Principal Frontend Developer

We’re IDHL.

With over 20 years’ experience under our belt, we’d say we know a thing or two about all things digital.

Our portfolio of services span performance marketing, website development, eCommerce, and data intelliegence. But we’re more than just a digital agency; we're our client's key partner in growth.

Joining our web and eCommerce division, you’ll be part of a team of web aficionados. From UX whizzes to tech-savvy developers, our team is what makes us a cut above the rest.

Our superpower is helping ambitious brands accelerate their growth in the digital economy, and we work with some pretty cool clients like Camden Brewery, Leeds Football Club, and Church & Dwight.

But what’s in it for you?

Aside from working with some of the best in the business (there are nearly 400 of us across IDHL), we offer a variety of benefits all aimed at making your life that little bit sweeter:

• 26 days holiday plus bank holidays and a birthday lie-in
• Two additional days for wellbeing and a volunteering day
• Additional annual leave purchase scheme or trade leave you don’t use for extra salary
• Hybrid working (a mix of office and home-based for many of our roles)
• Flexible working scheme
• Financial support from Salary Finance
• Company pension scheme and health care cash plan
• Private health care dependent on length of service
• Clear training and progression programme
• Free mortgage advice from experts
• Regular company events and awards
• Employee perks portal
• Plus many more, visit our careers page for more details

Invested in your growth.

Personal and professional development are core to life at IDHL. Harnessing potential, we’ll endeavour to support your career aspirations with our training programmes and personalised development plans.

Inclusivity matters to us.

We want our workplace to reflect the diversity of the world we live in. At IDHL, we foster an inclusive environment where every team member feels heard, supported, and valued. We aim to attract, develop, and retain the very best people irrespective of background, beliefs, or personal characteristics.

This Principal Frontend Developer role offers a collaborative, innovative, and growth-oriented environment. If you're a seasoned frontend developer passionate about delivering exceptional digital solutions, we encourage you to apply.

Roles & Responsibilities

As Principal Frontend Developer you will excel by:

Development Guidance and Best Practices

• Provide technical guidance and leadership to the development team, promoting knowledge sharing and adherence to best practices
• Encourage a culture of innovation, ownership, and accountability within the team
• Contribute technically to projects when necessary, demonstrating expertise and sharing insights
• Actively contribute to development tasks while ensuring effective task distribution within the team

Technical Leadership and Strategy

• Take technical responsibility for all stages and iterations in software development projects, providing specific technical advice and guidance to team members, with direction from the Head of Technology
• Define and implement strategies for edge caching, considering performance, usability, and application support, and guide the team to successful implementation
• Spearhead the resolution of P1/P2 issues, ensuring timely and effective solutions

Programming Excellence

• Capable of reading, editing, and writing code using OOP best practices
• Familiar with Design patterns and principles and understands their applications
• Actively implements Design patterns and principles in coding
• Encourages the team to adopt and integrate Design patterns and principles
• Actively mentors the team, presents lectures, and provides support to increase the company's programming knowledge

MVC and Client-Server Model

• Understands the concepts of Model-View-Controller (MVC) and client-server models
• Proficiently works with applications utilizing MVC and client-server models
• Customizes applications using MVC, MVVMC, and client-server models
• Advocates proper MVC and MVVMC usage within the team

JavaScript Expertise

• Proficient in JavaScript, capable of debugging and fixing issues within frameworks like Magento and Symfony
• Writes JavaScript following accepted best practices
• Acts as a JavaScript expert, leading the team's knowledge
• Constantly improves own knowledge and encourages team members to do the same

Framework Utilization

• Understands the utility of both Backend (BE) and Frontend (FE) frameworks, such as Magento, Symfony, and React
• Skilled in React and Redux, integrates them with Magento and Symfony, and handles related programming tasks
• Experienced in enterprise-level applications, including Magento and Symfony projects, capable of leading development projects

Dependency Management and Documentation

• Familiar with composer and npm for package installation and upgrades, including Semantic Versioning
• Proficiently manages package installations, upgrades, and publishes
• Actively promotes best practices in dependency management

Code Design and Documentation

• Designs, codes, and documents applications based on agreed specifications
• Leads complex application design, coding, and documentation
• Takes technical responsibility for all stages of a software development project

CSS Proficiency

• Proficient in CSS, including grid systems and animations
• Utilizes CSS pre-processors and task runners following best practices
• Drives best practices and team knowledge in CSS forward

Layout Creation and Accessibility

• Creates maintainable layouts using HTML and CSS while considering accessibility and SEO best practices
• Supports development team in understanding SEO and accessibility practices
• Mentors the team in improving SEO and accessibility practices

Code Commenting and Documentation

• Understands the value of code comments and uses them appropriately
• Writes clear and concise documentation when required
• Encourages code documentation within the team, emphasizing the importance of 'why' over 'what'

Code Review and Refactoring

• Participates in code reviews and provides meaningful feedback
• Able to refactor code for readability, performance, and other reasons
• Understands the pros and cons of code refactoring and makes arguments for both sides
• Advocates reducing technical debt and suggests refactoring based on benefit vs cost

Unit Testing and Test-Driven Development (TDD)

• Reads, modifies, and executes existing unit tests
• Writes unit tests for various scenarios, including modern and legacy code
• Works with TDD and understands Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD)
• Encourages the team to adopt testing and preaches its importance

Performance and Caching Expertise

• Prioritizes performance and avoids bottlenecks during code development
• Monitors personal work for performance issues, debugs, and implements fixes
• Regularly monitors performance during code reviews
• Actively mentors the team in performance best practices, provides guidance in resolving performance-related issues

DevOps and Version Control

• Proficient in using version control systems, specifically Git
• Handles conflicts, creates release candidates, and resolves VCS-related issues
• Mentors the team in Git best practices