Digital Engineer

About this position

EMBL has a vacancy for an experienced full-time Digital Engineer to join our Communications team to deliver an ambitious new website, embl.org. As a member of the Digital Team, you will also work closely with IT specialist teams across EMBL to raise the organization’s profile across multiple channels. As our Digital Engineer you will manage the development and integration of our WordPress sites with the EMBL-wide databases such as the ContentHub, and HR systems. You will develop and implement a release strategy for WordPress across EMBL. You will plan, develop, implement and maintain WordPress themes, plugins and templates for EMBL use. You will run a training programme and maintain tutorials specific to WordPress users at EMBL. You will also support the overall development of embl.org with help developing features for interactive event listings and other content. You will use a multitude of digital tools including Eleventy and Drupal, supporting the move away from EMBL’s legacy content management system, Fiona. You will liaise closely with the EMBL-EBI webteam during sprints to improve embl.org. You will train users to be familiar with these new tools as website owners and editors. You will support the Digital Editor with daily web support requests from across the organisation. And you will liaise with content producers within the team, as well as content stakeholders from different departments across EMBL's six sites.

Your role

• Leading WordPress development for a multitude of websites within a dynamic Digital Team
• Planning, developing and implementing WordPress themes, templates and plugins for EMBL use
• Create and implement a Release strategy and support of WordPress theme and custom plugins
• Integrating patterns and components from EMBL’s design system, the Visual Framework
• Creating, implementing, and updating web themes, WordPress installations, and static webpages for a multitude of sites
• Support the development of general-purpose interfaces for organisational information (such as: person, event and job listings) with custom HTML, JS, CSS and PHP as appropriate
• Managing contributions and projects in GitHub through issues, pull requests, CI and project planning
• Feeding back ideas and code as appropriate to the EMBL design system, the Visual Framework
• Configuring content management systems (currently Fiona, Drupal, and WordPress)
• Improving our web traffic display tools
• Preparing and uploading text, images, gifs and videos to websites and EMBL's social channels
• Auditing and curating existing online content
• Migrating and repackaging content between channels
• Using various analytics packages to report on how well we do on our social media and web channels

You have

• Experience of creating themes, templates and plugins for websites running WordPress. You will also have knowledge of building websites in Eleventy, WordPress, and Drupal, and using Github to manage repositories and web workflows. You might also have used the Fiona Content Management System.
• You are a great teammate, flexible, highly organised and committed to meeting deadlines. A creative self-starter with an excellent command of written English, you have an eye for detail, whether you are coding a plugin, creating clean, well-structured HTML, CSS, PHP or Javascript, or managing development workflows.
• You should be competent and comfortable with using standard workflows in GitHub. You have experience working with design systems. You have a keen interest in best practices for web and information technology. You are well versed in Microsoft Office software, and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. You ideally have some working knowledge of graphic design software such as Adobe Photoshop. Generally, you should be a quick learner and be passionate about trying out new tools and platforms that help us collaborate within the team and streamline our editorial and production workflows.
• You should have fluent spoken and written English.

You might also have

• Experience of working in a research environment or with scientific websites would be beneficial.

Why join us

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family friendly working environment. The remuneration package comprises a competitive salary, a comprehensive pension scheme, medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial support for relocation and installation, including your family and the availability of an excellent child care facility on campus.

What else you need to know

EMBL is a world-leading life-science research organisation funded by over 20 governments. We are international, innovative, interdisciplinary and highly collaborative, with 1600 employees from many nations working on six sites near Heidelberg, Barcelona, Cambridge, Grenoble, Hamburg and Rome. Our mission is to perform basic research in molecular biology; to offer vital services to scientists in the member states; to train scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and actively engage in technology transfer activities, and to integrate European life science research.