Steve, our Lead Web Designer, hard at work in IC Labs (yes, he prefers to stand).
Good news: Invisible Children is home to a department of innovative, talented Web experts. And we’ve clumped them together and decided to call them IC Labs. They are the ones we have to thank for the impressive design and user experience of our website. More good news: you can join their team. We’re currently hiring a Front-End Engineer, so I sat down with our Web Director, Josh Parolin, to hear more about IC Labs, their current projects, and what it takes to join the team. Oh, and to get some clarity on what a Front-End Engineer is since I don’t work in Web.
So, tell us… what exactly is IC Labs?
IC Labs is a small team trying to do big things. We’re leveraging new and old web technologies to redefine what it means to be a charity/nonprofit on the Internet. We want to help create a 360 degree experience for our supporters which includes leveraging data from both online and offline interactions.
Currently, we’re working on rolling out the next phase of the #zeroLRA website. We’re also working hard on creating an all-new InvisibleChildren.com, from the ground up. We’re excited to soon provide an innovative, responsive, and data-driven experience for our supporters.
What’s been your favorite project to tackle thus far?
The most impressive project that we’ve completed so far has been the current version of the #zeroLRA website. We’ve been able to work closely with StayClassy’s API in order to provide an integrated, near-realtime experience for our supporters. We’ve also leveraged a lot of HTML5 features and node.js as the engine to help bring the site to life.
Gibberish. Who’s on the IC Labs team? Tell us about ’em.
Josh Parolin (Web Director), Steve Witmer (Lead Web Designer), Jessica Goldsmith (Web Development Assistant) and Bree Tervort (Web Development Intern) are the minds behind the IC Labs team. We’re all Swiss Army Knives of some sort, which makes our team dynamic and unique.
Bree knows graphic design and is translating the same creativity to become a WordPress Developer. Jess has evolved into a full-stack developer while simultaneously tackling other tasks, such as SEO, A/B testing and analytics. Steve has enough front-end ninja skills that he’s able to take his growing expertise in web design and UX and translate it into actual CSS and JavaScript. Josh is leveraging his love for APIs to see how Invisible Children’s web properties can be better connected with both our internal and external systems and how data can better fuel a supporter’s online experience.
Together, we’re a lean team that is out to bring Joseph Kony to justice by leveraging pixels and code.
Rumor has it that the hammock in the atrium belongs to your department. True or false?
True! Part of the values we’ve been developing for IC Labs is that our lives should be just as much of an exploration as our daily work is. Some of our best ideas have come from work sessions at the beach, at coffee shops, on hikes and out in the world — away from our desks. We can complete the best work we can, but if none of us are learning anything new, we are failing ourselves. <deep>
You’re currently hiring for a Front-End Engineer. Who’s your dream to work with?
The dream is someone who has a solid understanding of front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JS, jQuery, LESS / SASS) as well as an understanding of what else there is to learn. As with any position at Invisible Children, this requires someone with great initiative and a thirst for knowledge. When a problem arrives, how do you solve it? Do you avoid it or do you dive into StackOverflow and start putting the pieces together? Have a desire to be the best, to build awesome projects, and to learn something new everyday, and you’ll fit in just fine.
You’ve got two sentences to convince someone to work at Invisible Children. What would you say?
Want to wake up every morning knowing that the code you write today could help bring an end to Africa’s longest running war? Join us.
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