Junior Web Developer

We're the charity who look after and bring to life 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, because we believe that life is better by water. Every role across the Trust plays its part in transforming our canals and rivers into spaces where local people want to spend time and feel better, bringing wellbeing benefits to millions. So, why not come and be part of it? 

We are looking for two enthusiastic, technology-savvy Junior Web Developers to join our web team. You will work with the digital manager and the web team to build, enhance, and maintain the Trust’s public facing websites and other customer and supporter focused digital platforms. You will help to ensure the websites and other platforms function securely, with all data safeguarded and with minimal downtime.

Support can cover anything from small changes to legacy codebases through to new and complex functionality as our audience needs evolve.

This role would suit a recent graduate who is looking to make a start in their web development career. The role will be based working from home, with the allocation of a nearby Hub for collaborative working. Most relevant regional hubs include: Birmingham, Gloucester or Milton Keynes. 

Knowledge, Skills/Qualifications & Experience

Joining our web team will give you a fantastic opportunity to learn about and apply web development within a charity context. You will be able to develop your problem solving, communication and project management skills while directly contributing to the success of the Trust in reaching and engaging with our audiences across digital platforms. You will have the opportunity to work with colleagues from across the organisation, learning about their roles and how digital can help them to achieve their objectives. You will be able to train and support colleagues and members of the public to use our website effectively.

We are a friendly, approachable team who strive to learn from each other and where everyone’s ideas and contributions are valued.

Role and core responsibilities

• Support the Web team to build, maintain and enhance website functionality as requested to meet the needs of our customers, supporters, and internal stakeholders with their audiences.
• Help ensure safe and secure functioning of the websites, with bugs and downtime investigated and resolved in a timely way.
• Respond to, and resolve colleague, stakeholder, customer, and supporter queries in a positive and timely manner.
• Provide training for colleagues and volunteers on website features.
• Help to test and quality-check new code from the other developers in the team and external developers.
• Work with external developer resources as needed to deliver agreed website projects.
• Advise colleagues on best practice in terms of digital technology and innovation.
• Research and present ideas on how new digital technologies and approaches can benefit our audiences.
• Help to gather requirements and specifications from colleagues on changes and enhancements to website functionality.

The Canal & River Trust wants to create a sustainable and evolving canal and river network that is a national treasure – accessible to and cherished by all.  Core to delivering this vision the job holder will be committed to equality and diversity whereby fellow employees, customers, our partners and volunteers feel respected, included and valued.

Technical and people requirements

We require primary knowledge and understanding of the following:

• PHP7+ 
• JavaScript ES6+ 
• HTML+CSS 
• SQL 
• Git

Some knowledge of the following would also be beneficial but is not required:

• Mysql & Postgres administration 
• REST and HTTP principles
• Docker 
• Python
• Linux administration
• Ideally you will be able to discuss or show examples of where you have worked with some of the above e.g., as part of coursework, previous employment, or personal projects

Interpersonal: 

• Strong communication skills – able to explain website technologies to both technical and non-technical colleagues across varied roles.
• Bags of enthusiasm for digital tools and technologies and a desire to apply these within a charity environment.
• Open-minded, problem-solving mentality
• Organised with strong attention to detail.
• Able to manage your time effectively to juggle several tasks and priorities in parallel.

We are currently conducting our interview processes virtually as we continue to respect and follow necessary social distancing guidance to protect our team and our candidates. You may be invited to a face to face further stage interview which will always be conducted following strict social distancing guidelines.