Drupal Web Developer

Job TitleClient requires the services of a contractor Web Developer with strong Drupal expertise to support the development, maintenance, and modernization of District government websites, including DC.gov and associated agency digital properties.Employment TypeContract w2/1099/C2CScope of Work• Design, develop, and maintain Drupal-based websites supporting DC.gov and District agency platforms. • Build and customize Drupal modules, themes, content types, taxonomies, and views per agency requirements. • Perform Drupal core and contributed module updates, security patches, and version migrations (e.g., Drupal 7 to Drupal 10/11). • Integrate Drupal sites with enterprise systems, APIs, and third-party services. • Ensure deliverables comply with Section 508, WCAG 2.1 AA, and District web standards. • Apply web security best practices consistent with Client and federal cybersecurity guidelines. • Collaborate with Client project managers, UX designers, content strategists, and agency stakeholders. • Produce technical documentation, code comments, and operational runbooks. • Provide Tier 3 production support and participate in deployment activities, including occasional after-hours work.Required Technical SkillsHTML & Markup• Strong command of semantic HTML5: sectioning elements, headings hierarchy, lists, tables, and forms. • Solid grasp of web accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA): ARIA roles and attributes, keyboard navigation, focus management, alt text, and accessible form labeling. • Familiarity with structured data and SEO markup: meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter cards, and Schema.org/JSON-LD. • Understanding of how Drupal renders markup through Twig, and the ability to produce clean, valid output via template overrides.CSS & Styling• Deep working knowledge of modern CSS layout: Flexbox and CSS Grid, with sound judgment about when to use each. • Proficiency with responsive design: media queries, fluid typography, container queries, and mobile-first methodology. • Command of the cascade, specificity, and inheritance, with the ability to debug specificity conflicts rather than reaching for important • Comfort with CSS custom properties (variables), modern color/spacing tokens, and maintainable theming patterns. • Awareness of cross-browser compatibility, vendor prefixing strategy, and progressive enhancement.JavaScript• Solid command of modern JavaScript (ES6+): arrow functions, destructuring, modules, promises, and async/await. • Strong DOM manipulation and event-handling skills, including event delegation and performance-conscious listeners. • Fluency with the Fetch API and asynchronous data handling, including JSON parsing and error handling. • Working knowledge of Drupal's JavaScript layer: Drupal.behaviors, once(), drupalSettings, and the AJAX framework • Understanding of how to attach and scope JS correctly through the Libraries API rather than inline scripts. • Familiarity with debugging via browser DevTools: breakpoints, the network panel, performance profiling, and the console.DrupalSite Administration & Configuration Management • Fluency with the Drupal 9/10/11 admin UI: content types, fields, vocabularies, view modes, form/display modes, blocks, menus, URL aliases, and redirects. • Solid command of Configuration Management workflows: config export/import, config_split for environment-specific config, config_ignore for protected config. • Strong grasp of user access control: roles, permissions, content moderation workflows, and custom workflow states/transitions. • Demonstrated expertise with Views: complex queries, contextual filters, relationships, exposed filters/sorts, output rewriting, and REST exports. • Experience administering the Media Library, image styles, responsive image styles, and crop/focal-point strategies. • A clear mental model of what belongs in config vs. content vs. state vs. settings.php.Theming & Frontend• Strong Twig skills: template suggestions, template preprocessing, and theme hook implementations. • Comfort with the Libraries API: defining JS/CSS, managing dependencies, and conditional loading. • Experience with modern base themes (Olivero/Stable9) and component-based theming. • Familiarity with Single Directory Components (SDC) for Drupal 10.3+. • Solid responsive design fundamentals, a disciplined CSS methodology (e.g., BEM), and SCSS/SASS proficiency.Security• Disciplined input sanitization and output escaping (XSS, HTML, URL filters; Twig autoescaping). • A reflexive habit of using placeholders to prevent SQL injection and applying access checks on entity queries. • Working knowledge of file-upload security, CSRF tokens, and trusted host patterns. • Experience conducting permission audits and reviewing for privilege escalation.DevOps, Deployment & Tooling• Understanding of Git workflows: feature branches, rebase vs. merge, conflict resolution, and hotfix patterns. • Strong Drush proficiency, including cache rebuilds, config import/export, user management. • Competence with Composer for project scaffolding, patching, and autoloader generation. • Experience with a local development environment, ideally Lando (DDEV/Docksal also welcome).Working Style & Collaboration• The ability to write technical documentation that a non-developer content editor can follow. • A methodical diagnostic approach — able to walk through debugging complex issues without guesswork. • Good code-review hygiene: readable commits, descriptive PRs, and openness to feedback. • Adherence to Drupal community coding standards (PHPCS with the Drupal and Drupal Practice rulesets).Minimum Education/Certification RequirementsBachelor's degree in IT or related field or equivalent experienceSkills Matrix· 16+ yrs. performing specialized (often advanced) programming and technical development for the Internet · Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (equivalent experience may be substituted). · At least three (3) years of hands-on Drupal development (Drupal 7 and 9, 10, or 11 required). · Demonstrated proficiency in PHP, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and Twig. · Experience with Composer, Drush, Git, and MySQL/MariaDB. · Working knowledge of Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. · Acquia Certified Developer or Site Builder credential. · Experience with headless/decoupled Drupal (JSON:API, GraphQL). · Familiarity with Acquia Cloud, Pantheon, or AWS hosting environments. · Prior experience supporting District, state, or federal government web platforms. · Knowledge of DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, and Docker. Compensation: $54.00 - $59.00 per hour