Freelance web designer / developer / content editor Remote
Job description
- Start: ASAP
- Contract: Freelance
- Salary: Around £45K per year, depending on client retention
- Location: UK based, but you’ll work remotely (you’ll need a fast internet connection)
I’m a freelance web designer and developer who has been working with schools since 2011.
I have been offered a full time job and so am looking for someone to take over the management of around 30 client websites.
My new job starts in the middle of March, so things will progress very quickly. If selected, you’ll need to be available to start the hand over next week (beginning 20th February).
After costs, you’ll earn around £45K a year from this, but the clients will be yours to manage as you see fit (subject to some conditions).
This job would suit a freelancer who is available during office hours and has capacity to take on extra work.
About the company
My company builds and maintains websites for schools.
I handle the business admin and coding, and there’s a freelance designer and freelance content editor. The designer works on an ad hoc basis, and the content editor is contracted to cover client uploads one day a week. A condition will be that you retain the content editor on the same hours and pay for a period of no less than 12 months. She is excellent and has good relationships with clients, so she’ll be essential to smooth the transfer.
We have ongoing relationships with most clients, managing the day-to-day content uploads as part of a service-level agreement (SLA). It’s these SLAs that generate most of the revenue.
To update their websites all the clients need do is send an email. They can be sure that their uploads will be handled promptly by someone with web experience who will make sure it’s presented in the most suitable manner and looks great on any device.
In addition to the web stuff some of the contracts include video filming and editing. I have a list of excellent freelancers who film the events and then send the footage over to be edited. If you’re not comfortable offering the video editing part of the service, this could be dropped.
About you
You’ll need to be enthusiastic, reliable, good at multitasking, and communicating with a range of people. I have worked with some of these clients for 15+ years so you will need to take good care of them.
Once the clients are handed over to you, I will be available for occasional questions in the beginning but don’t plan on being involved beyond that. You will bill the schools directly and it’ll be up to you to manage the relationships. The schools aren’t currently in contract, but you could ask them to sign new ones.
My sudden departure from the company may be difficult for the clients, so you’re going to need to be excellent at managing relationships.
Most of the schools we work with take a maintenance contract so there’s a lot of content to upload day-to-day (in term time). You’ll need to be available to upload content, as soon as it comes in, from 08:30 to 17:30 on weekdays during term time.
Our USP is speed, and clients expect the things they send to be professionally formatted and live in minutes. You’ll need an excellent eye for detail and an ability to work quickly.
There are still uploads to be made during school holidays, but clients don’t expect them to be as fast.
The sites are all relatively simple Bootstrap based HTML5/CSS 3/jQuery. They’re not WordPress, so you’ll need to be prepared to work on a custom CMS.
Some of the sites are a little old now, so it may be possible to earn extra revenue by offering to redesign them.
Required skills
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- PHP
- MySQL
- jQuery
- An eye for detail
- Excellent written and spoken English
- Strong comprehension and communication skills
I’ve spent years building relationships with my clients and high quality of service is expected.
The bellow outlines the things I think are important:
- The clients are always treated fairly and honestly
- Detail is very important. You’ll be handling the communication between schools and various stakeholders (parents, Governors, Ofsted) so you need to make things as clear and concise as possible.
- Consistency is key. Most school websites are managed in house, and they often look terrible because little thought is given to the site structure or formatting.
- Mistakes are fine. We all make them and they’re essential to become better at what we do. We’re always honest about our mistakes and we fix them as soon as we can. If the client notices them, we’re open about what happened and why.
Conditions
For consistency, you will agree to apply by the following for a period of 12 months:
- No price rises for clients greater than 10%
- The freelance content editor will be retained at the same hours and for the same pay
- Someone will be available to upload content between 08:30 – 17:30 on weekdays in term time (term times sometimes vary between schools)
If you’re interested…
Reply to this advert with a little information about yourself and why you think you’d be ideal to take over.
Job Types: Full-time, Freelance
Salary: Up to £45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Work from home
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Application question(s):
- Please tell me why you think you'd be ideal to take over my clients
Work Location: Remote
Application deadline: 03/03/2023
Expected start date: 13/03/2023
