Reports To: Director of IT
Department: IT
Location: Catholic Answers – Columbus, Ohio
Status: Full-time, Exempt
POSITION SUMMARY
The Web Developer / Programmer is responsible for the development, maintenance, performance, security, and ongoing enhancement of the Catholic Answers primary website and related web applications. This position will serve as a key technical resource for Catholic Answers’ web presence and will work closely with internal stakeholders, designers, content teams, IT staff, and external partners to deliver reliable, scalable, secure, and user-friendly digital experiences.
The ideal candidate is an experienced web developer with strong knowledge of modern JavaScript development and frameworks including Next.js, React as well as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The developer should have experience building and maintaining Single Page Applications (SPAs) and working with headless Content Management Systems (CMS) and API-driven architectures.
The position will also support integrations between the Catholic Answers website, Microsoft technologies, third-party platforms, and other business systems.
Must be willing to relocate or live in Columbus, Ohio area.
ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES
- Develop, maintain, enhance, and support the Catholic Answers primary website and related web applications using modern component-based web technologies.
- Design and deliver responsive, accessible, user-friendly web experiences in collaboration with content, marketing, design, and other stakeholders.
- Manage the full-stack web environment, including the headless CMS, virtual server infrastructure, Vercel development/staging/production environments, deployments, upgrades, patching, backups, and recovery.
- Monitor, secure, troubleshoot, and optimize the web technology stack to ensure performance, availability, reliability, scalability, and security.
- Build and maintain integrations with internal systems, Microsoft-based services, and third-party platforms, including APIs, analytics, payments, authentication, and marketing technologies.
- Maintain cross-browser and cross-device compatibility and implement best practices for performance, Core Web Vitals, SEO, accessibility, semantic HTML, and structured data.
- Develop and maintain the server-side endpoints that generate the organization’s syndication feeds (i.e. RSS/Atom, iTunes-compliant podcast XML) consumed by podcast directories, feed readers, and the mobile app
- Develop reusable, clean, documented, maintainable, and testable code; participate in code reviews, testing, quality assurance, and release management.
- Maintain source control and development workflows across development, testing, staging, and production environments.
- Collaborate with IT staff and external partners on hosting, DNS, security, authentication, monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, migrations, and other web projects.
- Evaluate emerging web technologies and recommend improvements that strengthen the Catholic Answers digital experience.
- Create and maintain technical documentation for applications, integrations, APIs, deployment procedures, and development standards.
- Minimum travel required.
TECHNICAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
- Strong professional experience with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React, and Next.js, including Single Page Applications (SPAs) and component-based front-end development.
- Experience with responsive and mobile-first development, server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), client-side rendering, and hybrid web architectures.
- Experience with headless CMS platforms, RESTful APIs, JSON, web services, and API-driven content delivery.
- Experience administering cloud or virtual server environments for web applications or CMS platforms, including patching, security, backups, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- Experience with Git/source control and modern build, testing, deployment, and CI/CD processes.
- Knowledge of web security, authentication, authorization, data protection, and secure coding practices.
- Knowledge of website performance optimization, caching, CDN technologies, Core Web Vitals, SEO, accessibility standards, and cross-browser compatibility.
- Familiarity with Microsoft 365 / Office technologies and integration with Microsoft-based services.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, including the ability to diagnose application, browser, API, integration, and production issues and translate business requirements into practical technical solutions.
EDUCATION
- College degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Web Development, Information Technology, or related field and/or equivalent professional experience
- Professional experience developing and maintaining production websites and web applications
- Microsoft certifications a plus
- Cloud platform certifications a plus
- Web development, security, accessibility, or related technical certifications a plus
EXPERIENCE
- 5+ years of professional experience developing, maintaining, and supporting production websites and web applications
- 3+ years of experience developing modern web applications with React and/or Next.js using JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and CSS
- Experience integrating CRM, eCommerce, payment processing, marketing automation, analytics, authentication, and/or other business systems a plus
SKILLS/ABILITIES/KNOWLEDGE
- A deep love for the Catholic faith and a basic understanding of the magisterial teaching of the Church
- Ability to self-direct and prioritize
- Exceptional customer service skills
- Exceptional problem-solving skills
- General business writing skills
- Understanding of Cloud platform and management tools
- Experience supporting a mixed PC/MAC environment
Salary is Negotiable depending on experience
PERKS & BENEFITS
Catholic Answers provides a casual work environment, competitive salaries, and a compensation structure that rewards contribution and hard work. Our benefits package includes 401(k), medical, dental, vision, and Paid Time Off
OTHER DUTIES
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity. Essential and marginal job functions are subject to modification.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit a cover letter and resume in Word or PDF format to it-jobs@catholic.com
We offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package.
Catholic Answers is a media ministry that serves Christ by explaining and defending the Catholic faith. We help Catholics grow in their faith, we bring former Catholics home, and we lead non-Catholics into the fullness of the truth.
An independent registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Catholic Answers is listed in the Official Catholic Directory and is recognized as an apostolate in good standing by the Diocese of San Diego, where our main office is currently located. https://catholic.com.