Full Stack Web Developer – (Onsite – CPT) at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

• Our client is looking for a Full Stack Web Developer who will be responsible for the ongoing development, optimisation, maintenance and technical performance of their e-commerce website and related digital platforms.
• The primary focus of this position is to ensure that their website is technically advanced, fast, secure, user-friendly, highly searchable and optimised for online sales and customer conversion. 
• This is a hands-on development position and requires an individual with extensive hard-coding experience who is capable of developing, modifying, troubleshooting and integrating website functionality at code level.
• The successful candidate must have expert-level experience working with Shopify and Shopify's development environment, rather than simply being familiar with the Shopify platform. 
• The developer will work closely with the Marketing Manager and other relevant departments to continuously improve the website, e-commerce functionality, SEO performance, user experience and online conversion.

REQUIREMENTS:

The successful candidate must have:

• Minimum 3–5 years' professional web development experience, preferably within an e-commerce environment.
• Extensive hands-on hard-coding experience is essential.
• Expert-level knowledge and practical experience working with Shopify and Shopify Plus environments.
• Strong experience with Shopify Liquid, Shopify themes and theme development.
• Strong proficiency in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and modern JavaScript frameworks/libraries.
• Strong understanding of PHP and/or other server-side programming languages.
• Experience developing and modifying Shopify themes and functionality at code level, rather than relying primarily on drag-and-drop builders or third-party applications.
• Experience working with Shopify APIs, webhooks and third-party integrations.
• Strong understanding of e-commerce architecture, databases, APIs and system integrations.
• Experience integrating external systems and applications into e-commerce websites, including ERP, stock, product, payment, delivery and other business systems.
• Advanced SEO knowledge is an essential requirement.
• Proven experience implementing technical SEO, on-page SEO and e-commerce SEO.
• Understanding of website structure, metadata, schema markup, canonical URLs, redirects, site speed, Core Web Vitals, indexing, crawlability and structured data.
• Experience with Google Search Console and Google Analytics / GA4.
• Strong understanding of website performance optimisation and page-speed improvement.
• Experience with debugging tools and the ability to identify and resolve technical website issues.
• Ability to convert designs, layouts and wireframes into responsive, functioning websites.
• Strong understanding of responsive web development across desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent English communication skills.

Advantageous:

• Experience with Google Ads and Google Merchant Centre.
• Knowledge of digital marketing and e-commerce marketing principles.
• Experience working with Meta advertising and social media platforms.
• Experience with conversion rate optimisation (CRO).
• Experience with email marketing platforms and marketing automation.
• Experience with Shopify app development or custom Shopify integrations.
• Experience with ERP integration, preferably SYSPRO.
• Experience working with APIs and third-party software integrations.
• Knowledge of Git/version control and development workflows.

Core Technical Competencies:

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong practical experience in the following areas:

Shopify – Essential

• Expert knowledge of the Shopify platform.
• Shopify theme development and customisation.
• Advanced Shopify Liquid development.
• Custom coding and modification of Shopify themes.
• Shopify APIs and integrations.
• Shopify apps and third-party applications.
• Shopify checkout and customer journey optimisation.
• Product, collection and catalogue architecture.
• Shopify metafields and dynamic content.
• Shopify navigation, filtering and search functionality.
• Shopify performance optimisation.
• Shopify troubleshooting and debugging.
• Experience with Shopify's evolving platform, features and development standards.

Full Stack Development – Essential

• The candidate must be a genuine full stack developer capable of working across both the front end and back end of web applications.

Strong experience should include:

• HTML5
• CSS3
• JavaScript
• Liquid
• PHP and/or equivalent server-side languages
• APIs and RESTful services
• JSON
• Database architecture and SQL
• Git/version control
• Webhooks
• Third-party integrations
• Website security
• Website performance optimisation
• Debugging and troubleshooting
• The successful candidate must be comfortable writing and understanding code from scratch, diagnosing code-related problems and developing custom solutions where standard Shopify functionality or third-party applications are insufficient.

SEO – Essential

• SEO is a core responsibility of this position, not an optional or secondary skill.
• The successful candidate must have a strong understanding of how website development directly impacts organic search rankings and online sales.

Responsibilities will include:

• Technical SEO implementation and optimisation.
• On-page SEO.
• Site architecture and internal linking.
• URL structure and optimisation.
• Metadata and heading structure.
• Schema markup / structured data.
• Canonicalization.
• XML sitemaps and robots.txt.
• 301 redirects and redirect management.
• Crawlability and indexability.
• Google Search Console monitoring and optimisation.
• Google Analytics / GA4.
• Core Web Vitals.
• Page speed optimisation.
• Mobile SEO.
• Image optimisation.
• Product and collection SEO.
• SEO for e-commerce websites.
• Identifying and resolving technical SEO issues.
• Monitoring organic search performance and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Creating and optimising landing pages for SEO and digital marketing campaigns.
• The developer will be expected to work closely with the Marketing Manager to ensure that all new website functionality and content is developed with SEO best practices in mind.

​​​​​​​Website Development & E-Commerce Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Development and maintenance of the company’s Shopify website.
• Building new functionality and features as required.
• Customising and developing Shopify themes.
• Writing clean, efficient and maintainable code.
• Improving website speed and overall performance.
• Improving the customer journey and user experience.
• Developing landing pages for marketing campaigns.
• Implementing conversion-focused website improvements.
• Developing product and collection functionality.
• Improving website search and filtering functionality.
• Integrating third-party systems and applications.
• Troubleshooting and resolving website errors.
• Monitoring website functionality and identifying potential problems before they affect customers.
• Testing website functionality across browsers and devices.
• Implementing tracking codes and ensuring digital tracking is functioning correctly.
• Maintaining website security and technical integrity.
• Managing website updates and technical improvements.
• Conducting regular website audits.
• Researching new technologies and Shopify functionality that could improve the business.
• Providing technical input into new digital initiatives and e-commerce projects.

​​​​​​​Digital Marketing – Advantageous

• Although the primary responsibility of the position is web development, knowledge and experience in digital marketing will be a significant advantage.

Experience with the following will be beneficial:

• Google Ads
• Google Merchant Centre
• Google Analytics / GA4
• Google Search Console
• Meta Ads
• Conversion Rate Optimisation
• Remarketing
• Product feeds
• Digital campaign landing pages
• Marketing tracking and attribution
• E-commerce analytics
• Email marketing
• Digital customer acquisition
• The successful candidate should understand how website development, SEO, paid advertising and digital marketing work together to generate traffic, leads and online sales.

ATTRIBUTES:

• The developer will be expected to contribute to the continuous improvement of the COMPANY website.

This includes:

• Analysing website performance and customer behaviour.
• Identifying opportunities to improve conversion rates.
• Improving website navigation and user experience.
• Optimising product pages and collection pages.
• Improving website search functionality.
• Reducing page load times.
• Testing different website layouts and functionality.
• Implementing A/B testing where appropriate.
• Using website analytics to identify areas of improvement.
• Working with the Marketing Manager to support digital campaigns and online sales initiatives.