Frontend Designer

Royal Yachting Association; Hamble-le-Rice; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job description

Frontend Designer

Salary: £40,000 - £45,000
Hours: 35 hours per week (09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday)
Location: Hybrid (A minimum of two days per week of on-site work is required at our Head Office in Hamble, Southampton.)

The RYA offers a range of benefits which include:

1. 36 days holiday including public holidays
2. 10% RYA contribution to a personal pension scheme
3. Free life insurance
4. Discounts platform for retail, entertainment, holidays & gym membership
5. Free charging point for electric vehicles whilst on your working days at the office
6. Social events
7. RYA membership

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is seeking a talented and motivated Frontend Designer to join our Digital Team.

The post holder will manage and enhance the RYA website’s frontend experience, ensuring it remains on-brand, accessible, and legally compliant. Reporting to the Head of Digital, they will collaborate with internal stakeholders, agencies, and a small team to maintain the UK’s leading sailing and watersports resource. The post holder will support approximately 100,000 monthly website visitors, overseeing membership management, certification, training support, and ecommerce services. With the introduction of a new Umbraco CMS, they will manage junior designers and lead website projects, updates, and marketing campaigns. Their expertise in CMS platforms, design, and UX will drive best practices and guide the organisation’s digital roadmap.

Your responsibilities as a Frontend Designer will include, but are not limited to:

1. Lead the development and enhancement of the Umbraco front end in collaboration with the Digital Product Owner and partner agencies.
2. Oversee design support, page builds, content edits, and UI/UX best practices for the RYA website.
3. Proactively enhance RYA website accessibility, customer journeys, site functionality, and overall performance.
4. Work with our external support partner to troubleshoot user and system issues.
5. Interpret and deliver feature requirements and functional code changes in line with good product design.
6. Create and maintain documentation for front end processes.
7. Manage one direct report and collaborate closely with the Digital Team to ensure timely delivery of all service requests.

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

1. Proven experience as a frontend designer or developer.
2. Excellent UI/UX design knowledge.
3. Experience with Umbraco or a similar CMS.
4. Strong expertise in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and modern frameworks.
5. Understanding of WCAG guidelines and ensuring websites are accessible to all users.
6. Experience in creating responsive designs that work across various devices and screen sizes.
7. Good working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud applications.
8. Understanding of technical SEO principles.
9. Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

To Apply
Please review the full job description here and send a completed application form and an equality monitoring form to [e-mail]

Closing date for applications: Midnight on 21st April 2025 (we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if a suitable candidate is appointed)

The RYA is committed to equality of opportunity.

The RYA as an equal opportunity and disability confident employer, celebrates and welcomes diversity in all its forms and believes that a diverse workforce boosts innovation, productivity and creativity.

We are dedicated to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion and strive to be an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone can be their authentic selves. We would particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse candidates who are currently underrepresented at the RYA.