[UPHPU-jobs] Senior Web Developer at The American Academy

[Gregg Rosann]

Utah PHP Users Group job announcement
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Company:
The American Academy
Salt Lake City

Contact:
Gregg Rosann
employment at taaschools.net

Position:
Senior Web Developer
Accepting requirements

Description:
The American Academy is looking for a Senior Web Developer to join our team.  The chosen candidate will be responsible for building the web presence necessary for The American Academy to deliver a high-touch, high-quality learning experience to our teachers, students and applicants.

Our ideal candidate has strong web commerce, web design, user interface and technology integration expertise, with an interest in online education and social entrepreneurship.  As our web developer, you'll have the opportunity to help define and build out a cohesive, student-friendly environment using open-source tools and frameworks.
 
About Our Company:
“High dropout rates are a silent epidemic afflicting our nation’s high schools. The dropout epidemic in the United States disproportionately affects young people who are low-income, minority, urban, single-parent children attending large, public high schools in the inner city. But the problem is not unique to young people in such circumstances. Nationally, research puts the graduation rate between 68 and 71 percent, which means that almost one-third of all public high school students in America fail to graduate.”  
Source: The Silent Epidemic, A report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, March 2006

Read that again.  One third of all public high school students in America fail to graduate.  In 2003, there were 3.5 million people between the ages of 16 and 25 who did not have a high school diploma and were not enrolled in school.  When the age range is expanded to include all adults, there are between 40 and 60 Million people in America who did not graduate from high school.
You might think most of these people just aren't very smart.  You'd be wrong.  70% of the dropouts surveyed in The Silent Epidemic said they were confident they could have graduated if they were inspired to work harder in school.  32% had to leave to get a job and make money for their family.  26% became parents.  And 22% left because they had to care for a family member.

One of The American Academy's primary goals is to help these people earn a diploma and as a result enhance their lives.  We are an online high school that provides flexible, affordable, accredited courses and a complete, accredited U.S. diploma program to high school-age and adult students worldwide.  We do this through a public-private partnership with the Utah Electronic High School (UEHS), one of the nation’s first online high schools. UEHS has served more than 80,000 students since its inception in 1994. 

About Our Work Environment:  Our culture and environment encourage people who want to make significant contributions, work on challenging assignments, and prefer an open-minded approach to work.  As a startup we seek people who are not afraid to take on varied assignments and to help out wherever needed.  Someone looking for a structured corporate environment with weeks of training before starting the job need not apply – at TAA we jump in, learn and get things done.  

We have an exciting, open work environment that encourages team members to brainstorm, share ideas, try new things and learn from past experiences.   We look for team members who can challenge the status quo, understand the bigger picture and make good decisions.  We strive to help our employees achieve personal goals while contributing to the overall team effort.  

Job Roles and Responsibilities:  Lead the development of cutting edge, scalable web sites.  Use social networking tools as a way to improve the user experience and give students a sense of community. Work with team members and customers to launch new web based schools using our web framework. Work on simultaneous projects and project teams on timeline-based projects. Research new technologies and provide technical suggestions for updating existing architectures. Create visually interesting and engaging interfaces.

Required skills:
- 5+ years experience with building scalable web-based, e-commerce solutions
- Demonstrate mastery of more than one of the following: php, Perl, HTML/XHTML, JavaScript, CSS, Java, C/C++, .NET
- Experience with open-source database platforms such as MySQL or PostgresSQL
- Integration expertise using web services and XML
- Experience working with content management systems such as Drupal, Joomla! or other OSS CMS frameworks is preferred but not required
- Some basic Linux/Unix system administration skills
- Experience packaging, deploying and maintaining real-time, web-based software solutions
- Experience with online education software and systems is preferred but not required

Required experience:
- Minimum Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science (or equivalent) from an accredited college or university

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Applying:

1. Can I show off a great website that I designed and implemented?  
2. Can I adapt, learn new technologies and build solutions based on users' needs?
3. What does the statement, “Try New Things, Keep What Works” mean to me?
4. Have I been guilty of over-engineering a solution or developing a solution that is “elegant” (and unmaintainable)?  What have I learned from that(those) experience(s)?
5. Do I find end users and their myriad issues and problems annoying and a distraction?
6. Can I articulate why open source software is a good choice for some things, and not for others?  
7. Am I a <<fill in the blank here with a technology, development methodology or any other cause>> zealot?
8. Could I find Bangalore, Chennai, Ho Chi Minh City or Prague on a map?
9. Do I understand why offshore development is important?  Do I understand its risks?  Could I work in an environment that has some offshore developers?
10. Do I enjoy working in an evolving technology landscape, or am I uncomfortable with rapid change?
11. Why do I want to work for The American Academy?

Benefits:
Full benefits including health care, flexible work hours