Web Administrators

Job purpose

To manage the design, deployment, development and maintenance of the organisation's web environment and to test and assure the quality of its sites and applications, so that they perform reliably, remain secure and serve their users effectively.

Skills

• Knowledge of web server software and hardware, site architecture and internet and intranet infrastructure, including web, file and mail servers; web security practice, covering intrusion and denial-of-service monitoring, firewalls, encryption, access levels and patching; recovery planning; testing method for integration, performance, security and usability; and analysis of site usage data. Adds communications, media and design knowledge for content, style guidelines and e-marketing, in written English fit to publish. Bachelor's degree is the most common qualification, with a sizeable group holding an associate's degree or part-completed degree study, and several years of related experience and on-the-job training.
• Collaborates with web developers to build and operate internal and external sites, run projects such as e-marketing campaigns and resolve usability issues. Explains technical matters and usage findings to those who commission and use the sites, informs users of problems, resolutions and changes, and trains them in website implementation. Gathers and documents user feedback.
• Determines the sources of web page and server problems and corrects them, resolves faults found in testing or recommends how to address them, and analyses log files and usage data to locate underlying causes. Designs the testing routines and procedures themselves and evaluates their adequacy, deciding what counts as sufficient assurance rather than following a set method.
• Owns the schedule of ongoing site work: implementing updates and patches promptly to limit loss of service, keeping page content and links current, running integration, performance and security testing to a regular timetable and after major modifications, and testing backup and recovery plans. Develops procedures for continuing site revision and the metrics the estate is judged against. Sets own tasks and priorities under the time pressure of release and content deadlines.
• Work is carried out seated at a computer, with repetitive keyboard work and the hand use required to install and configure server hardware.

Responsibilities

• No formal line management. Coordinates the work of developers, content contributors and testers, and coaches colleagues in website use.
• Recommends website improvements and develops the budgets to support them, and evaluates and recommends server hardware and software. Develops and implements marketing plans for home pages, including print advertising and advertisement rotation. Spend is authorised above the role.
• Responsible for the web estate: web, file and mail servers and their software, the monitoring tools on servers and sites, and the security measures protecting them. Installs and configures server software and hardware so that directory structure is logical and secure.
• Owns the organisation's websites and applications as a body of content and data, with the backup copies held for disaster recovery, change documentation, style guidelines, configuration procedures and usage records. Standardises and communicates levels of access and security, monitors for intrusions and denial-of-service attacks, and reports breaches to the appropriate personnel. Being exact matters, since published error and lost service are visible outside the organisation.

Effort required

• Close analytical attention over long periods: interpreting log files and usage data, tracing faults through servers and applications, and testing to a standard the postholder has set. Decisions are frequent and taken under time pressure, against a high volume of e-mail, telephone and face-to-face contact, and error has consequences for colleagues and company results.
• Emotional demand is limited: responsibility for restoring service and handling intrusions and breaches, and accountability for sites measured against competing offerings. No exposure to conflict, hostility or distress is recorded.
• Predominantly seated work at a computer, with repetitive hand movements and handling of equipment. No standing, lifting or exertion is recorded.

Working conditions

• Indoor work in an environmentally controlled office setting, alongside a work group, with frequent face-to-face, telephone and e-mail contact. No hazards, contaminants, noise or outdoor working are recorded, and no work away from base.
• Almost all incumbents work a regular established schedule; most work a standard week and about a third longer, and nothing recorded evidences shift, night or on-call working. Sets own tasks, priorities and goals with considerable freedom over how the work is done, within the organisation's technical and security standards.