Front-end Developer, Commercial

Job Description

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most visited natural history museum in Europe. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.

We are at a pivotal moment in our history as we launch a new strategy setting out our role as the natural world faces increasing threats. Building on our world-leading collection, global reputation for science and as one of the world’s leading visitor attractions, the NHM has ambitious plans leading up to the 150 anniversary of the opening of the Waterhouse Building in 2031, making this a truly exciting time to be part of the NHM team.

As a part of this, we are looking for a talented mid-level Front End Developer to work on the Museum's public-facing digital experiences!

What will you be doing?

You will work within one of five cross-functional Product teams in the Digital Media department, inside the iconic Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London. The teams consist of developers, UX and digital designers, product managers and digital content managers. You will be expected to work closely within your product team and other departments across the Museum.

As the Front End Developer within the Commercial product team, you will primarily be focused on developing the customer experience for memberships, donations, and working on the microsite for our flagship exhibition and competition, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

In addition to product work for the department, as the Development team we regularly work on technical improvements for our multiple codebases, and you will be able to contribute to these.

As a department we are growing - and learning - and we would love for you to join us on our journey. We're looking for proactivity, collaboration, new ideas and opinions.

This role is an 18-month Fixed Term contract.

What are we looking for?

• Demonstrable experience in developing public-facing websites or applications.
• Strong front-end development skills (HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript), including experience in implementing responsive designs and using CSS pre-processors such as Sass or LESS.
• Good experience of integrating front-end and back-end codebases.
• Experience working with RESTful APIs and data manipulation.
• A good understanding of web performance, accessibility and web security best practices.
• A good understanding of build tools and package managers such as NPM, Grunt, Gulp or Webpack.
• Experience using Git for version control.
• Experience working with and developing for a range of different systems, platforms, devices and technologies, including Content Management Systems.
• A good understanding of designing and building for user needs.

You may also...

• Have experience and interest in using JavaScript frameworks and technologies such as React or VueJS, and JavaScript templating languages.
• Have some experience working with enterprise Content Management Systems, such as Adobe AEM.
• Have experience working in an Agile/Lean environment (stand-ups, pair-programming, code reviews).
• Have interest or experience working with JavaScript testing frameworks (such as Jest and Cypress).
• Have an interest in UX and an understanding of visual design.

What's in it for you?

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays
• Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employee contribution 4%, employer contribution 8% - if you choose to contribute more than 4% of your salary the Museum will match up to a further 2%)
• Complimentary exhibition tickets to the Museum plus free admission to exhibitions and entrance fee to several other museums, galleries and institutions across the country, such as Kew Gardens, V&A and Tate
• Membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (for a small fee), which offers a range of benefits including a free digital Tastecard, discounted cinema tickets and corporate membership of English Heritage sites (including Dover Castle and Stonehenge). For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi
• Staff discounts at a range of local businesses and services
• Staff discount at the Museum's shops and cafes
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loans
• Child and eye care vouchers
• Flexible working and family-friendly policies

Professional development opportunities

• Access to a range of courses to broaden your technical and personal skills
• The chance to contribute to the development of the Museum’s front-end stack, and work with other technical teams in the Museum
• Job-related professional membership fees

Closing date: 9am on Monday 21 June 2021

Interviews expected w/c 19 July 2021