Lead Web Application Developer (Remote)

Chromatic in a Nutshell

Chromatic is a digital agency with over a decade of experience creating websites. Using open source technologies, Chromatic is a recognized leader in open source content management systems. We’ve helped some of the web’s biggest brands solve hard problems in publishing, e-commerce, and non-profit spaces. We provide leadership and expertise to our clients through design, back-end development, and automation.

Role Summary

We’re looking for an outgoing and motivated lead developer to join our fully distributed team. We need someone with exceptional communication skills who would be excited to join a talented and tight-knit team in our compelling saga to rid the world of bad websites. A strong portfolio of your best work should be included with your application. We do a fair bit of work with Drupal and other enterprise systems, so experience here is a real plus.

• Salary Range: $80,000 –$90,000 USD, commensurate with experience
• Manager:Mark Dorison: CTO, Partner
• Timeline: We hope to fill this position by the end of April 2021, or sooner.

Roles &Responsibilities

• Work closely, and proactively communicate with clients and Chromatic team members on engagements to deliver exceptional code, consulting, and advice.
• Participate in and lead peer code reviews and project stand-ups.
• Coordinate the work of one or more developers on larger initiatives.
• Assist in defining project requirements.
• Evangelize development/process best practices to Chromatic’s clients and the community.
• Work with developers of all experience levels and lead by example.
• Engage with the open-source community via code contributions, projects, presentations, blog posts, etc.
• Accurately estimating the effort required to implement technical functionality for yourself and others.
• Maintain authentic relationships with client team members.
• Attending client on-sites.
• Conducting technical interviews to identify quality candidates.
• Presenting yourself in a way that represents Chromatic well.

What We Are Looking For

The following experience is required:

• Strong object-oriented PHP development experience.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strategic thinker that often anticipates problems before they occur.
• A proactive mindset.
• Creation of and adherence to best practices.
• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, JSON, XML, and SQL.
• REST web services.
• Located between GMT-10 and GMT+2 time zones.

Experience with the following is a plus:

• Open-source/Drupal.org project/development experience.
• CSS preprocessors.
• Task runners.
• Git and GitHub pull request/code review workflows.
• Agile project management methodologies.
• Speaking and teaching on industry topics.

If you are on the fence about any of the individual job requirements but feel as though you are qualified and would be a good fit for this position, please apply! Willingness to learn, collaborative work style, and core value alignment is much more important to us than checking off boxes. Your application is welcome.

Some other important traits 

• Chromatic is a completely distributed team – strong communication skills, both verbal and written, are of the utmost importance.
• The desire and ability to brainstorm ideas, do research, remain current with industry trends and best practices.
• Enthusiasm, personality, teamwork, and a positive attitude count tremendously. 
• Candidates are encouraged to include a short, introductory video with their application. Don’t overthink it!

What sets Chromatic apart from a typical job? 

• Work from wherever you want, whenever you want: Our office is completely distributed, you may work from wherever is best for you. We encourage our team members to work when it is most effective so they’ll do their best work, but we tend to schedule meetings during the North American workday and expect our team to usually be available during this time.
• Reasonable Bookings: We book our team members with a max of 30-35 hours per week for project work. We believe more than that is asking too much. The other 5-10 hours is reserved for team meetings, community contribution, and professional/skill development.
• Exciting Projects: Chromatic consistently participates in projects with exciting, high-profile brands and some of the most highly trafficked sites on the web;some of which include Outside Magazine, Martha Stewart, NBC / MSNBC, Shape, Casper, State Farm, Adobe.
• Workflow: We firmly believe in a strong, consistent deployment workflow. We insist on proper code reviews on all of our projects. This not only ensures excellent code quality but more so, makes us all better at our jobs.
• Team &Culture: We work and support each other as a team. We make an effort to get together as often as possible and support each other personally and professionally at every opportunity.
• Flexible Work Week: Chromatic offers a flexible workweek schedule for interested team members when clients/project specifics allow it.

Benefits &Perks

• Paid Time Off:
  • Chromatic offers PTO as follows:
    • At hire: 15 days
    • 2 years: 20 days
    • 5 years: 22 days
    • 7 years: 22 days + Sabbatical (see below)
    • 10 years: 25 days
  • In addition to these PTO days, Chromatic offers 5 Sick Days per year and additional time off for events such as jury duty, bereavement, parental leave, and paid holidays. 
• Holidays:
  • Chromatic is closed on the following US holidays:
    • New Year’s Eve &New Year’s Day
    • MLK Jr. Day 
    • Memorial Day
    • Juneteenth
    • Independence Day
    • Labor Day
    • Thanksgiving Day &Day after Thanksgiving
    • Christmas Eve &Christmas Day
• Sabbaticals: Chromatic offers a 4-week sabbatical to all full-time employees after their seventh anniversary. Our sabbaticals are intended to allow team members extended time to rest both their bodies and their minds away from work and outside of normal vacation/PTO time and are accompanied by a generous sabbatical stipend.
• Parental Leave: Chromatic offers the first two weeks of parental leave at 100% pay, and the next 2 weeks of parental leave at 50% pay. 
• Health Insurance: Chromatic provides competitive medical/dental/vision insurance through United Healthcare, covering 100% of the cost for employees and 25% of the cost for dependents. Disability Insurance: Chromatic offers both short and long-term disability insurance.
• Life Insurance: All employees are provided with a term life insurance policy.
• 401(k): Chromatic provides employees a 401(k) plan with a 4% employer contribution (no match required) and immediate vesting.
• Donation Matching: Chromatic is proud to offer a Donation Matching Program for our team members. We will match donations to a 501(c)3 organization dollar for dollar, up to $50 per month for a total of $600 annually.
• Hardware: Chromatic encourages our team members to choose the system that they prefer and we ensure everyone has up-to-date equipment/software.
• Book Allowance: Chromatic supports building your skills –and your library –and grants each team member an annual book allowance.
• Conferences: Chromatic frequently sends team members to attend and speak at industry conferences. Employees are encouraged to seek out conference opportunities to grow their skills and personal networks. 
• Company Retreat: Once a year, we gather the entire company to spend quality time together away from our desks – usually somewhere quite beautiful.
• National Parks Pass: In between retreats explore your country’s beautiful scenery with a park pass on Chromatic.
• Subscription of Your Choice: Any wellness, music, or other subscription that helps you balance life and work.

Hiring Process

In an effort to remove the mystery around our hiring process, here’s what you can generally expect:

• You apply, wahoo! Thank you for taking the time to do that.
• You should receive an autoresponder that your application has been received. (If you don’t, you might want to email us at hr@chromatichq.com to make sure we got it.)
• We’ll review your application, portfolio and video. We aim to do this within one week of receiving it. 
• If your skillset, experience and other abilities align with the position and/or Chromatic, we will reach out for an initial meet + greet. 
• (For technical positions, we may ask for more specific code samples at this point.) 
• On the meet + greet you’ll chat with a member of HR so you can both ask basic questions. This typically takes about 15 minutes.
• Next comes a second interview –we use Zoom and schedule an hour for interviews.
• For technical positions, the second interview is focused on the technical side of things. For other positions, we
• discuss best practices, methodologies, experience, etc.
• A third interview, including a Chromatic partner, takes place next. We can dive into any remaining questions both parties may have.
• In circumstances where we have several final candidates, a fourth interview may take place. 
• At any point in this process, we (or you!) may realize we’re not a great fit for each other. If that’s the case, we’ll try to let you know as soon as possible.

We understand how much time and effort it takes to submit a thorough application, and we truly appreciate it. If, at any time, you’re left wondering what stage your application resides, please feel free to email hr@chromatichq.com.

Chromatic strives to create an environment that embraces diversity and welcomes applicants representing all backgrounds. Chromatic is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sex, ancestry, citizenship status, mental or physical disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, veteran status, military status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. 

Chromatic is happy to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require any such services, please reach out to hr@chromatichq.com.