Web Development & Maintenance Provider

Job Description

Job Description

Request for Proposals: Web Development + Maintenance Provider

Issued October 16, 2026

Proposals due Friday, October 30 5:00 PM ET

Washington, DC

At a glance

Issuer:

FAS (Federation of American Scientists)

Engagement:

Enhancements to FAS.org, heatagenda.us, cri.fas.org, essentialdata.us, followed by an optional ongoing maintenance retainer. 

Term:

December 1, 2026 to May 31, 2027 for the enhancement project. A maintenance retainer may follow at FAS’s option.

Budget:

Not to exceed $14,500 for initial 6-month engagement

Proposals due:

Friday, October 30, 2026, 5:00 PM ET

1.Background and Strategic Foundations

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is seeking a new provider of web development and maintenance services to lead an update of our current website. FAS is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) that has around 60 FTEs, a network of Senior Fellows and Advisors, and is supported largely by philanthropy.  

We are looking for a WordPress developer with strong design judgment who will learn how FAS works and recommend improvements to our main website and growing number of sister sites.

If the initial project goes well, we expect to continue with the same provider for ongoing maintenance and future enhancements.

Current website environment

Bidders should use the following to estimate effort. FAS will share additional details with bidders on request.

• Platform: WordPress 7.1.3; Custom theme; Page builder: Standard Wordpress with some custom blocktypes, including TablePress
• Hosting: Gravitate. Hosting costs are not in the scope of this RFP.
• Original site build: And–Now, 2023. Current maintenance is provided by Gravitate, who will be available for handoff.
• Content volume: approximately ~150 pages and 5,703 posts/publications; 1,140 staff and fellow bio pages.
• Key plugins and integrations: YoastSEO (trial), TablePress plus custom dataviz embedding with Tableau and Datawrapper, Google Analytics 4, Meta Box + Meta Box AIO, Relevanssi Premium, SAR Friendly SMTP, Akismet Anti-spam, Headers Security Advanced
• Existing microsites: heatagenda.us and cri.fas.org, and essentialdata.us, plus legacy subdomains like nuke.fas.org, sgp.fas.org. 
• Brand guidelines and design source files: PDF available here.

2. What we are asking you to doScope of work

All work applies site-wide to FAS.org, heatagenda.us (static site), cri.fas.org (static site), essentialdata.us unless stated otherwise. For each item, the "Done when" line describes what FAS will accept as complete. The provider may recommend changes to these items during discovery; the approved plan (see Timeline) becomes the binding scope.

Base scope (required)

A. Photo, video and data visualization components. Reusable WordPress blocks or templates for carousels, image grids, video embeds and featured data visualizations, consistent with the current design language.

• Done when: FAS staff can add and edit these components on any page or post without developer help, and they display correctly on mobile.

B. Social media integration. Display of FAS social content on the homepage, staff and fellow bio pages, and publication pages. Platforms: Instagram, LinkedIn, X. Bidders should state whether they propose embeds or automated feeds, and note any third-party API or subscription costs.

• Done when: Content from the named platforms appears on the specified page types and updates without manual work, or with a documented manual process FAS approves.

C. Microsite template and navigation. A reusable template for program microsites [bidder to recommend , with consistent navigation between microsites and FAS.org.

• Done when: FAS staff can launch a new microsite from the template, and one pilot microsite (highlighting our ‘Future of Science’ work), is live.