Lead WordPress Developer

6AM Digital; Sydney; Híbrido; AUD 140.000 - 190.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

6AM Digital is seeking a hands-on Lead WordPress Developer in Sydney to own the design, development and evolution of a high-traffic WordPress platform. You will lead a small squad, code alongside the team and set engineering standards that balance speed, security and reliability.

You’ll partner with product managers and stakeholders to prioritise work, review architecture decisions and mentor engineers to grow capabilities while delivering features that meet evolving customer needs.

Formación

• Seven+ years of commercial software or web development experience, including leadership or senior level responsibilities.
• Strong WordPress development experience, including multisite environments, custom themes and plugins, Gutenberg blocks and reusable components.
• Full-stack capability with frontend and backend problem solving; experience with performance, security, hosting and monitoring.

Responsabilidades

• Own the design, development and ongoing support of the WordPress platform, improving structure, security, performance and long-term stability.
• Build and maintain custom frontend/backend functionality, including themes, plugins and reusable components.
• Optimize caching, CDN usage, database queries and third-party scripts to improve responsiveness under load.
• Lead code reviews and establish testing, documentation, version control and deployment practices.
• Organise development work from planning through release with realistic commitments and clear progress communication.
• Mentor engineers, provide feedback and contribute to recruitment and onboarding.

Conocimientos

WordPress development

Full-stack engineering

Leadership

Agile methodologies

Code reviews

Mentoring

Herramientas

Git

CI/CD

WordPress VIP

Descripción del empleo

We're partnering with an established Australian organisation looking to strengthen the engineering behind its digital platforms. With an established technology environment and new capabilities to deliver, there is an opportunity to improve how its websites perform, evolve the underlying architecture and build a more reliable foundation for future development.

About the role

This is a hands-on Lead WordPress Developer position combining full-stack engineering, technical decision-making and the leadership of a small development squad comprising two developers.

The existing WordPress environment offers plenty of scope for improvement. You'll take ownership of its technical evolution, addressing performance issues, strengthening engineering practices and helping deliver new functionality that supports changing customer and business needs.

You'll remain actively involved in development while guiding the team’s approach to design, testing and delivery. You'll also work closely with product managers, engineering colleagues and other stakeholders to establish priorities, manage technical trade-offs and ensure the team delivers dependable solutions.

Beyond the technical side, you'll have a genuine leadership remit, from developing your engineers and improving team performance to planning delivery and keeping stakeholders informed.

This role would suit an experienced Senior WordPress Developer ready to take on broader leadership responsibilities, or an established Technical Lead who still enjoys coding and solving complex engineering problems.

What you will do:

Platform development and engineering quality

• Take ownership of the design, development and ongoing support of the WordPress platform, improving its structure, security, performance and long-term stability.
• Build and maintain custom functionality across the frontend and backend, including themes, plugins, Gutenberg blocks and reusable components.
• Optimise caching, CDN usage, database queries and third-party scripts to improve responsiveness and reliability under load.
• Assess existing technical decisions, address accumulated technical debt and introduce improvements that make the platform easier to extend and maintain.
• Ensure changes are properly reviewed, tested and documented before release, with appropriate monitoring and support arrangements in place.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and work across application code, infrastructure and external integrations to identify and resolve underlying causes.
• Contribute to the development of new digital capabilities, assessing technical options and integrations to deliver a dependable experience for end users.

Technical direction and delivery

• Set priorities and guide the squad’s technical approach, balancing delivery speed with code quality, security, performance and long-term maintainability.
• Break down business needs into practical technical solutions, with clear estimates, implementation options and an understanding of associated risks.
• Organise development work from planning through to release, keeping commitments realistic and communicating progress, dependencies and potential delays early.
• Lead code reviews and establish consistent practices for testing, documentation, version control and deployment.
• Work alongside product managers and other engineering leads to coordinate shared components, architectural decisions and release dependencies.
• Use product and engineering insights to assess the impact of changes, identify emerging issues and inform future development priorities.
• Evaluate AI-assisted coding tools and other improvements to development workflows where they can deliver tangible benefits without lowering engineering standards.

Team leadership and collaboration

• Lead a small development squad, helping engineers make sound technical decisions while remaining directly involved in design, coding and problem-solving.
• Provide regular feedback, coaching and mentoring to build technical capability, autonomy and confidence within the team.
• Establish a constructive rhythm of team discussions and one-to-one meetings, with clear expectations and follow-through on agreed development goals.
• Contribute to recruitment, onboarding, performance development and recognition, helping create an environment where people can do their best work.
• Act as the main technical point of contact for the squad, explaining decisions, delivery plans and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Manage technical issues involving external suppliers and platform partners, escalating problems and contributing to discussions about future improvements.
• Work collaboratively across the wider engineering function, providing support on shared technical challenges and production incidents when needed.

What you bring:

• At least seven years of commercial software or web development experience, including time spent operating at senior developer or technical lead level.
• Strong WordPress development experience, covering multisite environments, custom themes and plugins, Gutenberg and reusable component-based development.
• Full-stack engineering capability, with the confidence to investigate issues and deliver solutions across both frontend and backend systems.
• A sound understanding of website performance, application security, hosting, caching, CDN configuration, databases and production monitoring.
• Experience building and supporting high-traffic websites or other production applications where performance, availability and reliability matter.
• Familiarity with relational databases such as MySQL, data modelling, Git, automated testing and CI/CD practices.
• Demonstrated experience guiding other developers through code reviews, technical feedback and consistent engineering standards.
• The ability to plan and estimate work, manage competing priorities and deliver within an Agile development environment.
• Strong communication skills, with the judgement to explain technical choices and their business implications clearly.

Nice to have

• Experience with subscription services, membership functionality, paywalls or other customer-facing commercial features.
• Familiarity with digital advertising integrations, header bidding or managing third-party scripts on high-traffic websites.
• Experience with cloud platforms, managed infrastructure and contemporary DevOps practices.
• Exposure to external APIs, data services and integrations between multiple platforms.
• Experience working with distributed development or QA teams.
• Experience with WordPress VIP
• Practical use of AI-assisted development tools to improve coding and delivery workflows.
• Experience growing into a leadership position from a senior engineering role, or developing the practices and capability of a small team.

Why this role is worth considering

• Make a tangible technical impact. Improve an established platform, resolve longstanding engineering challenges and influence the way it develops over time.
• Stay close to the code. Combine architecture and technical decision-making with hands-on development rather than moving into a purely managerial position.
• Build a stronger engineering team. Help developers grow, introduce better ways of working and establish standards that improve the quality of delivery.
• Influence what gets built next. Work directly with product and engineering colleagues to shape priorities and turn business needs into practical solutions.
• Take ownership beyond development. Have a say in planning, release quality, operational reliability and the ongoing improvement of the platform.
• Access additional benefits. The organisation offers professional development opportunities, additional leave, wellbeing initiatives and employee benefits.

Recruitment process

The process consists of two interview rounds. We will begin reviewing suitable applications as they come in, with the aim of filling the position as soon as possible.

Further details about the business, remuneration and benefits will be provided to interested and shortlisted candidates. Feedback will be communicated throughout the process.

Please note

• The role is based in Sydney CBD.
• The working arrangement is hybrid, with an expectation of working from the office four days per week.
• Full working rights in Australia are required. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you have not heard from me within five business days of applying, your application has unfortunately not progressed on this occasion.