The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a regional non-profit organization headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with offices in Virginia and Pennsylvania, seeks a highly qualified, motivated and creative individual with technical expertise and artistic talent to develop, enhance, and maintain functional, attractive, and engaging online resources and all user centered digital products and support the Alliance Communications and Development and Program staff.
About the Alliance:
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, is a regional non-profit organization headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with offices in Virginia and Pennsylvania, Founded in 1971, the Alliance has been in the forefront of restoration efforts in the watershed. The Alliance mission is to lead, support, and inspire local action to restore and protect the lands, rivers, and streams of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Alliance believes the best restoration results come from building strong and diverse partnerships with residents, communities, businesses, NGOs, and governments across the six Bay watershed states and Washington, DC. The Alliance works to achieve its mission through the creation and support of innovative local and regional programs that help reduce stormwater pollution, plant trees and conserve forests, build individual stewardship, and produce measurable and lasting results.
Job Description:
The Web Specialist is responsible for providing support to Communications and Program staff including the planning, development, management and maintenance of the Alliance’s website and all user centered digital products and online resources needed to meet the goals of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and/or to support our partners.Primary Responsibilities:
• Serve as Webmaster for the Alliance website and maintain online platforms;
• Provide technical support to the Communications and Development staff to manage the portfolio of Alliance websites and tools, including 1) technical support and guidance on current and prospective websites, 2) conducting or overseeing contract work for maintenance and new feature development, and 3) providing recommendations for future Alliance’s web-based activities;
• Design, develop, test, and publish new web pages, revise and ensure all pages are up-todate, functional, and effective to use;
• Maintain optimal site performance, review website statistics, monitor usage and traffic levels, and use search engine optimization to create and maintain compelling web pages;
• Take proactive steps to research and recommend new web tools or updates to existing web tools, and access if these changes should be undertaken in-house or performed under contract;
• Research and explore ways new technologies and/or tested web tools that can be used to further the Alliance’s mission and expand programs;
• Seek out funding opportunities and develop partnerships that further web-based solutions to accomplish the Alliance’s goals;
• Ensure proper & best practices for hosting, backups, and data storage/delivery are being utilized in all web tools, providing priorities for improvements and modifications;
• Work with the Communication & Development Team and Alliance state office staffs to facilitate efforts and ensure the Alliance’s messaging & branding are consistent;
• Support Alliance social media and provide graphic design support for other Alliance communications products;
• Work with all Alliance staff to understand the web-related needs of the organization and specific programs, ensuring web tools are up-to-date, dynamic, and relevant;
• Advocate the importance of User Experience (UX) and User Center Design (UCD) within the organization, conduct training related to user experience and be able to teach others to effectively communicate science on the web;
• Lead the analysis and refinement of requirements for web sites and web-based applications;
• Use web analytics and user data to improve social media communication, web content and effectively market online products, and provide monthly reports on analytics.
• Research new standards, approaches, and methodologies for the dynamic delivery of environmental information to target audiences;
• Research new standards and methodologies for secure and dynamic information delivery for improving the quality, speed, and content of applications;
• Assist in the setup of database systems used for websites and web applications.
Required Qualifications & Experience:
• Bachelor’s Degree with a focus on information technology, computer science, programming, communications or web development or a minimum of 3 years experience in related work with demonstrated expertise in web and graphic design.
• Strong writing and verbal communications skills including producing content for websites, newsletters, and social media platforms.
• Strong editing and proofreading skills.
• Interest/experience with environmental stewardship work preferred.
• Strong attention to detail, flexible, adaptable and able to manage multiple projects and tasks.
• Ability to communicate technical web speak and problem solving methods to staff, funders, and partners.
• Desire and ability to work independently in a self-directed, small-office environment and to manage priorities and meet deadlines especially during times of peak activity
• Strong organizational skills and storytelling expertise.
• Proficient in WordPress, including a strong understanding of core as well as the ability to write/modify plugins & custom functionality, required.
• Strong understanding of database systems and web coding languages including PHP, MySQL, HTML5/CSS3, and JavaScript.
• Graphic Design ability with experience in Adobe CC products: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator.
• Familiarity with server and domain management preferred.
• Experience with Google Analytics, GIT, SCSS, Grunt/Gulp, Frameworks (Bootstrap & Foundation) preferred.
• Solid interpersonal skills, team player able to work with diverse groups.
Supervision:
The Web Specialist reports directly to the Director of Communications and Development.
Location:
The Web Specialist will be based at the Alliance’s headquarters in Annapolis, Maryland.
Salary:
Competitive and commensurate with experience. Benefit options available.
Apply:
Please submit cover letter, resume, and references to:
contact@allianceforthebay.org with Web Specialist in the subject line.
No phone inquiries please.
Closing date:
March 1, 2017