Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Web Program Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Web Program Officer is a hands-on digital leader responsible for managing the full lifecycle of organizational websites and web programs. This role blends technical CMS administration, front-end oversight, content governance, analytics-driven optimization, and program management to deliver secure, accessible, high-performing digital experiences. The ideal candidate coordinates cross-functional teams, manages vendor relationships, defines roadmaps, and continuously improves site performance, SEO, and user experience.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Web Content Specialist / Web Content Manager
Front-End Developer or Web Developer
Digital Communications Coordinator / Digital Marketing Specialist

Advancement To:

Senior Web Program Manager / Web Director
Digital Product Manager or Head of Digital Experience
Director of Web & Digital Platforms

Lateral Moves:

UX/Product Designer
Technical Project Manager
Digital Analytics Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the planning, delivery, and continuous improvement of corporate websites and web properties, owning the product roadmap, release schedule, and backlog prioritization to align digital goals with organizational strategy.
Serve as primary administrator and technical lead for the CMS (Drupal, WordPress, Sitecore, or equivalent), performing module/plugin governance, secure configuration, theme and template management, and scheduled upgrades and patches.
Collaborate with content owners, marketing, communications, IT, and external agencies to gather requirements, write technical and functional specifications, and translate business needs into robust digital solutions.
Manage the end-to-end web project lifecycle — scope definition, budgeting, vendor selection, sprint planning, QA, UAT coordination, and post-launch stabilization — ensuring on-time and on-budget delivery.
Implement and enforce content governance policies, editorial workflows, access controls, content vesting, and approval processes to maintain brand consistency and legal/compliance standards.
Drive site performance optimization programs including page speed improvement, image and asset optimization, caching strategies, and monitoring of Core Web Vitals to enhance user experience and SEO.
Oversee web accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1/2.2) by conducting accessibility audits, coordinating remediation, training content authors, and integrating accessibility checks into QA and CI pipelines.
Lead SEO strategy and execution, including technical SEO (XML sitemaps, robots, canonicalization, structured data), on-page SEO best practices, URL/redirect management, and collaboration with content teams to optimize metadata and content structure.
Implement and maintain web analytics and measurement frameworks (Google Analytics/GA4, Google Tag Manager, Adobe Analytics), define KPIs, build dashboards, and deliver actionable insights that drive content and product decisions.
Design and manage A/B testing and conversion optimization programs using experimentation platforms to improve user journeys, form conversions, and engagement metrics.
Architect and maintain integrations between the CMS and third-party systems (CRM, marketing automation, LMS, authentication/SSO, payment gateways) via REST APIs, webhooks, and middleware.
Provide hands-on front-end support: HTML, CSS, JavaScript troubleshooting, theme customization, and component development in close collaboration with front-end engineers and designers.
Administer production release management, rollback plans, staging environments, and CI/CD pipelines to standardize deployments and reduce release risk.
Coordinate incident response and web operations, including security monitoring, vulnerability remediation, outage management, and communication with stakeholders during incidents.
Manage vendor relationships and external development teams — scope RFPs, evaluate bids, oversee deliverables, and ensure contractual SLAs are met.
Create and maintain technical and user documentation: runbooks, governance guides, contributor training materials, style guides, and API documentation to support sustainable operations.
Conduct regular site audits (security, content quality, link integrity, redirects) and create prioritized remediation plans to reduce technical debt and maintain site health.
Lead localization/internationalization efforts for multilingual sites, managing translation workflows, language toggles, hreflang implementation, and region-specific content strategies.
Establish and track success metrics for web initiatives, prepare executive reports, and present program status, roadmap updates, and ROI analyses to senior leadership and stakeholders.
Mentor and train content authors, junior web staff, and cross-departmental teams on CMS best practices, web fundamentals, and digital accessibility.
Build and maintain a prioritized product backlog, run sprint demos and retrospectives, and apply Agile practices to accelerate delivery while maintaining quality.
Ensure data privacy and security best practices are followed across web properties, including cookie consent management, GDPR/CCPA compliance considerations, and secure handling of user data.

Secondary Functions

Support ongoing content migrations and data imports/exports during platform consolidation or CMS migrations, ensuring content mapping, taxonomy preservation, and metadata integrity.
Coordinate with marketing automation and CRM teams to implement tracking and lead flows that align web behavior with campaign measurement and lifecycle management.
Run periodic user research sessions and usability testing to validate UX changes and incorporate feedback into iterative improvements.
Maintain a library of reusable components and design system elements to accelerate development and ensure consistent branding across digital experiences.
Assist in budgeting and resource planning for web programs, including forecasting vendor spend, infrastructure costs, and licensing fees.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven CMS administration expertise (Drupal, WordPress, Sitecore, or similar) including module/plugin management, theme customization, and upgrade planning.
Proficient with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript (ES6+) for troubleshooting front-end issues and collaborating with engineers on UI components.
Familiarity with server-side languages and environments commonly used in web stacks (PHP, Node.js, or equivalent).
Experience integrating web platforms with REST APIs, OAuth/SSO, and common enterprise systems (CRM, marketing automation, LMS).
Strong knowledge of SEO best practices and tools (Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, SEMrush/Ahrefs) for both technical and content SEO.
Practical experience with web analytics (Google Analytics/GA4, GTM, Adobe Analytics), tagging strategies, event tracking, and dashboarding (Looker Studio/Tableau).
Skilled in accessibility standards and remediation (WCAG 2.1/2.2), accessibility testing tools (axe, WAVE), and accessible authoring practices.
Familiar with performance optimization tools and techniques (Lighthouse, Core Web Vitals, caching, CDN management).
Experience with version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and release management practices (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).
Familiarity with security best practices for web applications, including vulnerability scanning, patch management, and secure configuration.
Competence with project management and collaboration tools (JIRA, Trello, Asana, Confluence) and Agile methodologies.
Experience with A/B testing and experimentation platforms (Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize) and conversion rate optimization techniques.
Comfortable with content migration tools and processes (CSV/XML imports, migration modules, DUO/Acquia tools, WP-CLI).
Basic SQL knowledge for data pulls and validation when building analytics reports or integrating backend systems.
Experience managing multi-site or multilingual platforms and localization workflows.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and ability to translate technical constraints into clear business-focused recommendations.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for creating documentation, leading training, and presenting to executives.
Proven project management and prioritization skills with a bias for action and delivering results under deadlines.
Analytical mindset and data-driven decision making; comfortable interpreting analytics to guide strategy.
Collaborative team-player who can coordinate cross-functional teams (design, engineering, content, marketing) and external vendors.
Attention to detail and process orientation to maintain governance, quality assurance, and compliance.
Problem-solving and troubleshooting orientation with the patience to address complex production issues.
Change management experience and the ability to onboard stakeholders to new processes, tools, and governance models.
Mentoring and knowledge-sharing aptitude to grow internal web capabilities.
Adaptability to rapidly evolving technologies and digital best practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Digital Media, Communications, or related field OR equivalent practical experience in web program management.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's plus advanced certifications or a Master's degree in Digital Media, Human-Computer Interaction, Information Technology Management, or a related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science / Software Engineering
Information Systems / IT Management
Web Design / Digital Media
Communications / Marketing
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Digital Analytics / Data Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressive experience managing websites, CMS platforms, or digital product programs.

Preferred: 5+ years managing enterprise CMS platforms (Drupal or WordPress preferred), leading cross-functional web projects, and demonstrated success implementing SEO, accessibility, and analytics programs.