Front End Software Developer at CYOS Solutions

Application closing date: Monday, 03 February 2025 • 11:59pm, Canberra time (in Canberra)

Estimated start date: ASAP

Location of work: SA (The team is based in ACT but this role can be performed fully remote)

Length of contract: Until 30 June 2025

Contract extensions: 1x 6 months

Security clearance: Not required

Rates: $90 - $100 per hour (inc. super)

The Australian National Species List Website project will deliver high-quality online user interfaces to taxonomic and descriptive information about Australia’s unique plants, animals, fungi and other living things.

The Australian National Species List (auNSL) provides an authoritative source of information about the naming and classification of Australia’s unique plants, animals, fungi and other living things. The auNSL is a key resource supporting the management and conservation of, and research on, Australia’s biodiversity. Data from the auNSL supports a range of national biodiversity data infrastructures including the Atlas of Living Australia, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network, and the Biodiversity Data Repository. The auNSL runs on dedicated software infrastructure built and maintained by the Biodiversity Informatics team within the Biodiversity Conservation & Knowledge section of Parks Australia as part of the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR) a joint agreement with CSIRO.

The Australian National Species List infrastructure (NSLi) is delivered via an AWS cloud environment. The NSLi is built on a PostgreSQL database, has a data entry interface (Rails), and provides machine access through GraphQL and REST APIs delivered via Hasura as JSON.

The software developer will work with the Biodiversity Informatics team under the direction of the team manager. The user-interface will be built using a suitable frontend framework (e.g. React, Next.js, Vue.js, Rails etc) and containerised for deployment (ECS, Fargate). auNSL data will be integrated into the frontend via the GraphQL and REST APIs. An open-source headless CMS (e.g. strapi) will be implemented for descriptive information and other display assets to be used on the webpages. At the end of the engagement the Biodiversity Informatics team will be able to take on the further development and maintenance of the delivered infrastructure.

The software developer will contribute to building the frontend to the Australian National Species List and implementing a headless CMS and API integration for search and data services.

Biodiversity Informatics is based in Canberra. It is preferred that the successful candidate work from the office with flexible arrangements, however remote working (offsite) will be considered. The contract is available full or part time with a preference for 20+ hours per week on average.

Essential Criteria

1. Experience with Next.js and/or React.js, Tailwind CSS, and GraphQL
2. Demonstrated prior experience building high-quality user interfaces for the web using the indicated technologies. Supporting evidence to include URLs for previous projects and code repository with examples.
3. Experience using version control software such as git for source code management.
4. Experience using GraphQL and REST APIs to source page data.
5. Experience with performance optimisation and SEO using SSG, SSR and/or ISR (incremental static regeneration) or equivalent.

Desirable Criteria

1. Experience implementing an open-source headless CMS.
2. Experience with containerised deployment in an AWS cloud environment.
3. Experience applying website design principles.
4. Knowledge of the biodiversity taxonomy domain.