Volunteer Php Developer Volunteer Roles in Belfast

You will be responsible for developing, testing, maintaining and documenting the applications provided by the Nightline Association IT department, under the direction of the Projects Team Lead. You will also assist the Support Specialists in responding to technical queries that are related to our software provision.

We primarily use a LEMP stack; our flagship piece of software is written using the Laravel framework with a Vue.js front end.

Nightlines provide an anonymous and confidential listening and information service, run by students for students at their university. They work to improve student mental health and wellbeing and are open at night when no other university welfare services are available. Nightline services now cover over 100 universities and colleges, or over 1.5 million students, thanks to an incredible team of over 2,500 trained student volunteers.

The Nightline Association is the registered charity that supports, promotes and develops Nightlines. Nightline Association is run entirely by volunteers, who get to play a hands-on operational and strategic role in the running of a national charity. By volunteering for the Nightline Association you will not only gain more awareness of the work of the Association and the charity sector, you will also gain transferable skills and make new friends.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Produce clean well-tested code that meets the specified requirements.

• Undertake code reviews for pieces of work contributed by other team members.

• Listen to feedback from peers, including that provided in code reviews.

• Feed into ongoing projects to ensure they are meeting the stakeholders’ requirements.

• Ensure software documentation is kept up to date as the software evolves.

• Regularly check your emails and team messages, and respond to messages addressed directly to you in a timely manner.

• Keep your line manager informed of your progress, any issues or concerns, and any upcoming periods of absence.

• Keep your tasks up to date on the task tracking system (Jira).

• Attend online department meetings once a month.

• Constantly try to improve ways of working.

Essential Experience and Skills

• Web development experience, particularly with PHP, JS, HTML and CSS.

• Familiarity with Git.

• Experience in automated software testing.

• Understanding of software design principles.

• Self-motivated with effective time management skills.

• Able to work effectively as part of a team.

• Effective communication skills.

• Understanding of and commitment to the Association’s values and to supporting and developing the Nightline community.

Desirable Experience

• Experience with Laravel or Vue.js.

• Prior experience with a Nightline service and/or the Nightline Association.

• Understanding of Nightline or other helplines, or the wider mental health, higher education or charity sectors.

• Using issue tracking systems (we use Jira).

• Writing articles, reports or guides.

Commitment

Whilst how much time you commit to your role at the Nightline Association is largely down to you, we usually expect volunteers to commit an average of four to eight hours a month. However, we would also like to stress that this is very much a guide and that volunteers are by no means obliged to commit that amount of time every single week. 

You would be expected to attend online team meetings roughly once a month, and to keep up to date with your emails and team messages. The Nightline Association also has three away days each year which you are encouraged to attend when you can.