• This position has a hybrid work schedule which includes weekly in office presence.
• Standard office environment.
• Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
• Work evenings and weekends as needed.
• This position is located in Hyde Park at 5235 South Harper Court.
• This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (preferred)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
Information Technology

Role Impact
Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5

Drug Test Required
No

Health Screen Required
No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No

Pay Rate Type
Salary

FLSA Status
Exempt

Pay Range
$90,000.00 - $130,000.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.