Senior Drupal Architect / Technical Lead

Labusa; United States; Remote; USD 96,000 - 165,000; Part time

Job summary

LABUSA seeks a Senior Drupal Architect / Technical Lead to provide technical leadership for the design, development, modernization, security, and maintenance of enterprise Drupal websites. The role emphasizes architecture oversight, custom development, integrations, and secure deployment across multiple sites.

The position is remote and project-based, ideal for experienced contractors with hands-on Drupal expertise and leadership capabilities.

Qualifications

• Minimum seven years of professional Drupal development experience.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Drupal Technical Lead, Architect, or Senior Developer on complex projects.
• Strong hands-on experience administering, developing, and maintaining Drupal 10 websites.
• Demonstrated experience with Drupal migrations and major version upgrades.
• Advanced proficiency in PHP, Symfony, Twig, Composer, and Drush.
• Experience designing custom Drupal modules, themes, plugins, and integrations.
• Strong knowledge of Drupal configuration management, content architecture, and user permissions.
• Experience with MySQL, Linux, Apache and/or Nginx.
• Experience with Git, code reviews, automated testing, and structured deployment workflows.
• Understanding of Drupal security advisories, secure coding, and vulnerability remediation.
• Knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements and accessible web development.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, development, modernization, and maintenance of Drupal 10 websites.
• Assess existing Drupal environments, modules, themes, configurations, integrations, and dependencies.
• Develop upgrade strategies for Drupal 11 and future versions.
• Design and implement custom Drupal modules, plugins, themes, and reusable components.
• Develop and maintain applications using PHP, Symfony, Twig, Composer, and Drush.
• Establish development standards, secure coding practices, and deployment procedures.
• Coordinate Git-based workflows and CI/CD deployment pipelines.
• Mentor developers and collaborate with distributed project teams.

Skills

Drupal Architecture

Technical Leadership

PHP / Symfony / Twig

Drupal 10 & migrations

Performance & Security

CI/CD & Git

WCAG Accessibility

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

Git

Composer/Drush

AWS

Docker

Job description

Job Overview

LABUSA is seeking a Senior Drupal Architect / Technical Lead to provide technical leadership for the design, development, modernization, security, and maintenance of enterprise Drupal websites.

The position involves managing Drupal application architecture, custom development, integrations, version upgrades, performance optimization, accessibility implementation, and secure deployment processes across multiple websites.

The successful candidate will work closely with LABUSA's infrastructure, security, and project management teams to deliver secure, accessible, high-performance Drupal solutions.

This is a remote, project-based opportunity for experienced independent contractors with demonstrated hands‑on Drupal expertise and technical leadership capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, development, modernization, and maintenance of Drupal 10 websites.
• Assess existing Drupal environments, including modules, themes, configurations, integrations, and technical dependencies.
• Develop Drupal upgrade strategies, including compatibility assessments and migration planning for Drupal 11 and future supported versions.
• Design and implement custom Drupal modules, plugins, themes, and reusable components.
• Develop and maintain applications using PHP, Symfony, Twig, Composer, and Drush.
• Design content architecture, taxonomy, roles, permissions, and editorial workflows.
• Implement REST API, JSON:API, and third‑party application integrations.
• Establish development standards, secure coding practices, peer reviews, and configuration management procedures.
• Implement and support Git‑based development workflows and CI/CD deployment pipelines.
• Coordinate development, testing, staging, and production deployments.
• Develop and validate deployment rollback and application recovery procedures.
• Support Drupal application security, vulnerability assessments, patching, and remediation.
• Implement accessible website components consistent with WCAG 2.1 AA requirements.
• Optimize application performance, caching, search, database queries, and content delivery.
• Troubleshoot complex Drupal application issues and production incidents.
• Coordinate technical activities across multiple independent Drupal websites.
• Participate in incident investigations, root‑cause analysis, and corrective actions.
• Prepare technical architecture documentation, development standards, deployment procedures, and maintenance plans.
• Mentor developers and provide technical guidance to distributed project teams.
• Participate in client technical meetings, reviews, and knowledge‑transfer sessions.

Skills and Qualifications

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum seven years of professional Drupal development experience.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Drupal Technical Lead, Architect, or Senior Developer on complex projects.
• Strong hands‑on experience administering, developing, and maintaining Drupal 10 websites.
• Demonstrated experience with Drupal migrations and major version upgrades.
• Advanced proficiency in PHP, Symfony, Twig, Composer, and Drush.
• Experience designing custom Drupal modules, themes, plugins, and integrations.
• Strong knowledge of Drupal configuration management, content architecture, and user permissions.
• Experience with MySQL, Linux, Apache and/or Nginx.
• Experience with Git, code reviews, automated testing, and structured deployment workflows.
• Understanding of Drupal security advisories, secure coding, and vulnerability remediation.
• Knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements and accessible web development.
• Experience troubleshooting production Drupal environments.
• Strong technical documentation, leadership, and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with distributed teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Acquia Certified Drupal Developer, Drupal Architect, or equivalent certification.
• Demonstrated hands‑on Drupal 11 implementation or upgrade experience.
• Experience implementing GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with AWS‑hosted Drupal environments.
• Knowledge of Redis, Apache Solr, Varnish, and CDN technologies.
• Experience with Drupal multisite or multiple independently managed Drupal installations.
• Experience with automated testing, security scanning, and deployment automation.
• Knowledge of SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and LDAP.
• Experience supporting public‑sector, educational, or enterprise websites.
• Experience with high‑availability hosting, backup, disaster recovery, and operational monitoring.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a highly experienced Drupal technical professional capable of independently designing, developing, securing, and maintaining complex Drupal environments.

The candidate should demonstrate actual project experience in Drupal architecture, version upgrades, custom development, integrations, CI/CD, security, and performance optimization.

Preference will be given to candidates who can explain their personal technical contributions, demonstrate completed projects, and provide verifiable professional references.

Work Arrangement

• Remote, project‑based engagement.
• Coordination with LABUSA personnel during US Central Time business hours.
• Work performed within LABUSA‑managed development and staging environments.
• Secure remote access through approved virtual workspaces, VPN, or equivalent technologies.
• Source code maintained in LABUSA‑controlled repositories; unauthorized local copies are prohibited.
• Participation in scheduled maintenance, deployments, and incident response as required.
• Contract duration and extensions depend on project requirements.